For students seeking to attend selective universities, summer isn't just a time for lazy indulgence and beach days. It's an ideal time to prepare yourself for the academic rigors in the school year ahead and ensure that you start the school year on track or ahead of the curve. Below are a few ways that rising sophomores with lofty university goals can use the summer to best support their academic efforts.
The majority of students are wrapping up Algebra 1 and Geometry classes by the end of their freshman year. These classes are where you learn foundational concepts you'll need for much of the higher-level math you will do later. Strong equation-solving skills and the ability to translate word problems are perhaps the most important of these foundational skills. While you might not need the exact definition of the “SAS theorem” again, you will need strong equation-solving and word problem translating skills for EVERY math class you complete. Additionally, while your future classes will likely review specific content (like obscure theorems) that you'll need, your classes likely won't review these foundational skills. Keeping them fresh, or working with a tutor to ensure you have truly mastered them, will be important for your success as you encounter more and more challenging math content. Not to mention that these skills are two of the most important for success on the SAT and ACT math sections as well!
"Stay Fresh"
The app store has a multitude of math apps designed for student use. Try and do at least an hour a week of both word problems and equation-solving practice. Khan Academy also has some excellent math lessons and drills designed to help you stay sharp.
"Catch Up"
If you don’t feel confident in your equation-solving or word problem skills, the summer is a perfect time to work with a private tutor to bring you up to speed. Make sure you learn the keyword phrases that translate to mathematical operations and do lots of equation-solving drills. It is also very important that your tutor adapt your program to your current level, as you cannot master these skills if you are missing any of the elements of the foundation.
Strong reading comprehension and writing skills will almost always guarantee success in ANY academic class or standardized exam. Not only are these essential in English classes and standardized exams like the SAT and ACT, but strong reading and writing skills will greatly improve your performance in history classes, government classes, math and science classes, college coursework, and even, eventually, in the workforce.
Reading comprehension and writing skills typically build slowly over a student’s entire academic career, though. Without coursework dedicated specifically to these two talents, students who may not naturally possess these skills never truly get a chance to catch up. The summertime, however, with fewer academic distractions, serves as the perfect time to catch up or even get ahead. As Stephen King once said, “to be a good writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” The summer is a great time to do both.
"Stay Fresh"
Find novels on topics that interest you, ideally at one or two grade levels above your current level to continue to push your reading development and growth. Shoot to read at least five books over the course of the summer. Bonus: see if you can get a friend or family member to read the books with you, so you can discuss them afterwards!
"Catch Up"
If you feel you already struggle with reading and writing, begin strengthening these skills before issues arise later in your academic career. Meet with a tutor who can set you up with a reading program and meet every other week to discuss the books you read in between. Your tutor can help build your ability to recognize main ideas, shifts in tone and topic, character perspectives, use of irony and sarcasm, and many of the other important skills necessary. Bonus: strong reading skills also improve reading speed, an invaluable lifelong skill.
Developing a strong vocabulary early on will be helpful in a myriad of ways, most notably in helping further improve reading and writing skills, which you by now know are crucial for academic success. The summer is a great time to start building this vocabulary without worrying about wasting brain power that you could be using for academic classes!
The vocabulary program membean is a great vocabulary-building program. Not only does it calibrate to each student, so you are working at the exact level you need to, but it presents new words in the way vocabulary should be built: in context through a series of activities designed to target every learning style.
The recommendations above are general suggestions. If you have specific questions, reach out to our experts here. We’re happy to help in any way we can.