The college admissions process is something that most people think starts in high schoolers’ junior and senior years. For the most part, the college admissions process primarily takes place during those years, but what most people don’t realize is that it also begins in a student’s sophomore year. Now, of course, it’s not as much of a focus in your sophomore year compared to upperclass years, but it is definitely something that sophomores need to think about.
Most sophomores have not gotten far in the process. Elijah Jimenez says, “I don’t think I’ve really started to think about the college process, but I have definitely begun to think about where I want to go to college.” Most high school students and some middle school students will have an idea and a preference on where they want to go to college, but of course those preferences will change with knowledge gained from the college application process, acceptance to schools, and other factors.
Like Elijah, Brady Wallace has “definitely thought about what schools I want to attend.” Though he hasn’t narrowed down that list very much, “I have had conversations with people revolving around what I want to study in college.”
A lot of people from a very young age have a “dream job,” but a lot of people don’t end up pursuing that dream job. A lot of the time, this has to do with which college they attend, though changing interests are also a factor, of course. Sometimes the college an individual attends might not have a great program surrounding what they want to pursue in their future.
Jabari Watts, a member of the swim team, hopes to continue his athletic career in college. “I sometimes think about being wanted by a school to come and play a sport for them and how that would affect where I would go,” Jabari says. Since DeMatha has such great sports programs, a lot of our students attend college to play a sport. The class of 2028 has a lot of great athletes with a lot of potential, and a lot of these young men want to go to a college and get better at their respective sports.
College is not yet first concern for sophomores, but students like Elijah, Brady, and Jabari already know that college is an important thing for underclassmen to keep in mind and that the time to begin the process is coming up fast.
