10th Grade Month-By-Month Roadmap

This module is designed to guide 10th-grade students through a pivotal year in their college admissions journey. As students begin to solidify their academic and extracurricular profiles, this roadmap provides clear steps for deepening involvement, developing leadership, and preparing for future opportunities.

Students will: Refine their academic focus by maintaining strong grades, exploring advanced coursework, and creating a tailored study strategy for standardized tests like the PSAT and SAT. Deepen their extracurricular involvement by identifying leadership opportunities, starting impactful projects, and scaling existing initiatives. Strategically plan for summer programs and opportunities by researching competitive programs and crafting polished applications. Prepare for long-term goals by building relationships with teachers, networking with mentors, and mock-filling the Common App to identify gaps in their profile. This module also includes advanced and elite-level strategies for students aiming to stand out, such as scaling local initiatives to regional or national levels, creating professional landing pages, and showcasing measurable impact in leadership roles.

Whether you’re looking to take your first steps toward leadership or scale your achievements to new heights, this roadmap provides the tools and structure needed to succeed. Let’s make 10th grade a transformative year!

Foundations Curriculum

10th is your commit year. 9th was "explore": 4–6 activities, one competition track, figure out what your school offers. Now you pick two lanes and go deep. Adcoms don't reward range at 18. They reward a student who produced something real, in something specific, by 17. That something gets built this year.

Every month has five parts: Focus, Must-Dos (3), Stretch Goals (2), If You're Behind, Deadlines, plus an Insider Note at the end.

Inside Must-Dos you'll see 3 tiers:

• Magnet/IB heavyweight (TJ, Blair, Stuy, BASIS, NCSSM, IMSA, Bronx Science, IB Diploma)
• Strong public with full AP slate
• Small, private, or rural school with limited APs

Pick the tier that describes your school, not the one you wish described it.

About the Insider Notes. Each month ends with an Insider Note pointing at tools, databases, and moves most 10th graders never find. Free, public, used by almost nobody.

Focus. 9th was explore. 10th is commit. Walk in with your two lanes chosen, schedule at max rigor, written plan for May results. Students who drift into September of 10th grade never recover the year.

Must-Dos

1. Kill 2–3 activities from your 9th-grade list. Pick your two lanes. Look at your results log. Where did you produce something real? Where did you just show up? Keep the two that combine real interest with real trajectory. Range is a 9th-grade move. Depth wins from here.
2. Take the hardest course load available.

Magnet/IB: APs typically start in 10th. Insider: At TJ most 10th graders take 0–1 APs on-schedule, but self-studying AP CSA, Stats, or Human Geo alongside is credible and costs $98 per exam. At IB schools, ask the IB Coordinator if you can start HL a year early (common for Math HL and Lang A HL; most default you to 11th).

Strong public: 2–4 APs in 10th. Insider: If APs are gated, the subject chair (not counselor) typically approves overrides. Send a 2-paragraph case: 9th grades, competition/test scores, summer-reading commitment. Target AP Calc AB/BC, Chem, World, Lang. Trap: AP Physics 1 has ~7–8% 5-rate, one of the lowest of any AP. If offered, take AP Physics C instead.

Limited-AP: exhaust in-school options, add dual enrollment. Insider: Virginia DE, FL Dual Enrollment, OH CCP, NY CUNY College Now, TX ECHS, WA Running Start, CA Concurrent Enrollment, NC CCP, GA Dual Enrollment all let you take free college courses starting 10th. If not enrolled by now, see your counselor this week.

1. Write a 1-page "10th-grade thesis." What two lanes. What specific May results define success ("AIME qualifier," "USACO Silver," "Scholastic regional Gold Key," "Sci Oly state team," "DECA ICDC qualifier"). What you're trying to do in your free time. Goes on your desk.

Stretch Goals

1. Draft your LinkedIn profile. You'll need it in January for research outreach.
2. Start a doc that'll become your Common App Activities preview. Seeing the 150-char description limit now shapes how you word every activity for 2 years.

If Starting Cold. Pick the two lanes your school is strongest at (where upperclassmen actually win) and commit. 22 months is enough.

Deadlines: Fall team sign-ups (first 2 weeks); schedule-change window (end of Aug); AMC 10/12 school registration often opens.

Insider Note — re-read Naviance with commit-year eyes, and run the CSS Profile simulator with parents.

Two moves almost nobody makes:

1. Re-read Naviance (or Scoir) with 10th-grade eyes. Last year the scattergrams looked abstract. Now they're a map. For each of your 5 dream schools:

• Find the GPA/test cluster where admits and denies overlap (the "gray zone").
• Find the dot where admits cluster above denies (the "clearly-in zone"). That's your target.
• Count total dots over 5 years. If a school admitted 2 students from yours in 5 years, that's a real pipeline data point. Zero dots means no pipeline or implicit cap.

2. Run the CSS Profile simulator with parents this month. Most families figure out aid in senior year and get blindsided. The CSS Profile is used by ~250 private colleges on top of FAFSA. It asks more than FAFSA (home equity, non-custodial income, small business assets).

• cssprofile.collegeboard.org — simulator is free, no account needed to estimate.
• Every dream school has its own Net Price Calculator. Google "[college name] net price calculator". Run 5.
• If the NPC says your family pays more than feasible, which schools become "meets-full-need"? That's a smaller list than you think: Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Pomona, Swarthmore, Grinnell, Davidson, Vanderbilt-ish.
• Read "Common Data Set: A College App Secret Weapon" in this Classroom; CDS Section H tells you each school's average need-based aid.

Knowing this at 15, you shape 10th through 12th to reach a college where money actually works. One family conversation this summer is worth 20 senior-year ones.

Focus. Q1 grades are your junior-year rec-letter teachers forming first impressions. Start strong, start specific. Identify the 3 teachers most likely to write your LORs, and the regional AO at your top 2–3 dream schools.

Must-Dos

1. A in every Q1 class. If 9th's study system produced A-minuses, it needs to change, not intensify. Practice tests, spaced review, problem sets, past exams. Cut rereading and highlighting; both feel productive and do little.
2. Identify your 3 target rec-letter teachers now. In 11th you'll ask 2–3 teachers for Common App letters. They write best for students they knew by Q1 of 10th. Target one STEM, one humanities, one lane-aligned. Front row, office hours week 2, come back week 4.

