Summer break is approaching, and I know you are ready to have a blast. The furthest thing from your mind this summer will be school. However, this will be an excellent time for you to start planning for college. It doesn't have to be in-depth planning, either. Giving yourself some time to start thinking about where you would like to attend and improving your academics in the new school year is a good start. So, are you willing to spend some of the summer break preparing for college? If you're not convinced, allow me to give you some pointers.
Why wait? Start Now
Although most students postpone college preparation until their Junior and Senior years of high school, you don't have to wait. You can start your college admissions prep as early as eighth grade or freshman year. Early preparation will place you ahead of the rest when it comes to college prep. The sooner you can get all of your documents to the college admissions department, the sooner they can make decisions about your acceptance. Remember, you are competing with tens of thousands of students for a finite number of slots. If you plan, colleges will be able to make decisions whether to accept you sooner.
The Importance of Starting College Prep Early
For students, choosing a college will be a significant decision in your life. Like with all major life decisions, the more planning you put into it, the better the outcome. Here are a few reasons why you should start preparing for college early.
You will know what to do when the time comes.
One of the best reasons to start now preparing for college is to be more informed about things ahead of time. Since you are aware of the things you need to do ahead of time, you can plan your time wisely. Early planning will help you complete things in a timely fashion and improve your time management skills.
You can take advantage of lots of scholarships and grants early.
Another good reason to start preparing early is that you can take advantage of scholarship and grant opportunities as soon as they become available. You can begin working on them before they are due and tweak them until it's time to submit them. If you want to learn more about scholarship opportunities, please listen to my podcasts with Ebony Payno.
You will have less stress from pressing deadlines.
When you wait until the deadline approaches for admissions, financial aid, or scholarship money, the items you send may not arrive in time. As Murphy's Law states: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Therefore, if you avoid waiting until the pressure is on to submit essential documents, you and your parents won't experience much stress.
How College Readiness 101 Can Help You Prepare
If you don't know where or how to start, you are in luck. My College Readiness 101 program shows you how to prepare for college by grade level, starting with 8th grade. I also have workbooks in the series that help parents prepare to coach their students through the college prep process. Each workbook explains to both students and parents what they should do to make the college prep process smoother.
I know college prep may not be in your summer plans. But at least you can obtain your copy of the College Readiness 101 workbook now and be ahead of the game when the school year starts. Doesn't that sound like a great plan? Well, let's get started.
Stock image courtesy of Photo 90687941 © Paulus Rusyanto | Dreamstime.com
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