10TH GRADE SOPHOMORE EDITION

The year most families waste — and the year the most money gets left on the table.

State merit programs and honors colleges publish their exact course, GPA, and score requirements. A few of those courses must be started by tenth grade. If you wait until junior year to look them up, the math may not work.

This edition covers 10th grade plus the full reference section.

What is inside:

• The five things that matter most in sophomore year, with the month to do each one

• Fall focus checklist: deepen the record colleges will read later

• The FAFSA base-year conversation — the tax year your first FAFSA will use begins in the spring of this year, and by senior fall it is already history

• Net price calculator walkthrough: run the same numbers on a big public, a small private, an in-state school, and a community college

• Compare a few college types — sticker cost, estimated grants, estimated net price, side by side

• The 5 P's college exploration: Program, Place, Price, People, Priorities

• Show growth, not just a list — the five ways to grow in any activity

• Set up your scholarship folder: one facts sheet, one evidence folder, one essay bank, one calendar

• Course planning for junior year: the schedule you pick now becomes the last full year most colleges see

• State merit scholarship requirements — look them up while there is still time to meet them

• 3 ready-to-send email templates: request next year's courses, ask a college rep a real question, ask whether a fee can be waived

• End-of-year reflection

• Full reference section

The families who leave the most money on the table are the ones who skip sophomore year and try to catch up in the fall of senior year. This is the year that prevents that.