Magnet/IB: your most-rigorous teachers are also the most requested LOR writers. Insider: At TJ/Blair/Stuy, the post-AP teachers (Multivariable, Linear Algebra, Organic Chem, Research Statistics) write the highest-leverage letters because they speak to material beyond AP. Volunteer for their research groups now.

Strong public: one substantive question per week per target teacher for the first month. Insider: Teachers who coach a club or team (debate, Sci Oly, robotics, newspaper) see you in two contexts, producing stronger letters. Join something one target teacher sponsors.

Limited-AP: your teachers write fewer LORs per year (more time per letter) but may need framing. The "Recommender's Secret Weapon (Brag Sheet)" guide in this Classroom is the template to give them in May; read it now so you know what material you're accumulating.

1. Register for 10th-grade competition cycle.

STEM: AMC 10 or AMC 12 (anyone under 19.5 on contest day can take either; strong math students often take 12 in 10th). USACO contests Oct, Dec, Jan, Feb (usaco.org). Sci Oly tryouts. Insider: AMC 12 is the route to USAMO; AMC 10 caps at USAJMO. If you're aiming PROMYS/Ross/RSI/PRIMES long-term, USAMO via AMC 12 is the credential on admitted profiles.

Humanities: Lincoln-Douglas is accessible now if you did Public Forum or Congress last year. For MUN, aim at state-circuit conferences; HMUN/YMUN/NAIMUN are junior targets. Scholastic regional submission deadline is typically December.

Business/CS: DECA and FBLA individual events get competitive; target district qualification this year.

Stretch Goals

1. Identify your regional AO at top 2–3 dream schools (see Insider Note).
2. Listen to 3 Admissions Unlocked podcast episodes per week on commutes (eduavenues.com/podcast).

If Behind. Didn't commit to two lanes in August? This week. Q1 grades return in 3 weeks.

Deadlines: AMC 10/12 school registration; USACO October contest; Scholastic regional submissions open.

Insider Note — identify your regional AO and do one LinkedIn chat with a dream-school upperclassman.

Every selective college's admissions office is organized by geographic region. One AO reads every application from your state, sometimes your counties or school districts. They're your first reader, and they advocate for you (or don't) in committee. Knowing who they are in 10th is a 3-year advantage.

How to find them, free:

1. Some schools publish the map: MIT, Duke, Georgetown, Northwestern, Tufts, Vanderbilt list regional AOs on public staff pages.
2. Otherwise LinkedIn-search: "admissions" "[dream college]" "[your state]". Scroll past junior counselors; you want senior AO or associate director.
3. Attend a college rep visit when they come to your school (Naviance or CCC calendar). The visiting rep is often your regional AO.

Then do one informational LinkedIn chat this month with an upperclassman at your dream school. People search "Education" filter = your high school, "Current Company" = your dream college. Message:

Hi [name], I'm a 10th grader at [school] building toward [your lane]. I read your profile and [one specific: research at X lab, Scholastic Gold Key, robotics role]. Would you have 15 minutes for a chat about 10th-grade decisions?

Most say yes. Take notes: their 10th schedule, summer, competitions, how they built the thing adcoms rewarded. Pair this with "Working Backwards from Top Student Profiles" in this Classroom for the structured playbook.

Two moves. Free. Zero students at your school do either.

Focus. PSAT 10 is diagnostic (no National Merit; that's 11th-grade PSAT/NMSQT only). Use it to choose SAT vs ACT. Attend college rep visits seriously. Build a first-draft college list of 10–15 names.

Must-Dos

1. Take PSAT 10 cold. Stressing misses the point; the score tells you where you are. Insider: PSAT 10 is different from PSAT/NMSQT; only the 11th-grade one counts for National Merit. Some schools give PSAT 10 free; some don't. Ask your counselor by mid-October.
2. First real 10th-grade competition cycle.

Math/CS: 8–12 full AMC 10/12 practice tests by early November. For USACO, climb Bronze to Silver by December (usaco.guide ladder, 3 sessions/week, 60–90 min). Insider: Silver promotion usually requires 3 of 4 in a single contest. The canonical path is structured study of prefix sums, greedy, graph traversal, binary search on answer. Free.

Humanities: aim at state qualifiers now, not novice. For MUN, aim at position paper awards (written pre-conference, rewards preparation over improv).

Research: at TJ, Blair, Stuy, many magnets, junior-year lab placement applications open April of 10th. October is when you should know what labs exist, what topics you'd apply to, and what 10th coursework makes you credible.

Arts/Writing: Scholastic regional submissions due late Nov / early Dec. Build portfolio now. Check your region at artandwriting.org (advancement rates vary wildly; rural regions advance most, NYC/LA are brutal).

1. Attend 2–3 college rep visits this month. Naviance or CCC has the calendar. Focus top-tier targets.

Move: sign in, sit near the front, ask one specific question. Template: "I'm a 10th grader interested in [specific department]. What's a recent course, professor, or research group you'd recommend I look into?" The rep remembers you; the sign-in goes back to them.

Stretch Goals

1. Build a first-draft college list of 10–15 (reach, target, likely). See "Guide to Demonstrated Interest" in this Classroom.
2. Read one lane-aligned non-fiction book (Feynman for STEM, On Writing for writers, The Signal and the Noise for stats/CS, Debt by Graeber for policy/econ).

If Behind. Not registered for AMC, USACO, Scholastic, Speech state qualifier, or Sci Oly? Register this week.

Deadlines: AMC 10/12 (November); PSAT 10 (mid-late October); USACO October; Scholastic regional late Nov / early Dec.

Insider Note — interpret your PSAT 10 and read 3 AO blogs.

Three moves once PSAT 10 lands (mid-December):

1. Interpret correctly. PSAT 10 is 320–1520 (vs SAT 400–1600). Rough SAT equivalent: add ~80. A PSAT 10 of 1350 ≈ ~1430 SAT cold. Well on track. Don't prep yet. A 1150 PSAT 10 means different things in different states; the National Merit cutoff table (NationalMerit.org) gives your state's rough 11th-grade cutoff.

