Whatever the choices you make, make sure you are taking all things into consideration when making your decisions. Take your time and make the right decisions for yourself. Research the schools you’re interested in, go visit them. Talk to other students who attend the schools that you’re interested in. There’s a great new way to connect with students from different colleges, it’s called Facebook. If you can’t physically walk the campus and talk to the students, then you might want to take the virtual route and search them out online. As always, be wary online and never give out any personal information. If you can get favorable answers to your questions than perhaps you may want to take the next step and visit the school. Take the guided tour, walk around the campus on your own, and the surrounding areas as well.

Is this a good fit for you? Do you feel comfortable on campus? A good place to compare different colleges in various ways can be found at the Princeton Review, where you will find out how many students are at a particular school, what their average SAT score is, how the school rates in education, partying and sports. If you know someone who has attended a college that you’re interested in, then talk to them. It might help if you wrote down a list of questions you want to ask so you don’t forget them.

You can choose a university that is close to home, or across the country. You can choose a college by how much it costs in tuition or by how high the average GPA is of the student body.

If you’re more comfortable in a rural setting, you can find many universities that are in small towns. If the urban scene is more your style, then look into colleges and universities within major metropolitan cities. Perhaps somewhere in between would be more comfortable for you.

Making sure that your college is a good fit to your personality is an excellent idea because you’re going to be spending a lot of time there, four years to be exact

Once you’ve decided on a school, you’ll need to decide on where you’re going to live; on campus or off? As a parent myself, I’d recommend living on campus the first year in order to acclimate yourself to living away from home for the first time. Dorms usually come in cooking and non-cooking styles. You can choose to eat in the cafeteria or cook for yourself. If you’re not the greatest cook, then the non-cooking rooms might be the best choice for you. You can probably have a microwave in your room to make snacks like popcorn and hot chocolate.

Whatever your decision, make sure you check out all your options; discuss them with your parents and friends. Make the best possible choice for you and you won’t regret putting in the time to study all of your choices.

The SAT is a three hour exam intended to measure a high school senior’s chances of academic success in the first year of college. Most colleges and universities use it as a barometer of how you’ll do as a freshman and whether or not they’re even going to admit you to their hallowed halls of higher learning.

The SAT used to be known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, but now that College Board (the entity that dispenses the SAT) says it no longer means that and that it is simply known as the SAT, and that’s it. Whatever it’s called, it’s still a scary three hour exam in which you will be tested on a variety of things. You’ll be tested on your verbal and math reasoning abilities, as well as your ability to understand and analyze written materials, draw inferences, to differentiate shades of meanings, to draw conclusions and solve math problems. These are necessary skills for a successful career in college an out in the work force.

Taking the SAT can be a scary thing for you. It’s not like the other tests. This is THE TEST; the one test that you need to ace to get into the college of your choice. This means that there may be more anxiety associated with this test than most other exams you’ve taken.

I’m here to show you how to lessen your SAT test anxiety. The first advice I can give you is to learn as much as possible about the SAT. Familiarize yourself with the exam as much as possible beforehand. You can do this by going to the College Board’s website at www.collegeboard.com. At their website you can take their daily SAT question, take free mock SAT tests and sign up for online courses or purchase books to help you study.

The College Board website will help you learn what each part of the test is, what it will require of you and how you can prepare for it. If the College Board website isn’t what you need to help prepare, then google SAT prep and you’ll find out that there are a great many websites out there devoted to helping YOU get a perfect SAT score!

Find a club at school that interests you and join up. If you like it a lot, become the president of the club and run it. Perhaps you’re interested in basketball or volleyball. If so, try out for the teams and give it your best. Many scholarships are given for athletic reasons and this just might be your chance to get your college education paid for.

Sign up to be on the school newspaper or the school yearbook. This shows your prospective college that you’ve got goals and the desire to work hard. If you become editor of your school paper, even better! This is a leadership position that will bode well for your future.

If you’re interested in politics then you might want to consider running for student office. Becoming your class president means a great deal of work for you and the opportunity to learn leadership skills that will translate to effective qualities on the outside of high school.

