4 Tips for 9th & 10th Graders Who Dream of Being a Longhorn

Attending the University of Texas is a goal for 9th & 10th graders, particularly those who have family members who attended and who grew up cheering for the Longhorns. The best way to prepare to have a strong UT application is to actually focus on having a great high school experience, academically and extracurricularly. Here are 4 ways to ensure you get the most out of your high school years.



1. Explore Majors Early


9th & 10th grade is the right time to start exploring majors based on your academic interests. What classes and learning experiences most excite you? If your student loves science, they might want to investigate STEM careers. Do they enjoy building things? Perhaps they should research engineering jobs. If they have an aptitude for writing, they could explore communications-related careers such as marketing or public relations. Here are three excellent ways to explore careers:


  • Informational Interviews: You can help your student by connecting them with people you know in careers of interest so they can talk to them about what they do. Our Guide to Informational Interviewing walks you through the process step by step
  • Shadowing: Informational interviews can easily turn into an opportunity for your student to shadow someone for a day or even a few hours to see if the career is interesting to them.
  • Internships: In high school, internships can be as short as a week, are typically unpaid, and can give your student a real taste of a career, ideally with a small project they can assist with.


OUR GUIDE TO EXPLORING COLLEGE MAJORS



Choosing a major is an exciting journey, and it's one to go into prepared—the choice of major will not only determine what they study for the next four years, but also has the potential to impact the rest of the student's likelihood of admissions to many schools. This guide offers suggestions for how to navigate the process, important stats about majors and their career tracks, information about how a major choice will affect your student's high school years, and much more


CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY

2. Rigorous Coursework


Taking the most rigorous possible (at least in the coursework that relates to possible majors) is important—another good way to explore majors. For example, it’s better in the early years to take an engineering or CS class, or business, health sciences, or art class to figure out if it’s truly an interest. Your student should aim for As in all their classes, and particularly those that relate to a potential major.


3. Leadership


Your teen should start to explore activities that interest them, whether it’s debate, a sport, etc. with the goal of ultimately developing leadership in that area. Obviously, they won’t be the president of an organization freshman year, but by finding and sticking with an activity they love, they can set themselves up for leadership opportunities in upper grades. The most important tip is not to sit on the sideline and wait to get involved. Students should dive into activities in or outside of school early in high school.


4. Community Service


Early high school is an ideal time for students to think about community problems they might want to try to impact. If they care about animals, encourage them to volunteer at a local shelter. If they care about homelessness, have them volunteer with a nonprofit working in this area. The amount of community service hours is not the most important factor - it’s increasing their focus and commitment to a specific area. Focusing on hours can be useful as a way to determine what areas resonate with you, but the hours themselves are not the goal. 


By focusing on these four areas, not only will your student have a fulfilling high school experience, they will build a resume that supports their choice of major, a critical factor in UT admissions.


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