2. Decide SAT vs ACT by February.

• SAT (digital, adaptive, ~2hrs 14min): fewer questions, more time per question, math leans conceptual/algebra.
• ACT (paper/digital, ~3hrs): more questions, less time per question, adds Science (pattern-matching graphs), math leans computational/geometry.

Finish every section with time to spare: ACT probably. Need more time to think per problem: SAT. Strong at chart pattern-matching: ACT. Slower deeper reader: SAT. Most schools accept either with zero preference. See "SAT Reference Materials", "Digital SAT Starter Guide", "ACT Reference Materials", "Your ACT Starter Guide" in this Classroom.

3. Read 3 AO blogs cover-to-cover this weekend.

• MIT Admissions Blog (search "MIT admissions blog"): the best, by a mile.
• Georgia Tech Admission Blog by Rick Clark: frank, funny, public-flagship perspective.
• Brown, Hamilton, Pomona, Grinnell, Vassar: pick one that matches a draft-list school.

Bonus: our "Decoding Harvard: Inside the Admissions Machine" post in this Classroom. Reading 4 hours of AO writing this month changes how you think about what to build.

Focus. First concrete 10th-grade result month. AMC 10/12, state qualifiers across debate/MUN/Sci Oly/DECA, first Scholastic submissions.

Must-Dos

1. AMC 10 or AMC 12. Insider: AMC 10 qualifies to AIME at ~100–115; AMC 12 at ~95–105. A 10th grader on AMC 12 getting 80 is on track for AIME next year. AIME qualification in 10th is a real credential and puts you in top ~2.5% nationally. Insider for strong math: take both A and B dates. AoPS posts both cutoffs; higher of your two AIME counts for USAMO/USAJMO index.
2. State-qualifier tournaments across your lane.

Speech/Debate: state qualifier tournaments Nov–Feb. Qualifying to NSDA Nationals in 10th is elite; qualifying to state is solid.

MUN: late-fall state-circuit conferences; position-paper awards and gavels go on the resume.

Sci Oly: regionals are Jan–Mar; November is builds/study. Insider: Anatomy & Physiology, Disease Detectives, Experimental Design have high ceilings. Bridge, Mousetrap Vehicle reward engineering time. Choose events matching your lane.

DECA/FBLA: district qualifiers Dec–Jan; November is role-play practice.

USACO: Silver promotion attempts (November contest). Bronze-stuck, diagnose weak area.

1. Commit to a 6–8 month deliverable. In April you ship it. Examples: competition medal (not participation), research paper draft, policy white paper, published portfolio, tutoring program with ≥20 weekly student-hours, open-source project with ≥50 stars, articles in real publication, ISEF-qualified poster, published app with real users. Spec in one paragraph; date on it.

Stretch Goals

1. Stretch-level push in your lane this month. Math: USAMTS Round 2 (open-book, free, take-home proofs). Writing/arts: Scholastic regional portfolio. Policy/humanities: extemp or Congressional Debate tournament. Business: DECA district prep. Pick the one that fits your track.
2. Submit something external with a date stamp (application, competition entry, published piece) so you have a November credential to point to in March summer apps.

If Behind. Missed AMC registration? USACO and USAMTS are still open. Get in this month.

Deadlines: AMC 10/12 A and B; USACO November; USAMTS Round 2; state Speech qualifiers; Scholastic regional late Nov / early Dec.

Insider Note — study 5 RSI or PRIMES admits and go deep on dream-school alumni.

The rising-senior summer bar is set by RSI, MIT PRIMES, Clark Scholars, TASP, PROMYS, Ross, SSP: 3–5% admit. You apply in 11th. But the profile is built by end of 10th. Study the baseline now.

1. rsi.cee.org. Click through class profiles and prior alumni. LinkedIn-search 5–10.
2. Look at their 10th-grade activities: competition level, research, GPA, courses. Patterns:

• Most RSI admits: USAMO, USACO Platinum/Gold, or ISEF finalist-level research by end of 10th.
• Most took AP Calc BC by 10th, multivariable/linear algebra by 11th.
• Most had a real research mentor going into 11th.

1. Do the same for MIT PRIMES (math-bio.csail.mit.edu/PRIMES), SSP (summerscience.org), Clark Scholars, PROMYS, Ross.
2. If your trajectory is within striking distance: keep building. If not: pick targets that match (selective but not RSI-level: SIMR, Garcia, COSMOS, Simons, SHAD, MITES Saturdays, UVA SEED). Matching the summer to your profile is how you get in.

Also: deep alumni research at top 3 dream schools.

• LinkedIn People search: "Education" = [dream college], filter by high school or state. Look at 20+ profiles. What did they do in high school?
• Cross-reference Reddit r/ApplyingToCollege profile threads. Search "[dream school]" "accepted" "full stats".
• Working Backwards from Top Student Profiles in this Classroom is the playbook.

You're not copying profiles. You're calibrating trajectory.

Focus. First-semester grades lock. Class of 2026 ED/EA results drop Dec 10–20. The 3-week break moves a lane forward one tier if used well.

Must-Dos

1. Execute fall finals at A-level. Permanent line on the transcript adcoms see in 11th. Practice-test weak subjects; rewrite top 10 concepts per class in your own words.
2. Write your winter-break plan before break. Three buckets:

• Catch up: one weak subject, 90 min/day.
• Accelerate: one compounding move (AMC 12 for AIME in Feb, USACO Silver-to-Gold, research reading, SAT diagnostic under timing, serious writing).
• Rest: one full week of zero schoolwork, scheduled in writing. Year-2 burnout is real.

1. Set Q3 goals in writing before break ends. Competition target, project milestone (deliverable March 1?), grade target. "Try harder" is not a Q3 goal.

Stretch Goals

1. Draft 2–3 cold emails to research professors (send in January; they're slammed at semester's end).
2. Update LinkedIn (title to 10th grader, fall competition results, concrete class names).

If Behind. Grades slipping below A-level? First week of January, meet each teacher with a specific question. Don't wait.

