RAMBO

One resolution all high school students should make this New Year is to get ready for college. That means taking the most challenging courses available to you, doing your best academically and being active in your high school and community.

1) If you are a high school senior, pay attention to the email and other mail you are getting and answer/return phone calls from colleges to which you have applied. This is the time of year when scholarship offers are made and there may be things you need to do to be considered. Do your best this coming semester. You are not just studying for grades, you are getting ready for serious academic challenges in the fall.

2) If you are a junior in high school, take the SAT and ACT and take them several times this spring and fall. If you have disappointing results, take a class or get an SAT or ACT tutor. Make sure you sign up for a healthy load of challenging courses for your senior year. Admissions officers assume that students who take a light senior year load are less likely to be ready to successfully manage a full course-load in college.

3) If you are a high school sophomore, make sure you take the PSAT. It helps you qualify for some scholarships. This year is also a great year to take an ACT or SAT class. Talk to your counselor about honors, advanced and AP courses you can take next year.

4) If you are a high school freshman, don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that you'll worry about college later. Later is now. How well you do in classes this year sets the stage for how well you will do next year and in the future. It is very hard to recover from a lost freshman year with no involvement in school or community and an easy course load with mediocre grades.