College life can be quite hectic and students often fail to catch up on their sleep. Things will be much better students are well prepared starting from high school. With proper preparation in high school, students could actually have enough time to relax and rest in college, even during the busiest time.
- Choose relevant high school courses: Choose only high school courses that are required and most relevant to many colleges. If you fail to choose the right courses, you may put yourself in the position to fail. You should take courses that you enjoy, even it’s quite challenging. If you are struggling on some of the required courses, this is a good indication that you will struggle in college as well. While you may reconsider whether you are planning on the right path in the college, it’s also a good idea to try making good grades instead. It’s more important that you avoid taking on something that you can’t handle. Admissions to the college depend on the academic strength in the high school. This has a correlation on how you perform in the college.
- Get prepared for the SAT and ACT: SAT and ACT are needed to verify your capability to proceed with the educational process in the college. So, high school students need to include test prep process to ensure their admission in preferred colleges. If students are motivated enough, they can be more disciplined and perform test prep on their own. There are prep books that high students should use, such as the Official SAT Guide and Real ACT Prep Guide. Make sure that the book you choose is published officially by organizations that make SAT and ACT tests. These books will give students an opportunity to try something that’s quite close to the actual tests.
- Perform extracurricular activities: With extracurricular activities, you can make more memorable and unique college applications. The type of extracurricular activities you choose could depend on your preferences and skills. These activities may include athletics, choir, theatres, debate club and others. Make sure that you are committed to these activities and you can dedicate enough time. It would be a good thing if extracurricular activities you choose are relevant to your planned major.
- Set up time management skills: The life in college can be quite overwhelming and it will be much easier if students have good time management skills. They need to balance college activities and leisure. There is personal scheduling software that college students can use to improve their management skill. Students should know how to properly set attainable goals and prioritize. College planning should begin one year before high students graduate. It will also be a busy time, so this is the time when students can start improving their time management skills. Make sure that activities can be synchronized properly and schedule is properly managed. Things like smartphones and computers can steal much of their productive time, so they need to be addressed as well.