Deadlines: First-semester finals; USACO December; AP registration for May often opens via school by early December.

Insider Note — watch Class of 2026 ED results in real time, then binge over break.

December 10–20 is the best 10 days of the year to learn admissions. ED and EA results drop. Seniors at your school post outcomes in real time.

1. Follow your school's senior Class of 2026 Instagram accounts. Most schools have a senior class account; many post decision reveals Dec 13–17. You see who from your school got in where. Pair with Naviance (many schools post anonymized admits on scattergrams in January).
2. Reddit r/ApplyingToCollege ED Megathread. Thousands of stat-specific breakdowns post-decision. Search "ED accepted 2026" "[dream school]" or "ED rejected 2026" "[dream school]". The denies teach as much as the admits.
3. Pick 3 admits who match a version of you you could become. Similar lane, similar testing. Message 1 for a 15-min informational chat in January.

Over break, go deep:

• Binge Admissions Unlocked (our podcast, eduavenues.com/podcast). Start with Harvard admissions, essay strategy, summer programs, "how AOs read."
• Read the EduAvenues blog (eduavenues.com/blog): school-specific breakdowns (NCSSM, TJ, Stuy, Blair, PROMYS, Tufts summer, boarding school), test-prep deep dives, essay analysis.
• Read one admissions book fully: Who Gets In and Why (Selingo, best modern insider view), The Price You Pay for College (Lieber, financial aid realism), or Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be (Bruni).
• Read Common Data Set Section C7 for your top 5 schools. Google "[college] common data set". Section C7 tells you exactly what they weigh. Read "Common Data Set: A College App Secret Weapon" in this Classroom.
• Watch 5 "college decision reaction" YouTube videos. Descriptions usually include full stats.

Average 10th grader scrolls over break. You read 4 hours, listen 8, enter January knowing more about admissions than most seniors at your school.

Focus. Rising-11 summer applications open. Selective programs close late Jan through March. Walk in with drafts. First cold emails to professors for spring or summer research.

Must-Dos

1. Top 5 selective summer targets by name. 15–35% admit target programs, not pay-to-play.

Selective for rising 11th:

- COSMOS (UCSC, UCD, UCI, UCSD, UCB): ~15–25% at more selective campuses. Cross-campus apps allowed; UCSD most selective, UCSC/UCD more accessible.

- Simons Summer Research (Stony Brook): 25–30%. Research with mentor; must cold-email lab first.

- Garcia MRSEC (Stony Brook): materials science, ~20–25%.

- UVA SEED, CMU SAMS, UT Austin WISE, MITES Saturdays: strong for URM/first-gen, regionally aligned.

- SHAD Canada (if Canadian or dual-citizen): best-kept secret.

- Stanford AI4ALL, SUMaC (rising 11th/12th, very selective ~5–10%).

- Boston University RISE, Notre Dame Leadership Seminars, Northwestern ISP, CMU HCIE.

- State Governor's Schools: free, selective, nomination-based. VA, NC, GA, KY, MO have strong ones.

- Telluride TASS (Sophomore Seminars): TASP for sophomores, humanities, full-ride, very selective.

Rising 12th only (know the bar, don't apply yet): RSI (MIT, 2.5%), MIT PRIMES, PROMYS, Ross, Clark Scholars, SSP, TASP. Study their admit profiles to calibrate next year's application.

Do not apply (pay-to-play; reads as "parents paid $8K for a cruise"): NSLC, Envision NYLF, Summer Springboard, Congress of Future Medical Leaders, most "Leadership Academy" camps, most university pre-college that admits everyone for tuition. "The Insider's Guide to Summers That Matter" in this Classroom has the full breakdown.

1. Maintain Q2 grades. Post-break slump is real; audit Q3 the first 2 weeks.
2. Send 5 cold emails to research professors (for spring shadow, summer volunteer, or mentorship). See "Passion Projects That Actually Impress Colleges" in this Classroom.

Subject: "Undergraduate research interest — [specific topic from recent paper]"

Open: "I'm a 10th grader at [school]. I read your [year] paper on [finding] and was interested in [specific method]."

Middle: 2–3 sentences on relevant coursework, competition result, lab/programming skill. One sentence on the specific question you'd want to explore.

Close: ONE specific ask. "15 minutes next week?" or "A paper to read first?"

Don't: attach a resume, say "I'm passionate about," mass-email a department. 10–20% response is real. 0/5 = tune and send 10 more in February.

Stretch Goals

1. Stretch-level prep in your competition lane (AIME if math, state-circuit debate prep, DECA state prep, regional/national writing submissions, state Sci Oly prep, portfolio revisions for national-level arts awards).
2. Set up Raise.me (grades/activities/APs convert to partner-college micro-scholarships). Free, 15 min, real dollars.

If Behind. Haven't picked summer targets? Pick 4 this weekend (1 reach, 2 mid-selective, 1 match) and start drafts.

Deadlines: AMC 10/12 B; AIME (early Feb); first wave of summer app deadlines mid-late Jan.

Insider Note — research-lab applications at magnets, and cold-email refinement.

If you're at TJ, Blair, Stuy, BASIS, IMSA, NCSSM: junior-year lab placement applications open March–April of 10th (TJ Tech Labs, Blair Magnet senior research, BASIS/IMSA project-mentor assignments). This month:

1. List every research lab at your school. Read each lab's recent output (posters, papers, ISEF). Pick top 3.
2. Email each lab's PI or research coordinator asking for a 10-min intro. "I'm a 10th grader interested in applying to your lab next year. Could I sit down briefly to learn about ongoing projects so my application is specific?" Rare; works.
3. Find 2–3 current upperclassmen in that lab via LinkedIn or mutuals. 15-min chat: what do they actually work on, what was the application process like?

Not at a magnet: substitute local university lab cold email. Most state universities have a PI who'll take a committed high schooler for an unpaid summer research shadow within 30 miles.

Cold email: 3 moves that lift response rates.

1. Reference their actual work. Not the lab's theme. A specific paper, finding, method.
2. One ask. One. Multi-ask emails get deleted.
3. Follow up once after 10 days. "Hi [Prof], bumping this up in case it got buried. Totally understand if timing isn't right."

