<p>hi i live in right around the philadelphia area and i am a sophomore in high school can someone tell me when i should start visiting college campuses. and the mid teir schools in PA, NJ, NY,DE. thanks a lot all feedback appreciated!!</p>
<p>With both of my kids we started out by looking at a couple of nearby schools during the fall of their junior year to try to get a sense of what type of school (ex. size) each one liked. We did most of the college visits during the Feb. and April vacations of their junior years. Good luck.</p>
<p>so is there anything that i should do this year for college other then get good grades??</p>
<p>If you’re going on a family vacation or in the area of a college, go visit it, even if you don’t think you’ll like it. It’s helpful just to get an idea of the feel of a college campus. If you can, go on a campus tour or visit an admissions info session.</p>
<p>Also, it’s time to start thinking ahead to the SAT/ACT. When do you plan on taking it? Are you going to take a class? Maybe take a practice test sometime over winter break to get an idea for which test you prefer and your projected score.</p>
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That is the most important thing. </p>
<p>Another area to get started in is achievement & involvement. Depending on how selective a college you end up becoming interested in, awards and ECs matter. I can’t stress enough you shouldn’t do this just to impress admission officers, you should only do things that you find personally rewarding and valuable. 10th grade is a good time to start figuring out what you enjoy. 2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>
<p>Lastly be sure you’re building a good reputation for yourself among the teachers. They talk to each other, you know, and even though you probably won’t be getting recs from 10th grade teachers when you apply to college if some take a dislike to you and spread that word it can poison the well for you down the road even if you cause no problems later.</p>