Every September many high school seniors all over the country find themselves scrambling to plan their lives. These teenagers feel pressured to do the things they may or may not have even though about yet. They begin to realize how many steps go into even choosing colleges you would like to attend, than comes finding the time to visit and tour these colleges, filling out application after application, and holding your breath the whole few months that you wait around anxiously for that letter in the mail hopefully starting with the words, “We are pleased to inform you…”

In some of these cases, students do not know where to start. Even after asking a teacher or a parent or any college graduate it is easy to be confused. There are so many options when choosing post-secondary schools. The opportune time to start the long process of moving on from high school to college is the junior year of a high school career, but that definitely does not mean it is too late for someone past that point.

The first step sort of began the moment of entering senior high. Achieving good grades opens the door to so many more options as far as colleges that will accept you. Universities want students that they believe will go far even after they have their degree. Also, the more activities you participate in drastically improves the attractiveness of having you on campus.

Next, taking the SATs or ACTs are important. Many people do better with standardized testing than they do in a classroom. For these people, SATs and ACTs can help show your mental capability and how much knowledge you actually have, and many schools require taking one or the other. Take the SATs over and over if necessary. Colleges will only look at the highest test score achieved.

All these tips may help with becoming prepared for filling out applications, but what about the actual picking of schools? Well, there are quite a few factors to consider while researching possible choices. Do you want to live close to home or move away? Live on campus or commute? How much money are you willing to pay for tuition? What is important to you? Some schools have Greek affiliation and others do not. Some have thousands and thousands of new students each year, other small schools accept a few hundred. How do you best learn? These are all very important to think about while making a decision of which colleges to apply to. But don’t be afraid to apply to many universities. It’s always good to have a few acceptances to fall back on if your first choice didn’t come through.