Most students give up after 2 emails without responses. Persistence at this single move separates kids who have a real summer by rising 11th from kids who have "pre-college."

Focus. Summer app deadlines cluster mid-Feb through mid-March. AIME if qualified. State-level qualifiers for debate, MUN, Sci Oly, DECA.

Must-Dos

1. Submit all summer apps a week before deadline, not day-of. Programs lose submissions every year. Use the Summer Program Application Tracker Template in this Classroom for LOR requests and supplementary uploads.

Essays: don't recycle a Common App narrative. Selective summers want: (a) concrete evidence you'd benefit from this program specifically, (b) a real intellectual interest already in motion, (c) a sense you'll contribute to the cohort. See "Summer Program Essay Examples: Insider's Analysis" in this Classroom for prompt-by-prompt.

LORs: ask 3 weeks before deadline. Give the recommender: the brag sheet (see "The Recommender's Secret Weapon" + "Example Brag Sheet" in this Classroom), a 1-paragraph why, and the list of programs so they write one letter.

1. Take AIME (if qualified). Insider: Honor Roll of Distinction (any score ≥ 5) is a real credential for a 10th grader and shows on admitted profiles. A 0 in 10th is data, not failure; means more structured AoPS Intermediate + past-AIME drills in 1-hour sets.
2. State-qualifier competitions. Sci Oly regionals, DECA district, Speech/Debate state qualifier, MUN regional conferences. State placement is what goes on a credible activities list; "team member" does not.

Stretch Goals

1. Start one compounding skill daily, 20 min. Python, R, LaTeX, Ableton, Blender, stats in your lane. By May, 20 min/day = 50 hours. Real fluency, not "exposure."
2. Attend one academic event: university guest lecture, local research symposium, professional conference in your field (reduced student rates common).

If Behind. Summer apps not drafted? Pick 2 realistic programs and focus everything on those.

Deadlines: AIME (early Feb); COSMOS, Simons, Garcia, SUMaC; state Governor's Schools. Most selective summers close end of Feb or mid-March.

Insider Note — read 20 admitted essays and 10 CDS C7 sections.

Two deep-research moves. Both compound across 2+ years.

1. Read 20 admitted-essay examples across 4 colleges. Free.

• JHU "Essays That Worked" (search "Johns Hopkins essays that worked"). Admitted essays with AO commentary. Closest to a primary source.
• Connecticut College (search "Connecticut College essays that worked").
• Tufts (search "Tufts essays that worked").
• Hamilton (search "Hamilton essays that worked").

5 from each. Read for pattern (what's the voice doing, where does specificity land) before topic. Pair your reading with our Personal Statement Example Responses, Guide to the Personal Statement, How to Write a Killer Personal Statement, Mastering the Supplemental Essay, Cliché to Winning College Essays, and Summer Program Essay Examples: Insider's Analysis in this Classroom.

2. Read CDS Section C7 for 10 schools on your draft list. Google "[college] common data set". C7 tells you what they actually weigh.

• UChicago, Caltech: purely academic. "Very Important" grades/rigor/test scores; most else "Considered."
• Stanford, Princeton: essays and recs "Very Important" alongside grades.
• Tulane, Northeastern, Case Western, American: demonstrated interest "Important."
• Most ivies, Stanford, MIT: demonstrated interest "Not Considered."
• Section C9: legacy and first-gen consideration.

Take notes in a sheet. Your 10-column cheat sheet becomes the most useful college-list document you own, used through 12th.

3. 2 hours of admissions YouTube. Search "accepted to MIT" "stats", "Stanford decision reveal 2024" "full profile". Look for students at magnets like TJ, Stuy, or strong publics in your region.

You won't write your own essay until summer after 11th. Every admitted essay you read between now and then compounds.

Focus. State finals. Summer admissions decisions. The one week of spring break: first real college visits.

Must-Dos

1. State-final or national-qualifier execution. Sci Oly state, Speech/Debate state, DECA state, AIME results, USAMTS final, MUN gavels. Insider: Sci Oly state often requires top-3 or top-5 to reach nationals. NSDA state nominations work by point accumulation; the top few qualify to Nationals in Des Moines in June.
2. Hold Q3 grades. Teachers load heavy grading into March. Finish labs/papers early; review fundamentals the week before each test.
3. Decide summer plan by end of March.

Accepted somewhere selective: commit. Pay deposits on time. Don't double-hold; programs talk.

Not accepted (or declined pay-to-play): Plan B this week. Options by adcom signal:

1. Local university research shadow found via April cold emails.

2. Self-directed project with defined weekly milestones and a public output (blog, GitHub, portfolio, monograph). Our Passion Projects That Actually Impress Colleges guide.

3. Meaningful paid job (cashier is honest; "summer at my parent's office" is not).

4. Free or low-cost online course you'll actually finish: MIT OCW, Stanford Online, HarvardX, edX MicroMasters.

5. Concentrated competition prep with specific output (USACO Gold, AMC 12 AIME qualification, ISEF-track project).

Stretch Goals

1. Visit 2–3 colleges during spring break. Info session + tour + ask current student 3 specific questions. Journal what you liked and didn't.
2. Draft summer-output plan: what you produce by August, weekly milestones, daily structure.

If Behind. No summer acceptance and no Plan B? A strong independent project often beats pay-to-play. Commit this week.

Deadlines: State competition finals; summer decision deadlines (most selective summers respond late Feb–late March; commit fees by April 15).

Insider Note — spring-break college visit playbook and ISEF finalist library.

If you have access to even one visit this spring break:

1. Pick strategically: (a) top 2 dream schools to ground-truth fit, (b) one safety-range school you might genuinely attend, (c) one completely different type (small LAC vs large research, urban vs rural) to recalibrate what you actually want.
2. Info session AND tour. Both. Sign in. Real demonstrated interest at schools that track it (check CDS C7 for each).
3. Eat in a dining hall. Most tours skip; just go.
4. Find one student in your lane. Career center, lab building, main library. 3 specific questions: one class you loved, one you hated, one thing you wish you'd known as a 10th grader.
5. Walk off-campus 10 minutes in 2 directions. What's the actual neighborhood?
6. Email the regional AO the week after: "I visited [school] on [date]. I sat in on [specific class]. I had one question: [specific]." Goes into file; signals early interest.

The ISEF / Regeneron STS / Siemens finalist library. End of March, Regeneron STS announces top 40. ISEF finalists in mid-May. Before making 10th research plans, browse winners' titles, abstracts, posters at societyforscience.org. This is 12th-grade research at national ceiling. Adjusting 10th research trajectory to aim for state-fair placement (not necessarily ISEF finals) is realistic for most magnet students. Our ISEF Principia + Winning Science Fairs guide in this Classroom has project selection, lab finding, submission strategy.

Bonus late March: RD results March 15 – April 1. Reddit r/ApplyingToCollege RD Megathread is peak data. Follow your school's seniors on Instagram; reveal videos are public admissions training.

Focus. 11th-grade schedule submitted this month. Lock at peak rigor; one shot. Start structured SAT/ACT prep: 11th fall/winter is the low-risk window for a one-and-done high score.

Must-Dos

1. Finalize 11th-grade courses at peak rigor. 11th is the most scrutinized transcript year adcoms read.

Magnet/IB: hardest track everywhere. At TJ/Blair/Stuy: post-AP (Multivariable, Linear Algebra, Diff Eq, Organic Chem, Research Stats, ML). At IB: all HL you can fit. Insider: At most magnets you can take more APs than your counselor suggests; the counselor optimizes for broad comfort, not your application. Build the schedule yourself, then ask.

Strong public: 5–7 APs typical. Must-haves: AP Lang, AP Calc AB or BC. Lane-aligned: AP Physics C, Chem, Bio, CSA, Stat, USH, Lit, Economics. Insider trap: don't stack APs with low 5-rates (AP Env, Psych, Human Geo in 11th signals AP-count-farming). Our AP Coursework FAQ and Advanced Placement Courses & Ratings guides in this Classroom rank real credential weight.

Limited-AP: exhaust in-school options and add dual enrollment in your lane. One dual-enrollment Calc 3, Organic Chem, or computational-methods course signals more rigor than two extra generic APs. See Dual Enrollment Guide.

1. Start structured SAT or ACT prep. You decided in Feb. 3-month plan targeting June or August sitting.

Magnet/IB: most clear 1450/33 cold; 60–80 focused hours hits 1500+/34+.

Strong public: PSAT 10 of 1300+ suggests same trajectory with 100–150 hours.

Limited-AP: if PSAT 10 below 1150 or ACT diagnostic below 26, diagnose whether the gap is content or timing. Content gaps: fundamentals first. Timing: practice tests under strict timing.

1. Ship your 6–8 month deliverable. What you committed to in November. Writing? Publish. Code? Open source with README. Tutoring? Publish stats. Research? Poster submitted somewhere. Half-done doesn't count.

Stretch Goals

1. Draft a 1-page 11th "peak year" thesis: national-level result target, 2 LOR teachers.
2. Create Common App preview (see Insider Note). Know the terrain.

If Behind. Project not shippable by April? Ship a minimum viable version in May. "Shipped something small" beats "almost finished the big version."

Deadlines: 11th-grade course selection; AP exam registration (final late March at most schools); summer commitment final deposits.

Insider Note — lock 11th with Common App in mind, and preview the app itself.

11th course selection should be made with Common App Activities and Courses sections open.

Create a Common App account this month at commonapp.org. Click every section:

1. Courses & Grades: some colleges require self-reporting every course/grade. Seeing it now shapes 11th tracking.
2. Activities: exactly 10 slots.

• Activity name: 50 chars
• Position/Leadership: 50 chars
• Organization: 100 chars
• Description: 150 chars See Common App Activities List and Honors/Awards List in this Classroom for examples compressing activities into 150 chars without losing signal. Update your activities log with 150-char descriptions monthly starting now. Pre-writing your app.

1. Honors: 5 slots. National > state > regional > school. Tag each award by tier.
2. Personal Statement: 650 words. Prompts stable year-over-year. Draft is summer of 11th. Noting moments across 10th/11th that might become material starts now. See Guide to the Personal Statement, How to Write a Killer Personal Statement, Personal Statement Example Responses.
3. Supplements vary wildly. Click any dream school onto your dashboard and read its supplements. Harvard: ~5 short (150 words). MIT: 5 short (150–250). Yale: 200-word responses. Stanford: 3 (100–250). "Why Us" 250–650 schools require real specificity. Pick schools whose prompts you'd enjoy writing.
4. UC App (universityofcalifornia.edu): 4 short responses (350 words each) called PIQs. No LORs. No legacy.
5. Coalition, Apply Texas, QuestBridge — know they exist.

Other 11th-lock moves:

• Demonstrated interest tracking. See Guide to Demonstrated Interest in this Classroom. Notion/Sheet: date + action per top-10 school.
• Scholarship infrastructure. Update Raise.me, Scholarships.com, Fastweb, Going Merry. Research state flagship scholarships (Bright Futures FL, Hope GA, Excelsior NY, Cal Grant, TEXAS Grant, Michigan Merit, Hathaway WY) and nomination scholarships (Stamps, Morehead-Cain, Jefferson, Robertson, Park, Cameron Impact). Counselor nominations happen 11th fall.
• LinkedIn full build. See LinkedIn Creation Guide and Ultimate LinkedIn Guide for College Applicants in this Classroom. 10th results, current courses, lane skills.
• Resume. First real 1-page. You'll use for cold emails, rising-12 summer apps, internships, nomination scholarships. See Resume Template + Resume Creation Guide in this Classroom.

Every piece compounds across 11th and 12th. Built now, saves 40 hours in senior fall.

Focus. AP exams first 2 weeks. Year-end GPA locks. PSAT 10 results (October) should be informing your SAT vs ACT call.

Must-Dos

1. Execute AP exams. 4s and 5s, not 3s. At a magnet or strong public, a 3 reads as a miss; they know the school and expect higher. At a limited-AP school, a 4+ on your few APs is load-bearing. Insider: College Board publishes released exams (3 per subject) at apcentral.collegeboard.org. Practice released multiple choice under timing, not review-book mock questions. Review-book questions are often harder or differently weighted than real exams.
2. Year-end finals at A-level. 10th GPA permanently locks.
3. Wrap competition season cleanly. Final USACO; Sci Oly Nationals (if qualified, ~May 22–25); DECA ICDC (late April – early May); NSDA Nationals (June, but qualifier lists lock in May); ISEF (mid-May).

Stretch Goals

1. Start reading for summer program (selective programs send problem sets in May).
2. Build personal portfolio site (1 page fine; lane-aligned samples). Domain + Carrd/Notion/GitHub Pages = $12/year.

If Behind. AP prep compressed? Prioritize 2 APs where you can realistically get a 5; aim for 4 on the rest; don't stretch for 3 trying to cram 5.

Deadlines: AP exams (2 weeks of May); year-end finals.

Insider Note — AP distributions, SAT-vs-ACT final call, hidden scholarships.

1. AP Score Distribution Report (College Board yearly, Google "AP exam score distribution [year]"). Know national 5-rates.

• Hard 5s (real credentials, low 5-rates): AP Physics C Mech (~25%), Chem (~15%), Calc BC (~43% elite pool), Chinese Lit, Music Theory.
• Easy 5s (high 5-rates, less weight): AP Human Geo, AP Environmental (~9%), AP World (~14%), AP Gov.
• AP Physics 1 trap: ~7–8% 5-rate, one of the lowest of any AP.
• AP Lang (~10%): hard and weighty.
• A 5 on AP Psych is the weakest AP 5 for adcom weight.

2. SAT vs ACT, final call by end of May. Use PSAT 10 + AP experience + timing profile:

• Slow careful reader, strong algebra, conceptual: SAT.
• Fast, strong at pattern-matching charts, handles computational math: ACT.
• Target: 1500+ SAT or 34+ ACT by November of 11th. One-and-done year with August and November as backups. 60–120 hours structured prep from now to November hits that for a PSAT 10 1350+ student.
• Check CDS Section C7 on each dream school (none prefer one at this point; a few state schools require specific).

3. Scholarships to pin now (apply 11th/12th, profile-shaping starts at 15):

• QuestBridge (questbridge.org): low-income high-achievers. College Prep Scholars in 11th; National College Match in 12th. $200K+ at 50+ partners.
• Posse Foundation (possefoundation.org): 70+ partners, full-tuition. Nomination (school must be a partner).
• Gates, Jack Kent Cooke, Ron Brown, Cameron Impact, Morehead-Cain (UNC), Jefferson (UVA), Robertson (Duke/UNC), Park (NC State), Stamps (40+ partners). Ultra-selective.
• Coca-Cola Scholars, Dell, Elks MVS, Horatio Alger, Amazon Future Engineer, Davidson Fellows. Senior-fall.
• State flagships: Bright Futures (FL), Hope (GA), Excelsior (NY), Cal Grant, TEXAS Grant, Michigan Merit, Hathaway (WY), HOPE (TN), TOPS (LA), MTAG (MS), Arkansas Challenge.

Pin this list somewhere. Knowing at 15 shapes the next 24 months.

Focus. Summer starts. 10 weeks to produce something real. First SAT/ACT sitting is an option; most 10th graders sit in June or August for a real-score baseline.

Must-Dos

1. Week 1: rest. Genuinely. No email, no grind. Without rest, week 2 doesn't compound.
2. Week 2 onward: structured summer plan in writing.

• Output goal by August 15. Specific: "paper submitted to [venue]" or "shipped v2 of [project] with [metric]" or "completed fellowship with poster."
• Weekly milestones. Monday AM: what this week. Friday PM: what got done.
• Daily schedule. Start time, focus blocks, exercise, social, sleep.
• Weekly mentor check-in (teacher, program mentor, parent, online community). Solo summers drift.

1. First SAT or ACT sitting (optional in June). Many wait until August or November. If on pace (PSAT 10 1300+), June is fine. Within 100 of target, prep for one more sit in November. 200+ off, more prep first.

Stretch Goals

1. Rising-12 program recon (see July). Selective rising-12 apps open fall/winter of 11th.
2. 10th results log final pass. Every competition result, grade, project output, LOR candidate, AO contact, summer decision, college visit, CDS note consolidated.

If Behind. Summer acceptance fell through and nothing planned? This week: pick 1 project with clear weekly milestones. 8 weeks of shipped weekly work beats 8 weeks of vague reading.

Deadlines: Summer program starts; June SAT/ACT registration (mid-May).

Insider Note — superscore, score-choice, and the summer reading stack that compounds.

1. Superscore and score-choice policies shape 11th strategy.

• Superscore = school takes highest section scores across sittings. Most schools superscore SAT (highest math + highest R&W across sits). Fewer superscore ACT. Target a specific section on second sit.
• Score-choice = you choose which sits to send. Most allow.
• All-scores-required = school sees every sit. Shrinking list but includes Georgetown, Yale (for some apps), a few others. Check CDS Section C9. If a dream is all-scores-required, be selective about sitting.
• Test-optional vs test-required: 2026 is the first cycle in years where MIT, Georgetown, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, Stanford returned to requiring. UChicago, Pomona, Tufts, Vanderbilt, Caltech remain optional or test-blind. Shifts yearly; check each dream school official policy every September.

2. Summer reading/listening stack:

• Secrets of Top Students in the AI Era by Neil Kothari (our founder). eduavenues.com/secrets. What separates students who thrive from those who just survive the admissions process, specifically for this generation navigating the AI era. Read this first.
• Admissions Unlocked (our podcast, eduavenues.com/podcast): binge back catalog (~40 hours). Harvard admissions, essay strategy, summer programs, recommender strategy, test-optional reality, financial aid, gap year. New episodes weekly.
• EduAvenues blog (eduavenues.com/blog): school-specific deep-dives. Pick 3 schools; read every post on them.
• Other books, pick 1: Who Gets In and Why (Selingo), Fiske Guide (current edition), The Price You Pay for College (Lieber), Colleges That Change Lives (Pope), Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be (Bruni).
• AO blogs daily, 10 min/day: MIT, Brown, Georgia Tech (Rick Clark), Hamilton, Pomona, Grinnell, Vassar.

3. Free data tools to master:

• IPEDS College Navigator (nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator): federal data, more accurate than any ranking.
• CDS for 10 target schools (cross-ref in a Sheet).
• Naviance scattergrams for top 10.
• Reddit r/ApplyingToCollege for stat-specific data.
• LinkedIn alumni research.

One summer of real hours = senior-year infrastructure you never build the conventional way.

Focus. 70% of summer deliverable exists by July 31. Map 11th carefully; peak year cannot be improvised.

Must-Dos

1. Deliver substantive summer output. Whatever you committed to in June. Specific metrics: research paper draft (outline + methods + preliminary results), shipped project (users, stars, published site), tutoring program (student counts, outcome metrics), competition prep completion (AMC tests taken, USACO problems solved), fellowship final deliverable (poster, paper, presentation). Half-done doesn't count.
2. Map 11th month-by-month. Open the 11th-grade roadmap and your calendar side-by-side. By August 1, you should know:

• Exact course schedule at peak rigor.
• SAT/ACT sitting dates (August, November, December most common).
• Fall competition calendar (AMC 10/12 Nov, USACO every 6 weeks, debate/MUN state circuit, Sci Oly tryouts).
• Which 2 teachers get the LOR ask in late spring of 11th.
• Rising-12 selective summer targets (RSI, PRIMES, PROMYS, Ross, SSP, TASP, Clark Scholars, SIMR, SUMaC, SHAD) — apps open Sept–Jan of 11th.
• 2–3 dream colleges where you'll apply demonstrated interest strategically.

1. Start rising-12 summer application reconnaissance. Serious students have lists and lab interests by September of 11th. Go to rsi.cee.org, primes.mit.edu, promys.org, rossprogram.org, summerscience.org, clarkscholars.ttu.edu, telluride.org/tasp, sumac.stanford.edu, simr.stanford.edu, shad.ca. Read every page. Note deadlines. Start your spreadsheet.

Stretch Goals

1. Update 10th portfolio site with year-end output.
2. Draft a 1-page 10th-grade reflection. What 2 moves compounded? What would you tell past-August you?

If Behind. Summer drifting? 2 hours of planning this weekend saves a month. Pick one deliverable you can finish by July 31, cut everything else.

Deadlines: Summer program final deliverables cluster late July / early August. August SAT registration early-mid July.

Insider Note — the rising-12 selective summer bar, and the 11th infrastructure you lock before August 1.

Rising-12 selective programs are the most important summer lever in your entire application. RSI, PRIMES, PROMYS, Ross, Clark Scholars, SSP, TASP: 3–5% admit. An RSI rising-12 is nearly auto-admitted to top-10 STEM; a TASP is similarly positioned in humanities. You apply in 11th, but the profile is built by end of 10th.

Know the floors:

• RSI (MIT, ~2.5%): USAMO, USACO Gold/Platinum, ISEF finalist-level research, PSAT/NMSQT 1520+, mentor recs.
• MIT PRIMES (math research): AMC/AIME math, programming, local (visit MIT). Apps open ~October of 11th.
• PROMYS (BU, math): no AIME required; strong problem-set application + teacher rec. Application is the math problems.
• Ross (OSU/Gettysburg/USC, math): similar; problem-set application. Less selective than RSI.
• SSP (Summer Science Program, astrophysics/biochem): AMC or Olympiad math, programming, strong physics/bio. Application includes essays and problems.
• Clark Scholars (Texas Tech): research-focused generalist, ~12 admits yearly.
• TASP (Telluride, humanities): essay-based, no tests; extraordinary writing and argumentation.
• Garcia, Simons, SIMR, SUMaC: rising-11 or -12, highly selective but broader pool.

Study 5 alumni profiles from each of 2 programs you'd target. Within striking distance for 11th application?

By August 1, lock 11th infrastructure:

1. 11th schedule at peak rigor, submitted.
2. Two LOR teachers identified. Front row, office hours monthly.
3. LinkedIn fully built. 10th results. Specific headline.
4. Resume drafted. 1 page. Updated quarterly.
5. Common App account active, every section clicked, character limits internalized.
6. College list draft (15 names; reach/target/likely).
7. CDS + Naviance notes on top 10.
8. Rising-12 summer targets identified with deadlines on calendar.
9. Scholarship infrastructure (Raise.me, Scholarships.com, Fastweb, Going Merry, state flagships).
10. Brag sheet draft started (see The Recommender's Secret Weapon). Deliver to LOR writers in May of 11th.

Each saves 5–10 hours in senior fall, when your margin is zero. Walk into 11th with all 10 locked, you have a permanent pacing advantage.

By August 1, you should have:

• 10th-grade GPA at A-level
• One state-level or better competition result
• One concrete shipped deliverable (project, paper, portfolio, program, output)
• A selective summer completed (or a strong independent project)
• First real SAT or ACT sitting (or structured prep in flight for a fall sit)
• 11th schedule locked at peak rigor
• Two LOR-target teacher relationships in motion
• First-draft college list of 10–15 names

You should also now know:

• Your regional AO at 2–3 dream schools, by name
• What PSAT 10 and AP scores mean in context of target schools
• What each of your top 10 actually weighs (from their CDS C7)
• Selective vs pay-to-play summer programs
• What a strong cold email to a professor looks like, from practice
• What the Common App and UC App sections demand, section by section
• What the 150-char Activities description forces you to cut
• What 20 admitted essays across 4 schools sound like
• What a realistic trajectory to RSI / PRIMES / PROMYS / TASP looks like
• Which 3 AO blogs you read regularly
• Which scholarships you're actually positioned for

If you have most of it, you're entering 11th with peak-year posture. Missing 2–3? Catch up first week of August. Missing 5+? Talk to your EduAvenues counselor before 11th starts.

11th is the peak year. Peak only works if 10th committed. 10th was the year you stopped exploring and started producing.