All of these things are important, but don’t go after these to the detriment of your SAT scores. Volunteering, being involved in sports, taking on leadership positions and working at a job are all laudable pursuits, however you can do too much and burn yourself out. Work for balance in your life and always remember to take time to prepare for your SAT.

The most successful college applicants are those who have prepared hard for their SAT, have maintained a high grade point average, are involved in sports or other extracurricular activities and are able to show that they have developed leadership qualities that they’ll bring to their life at college. These are students who understand how to balance their time and their activities. So while it’s an excellent idea to be involved in good things, even too much of a good thing can be bad thing.

Your school might weigh different aspects of your application differently. It would be a good idea to start looking at your school’s criterion for admission as a junior to see where you should apply your efforts.

The SAT is an important part of your admissions application because the score you receive on this exam will tell the college admissions board whether or not you’re an attractive candidate for their school. As I’ve said before, the SAT isn’t the only thing that admissions boards look at in an applicant. They want a well rounded person, a student who has mastered the art of balancing their life. There are things you can do to make yourself a more attractive applicant to the college of your dreams.

Volunteer work, outside of school has many benefits, not only does it look great on a college application it makes you a better person. Volunteering your time is an excellent way to connect with other people, to grow as an individual and to give back to your community. There are many places that need volunteers in your area, you only need to open your eyes and look to see where the needs are.

You know that Senior Citizen’s center that you pass on your way to the mall? Stop in there at some point and ask if they need volunteers. They will probably have a class you have to attend familiarize yourself with their clients. If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, try finding a pet shelter that works with wounded or abandoned pets. There are many of them out there that need more help, more hands-on volunteers that love and care for animals of all kinds. Hospitals need volunteers to help with things that would take up too much time for the nurses or doctors. There might be a hospital resident that has no family to visit. You might be able to sit and talk to them, to help relieve their boredom and show them that someone cares. Yesterday while I was in church they passed around a paper saying there was a 93 year old woman who was housebound and would love to have visitors. I signed up to visit her for ½ an hour this month. She can’t visit long because it tires her, but just a small amount of time can make a difference in someone’s life.

Another volunteer idea is a soup kitchen or a food bank. There is an increasing number of families and individuals in economic need. Some must choose between paying the bills or buying food; buying their prescriptions or eating. Thankfully many churches have foodbanks to help out the less fortunate. Think about volunteering there and giving part of yourself to others. You won’t be sorry.

Besides helping you become a better person, it looks good on your resume for college.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re more than likely the former and not the latter. You’re a planner, with your eye to what comes next. Having your eye on what’s important and knowing where you want to go in life is a wonderful thing. It means that you have goals and are working towards achieving them. Planning is good but it takes a healthy dose of hard work to get where you want to be.

Never be afraid of the hard work. Never be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something. If there are things about the SAT that confuse you, ask someone. Talk to your parents, talk to someone who has taken the exam or speak to your high school counselor. There is a great deal of help and resources out there to help you succeed in your quest for a college education~~take advantage of each and every one of them. Perhaps once you’re done with high school, the SAT and you’ve been accepted into college, you can be a mentor for a younger sibling or someone else that is following in your footsteps. It’s a noble thing to reach down and help those behind us and lift them up. Show someone the right path to success and it will surely help you on your own road.

Most schools will tell you exactly what they want you talk about. Some want you to tell them what you’ve learned about yourself during your time in school. Some want to know what your achievements are, how they’ve helped shape and form the person you’ve become. Depending upon how many colleges you’re applying to, you may have to write a series of essays, or adapt one essay to fit each college’s requirements.

If you don’t feel comfortable writing an essay and don’t have a lot of experience with doing so, don’t panic. There is a lot of help out there for you to use in order to fine tune your essay writing skills.

Your first stop, of course, should be the College Board website where they will give you free essay writing tips and have you write an essay. You’ve probably already taken the SAT and so you know what is involved in good writng. If you haven’t taken the SAT, then you better log on to the College Board and register to take the next exam in October.

There are other places to find help on writing your essays. If you google College Essay, you’ll come up with more over two million results. TWO MILLION! Naturally you’ll have to sift through the results to come up with the best nuggets of helpful sites.

As you’re planning to write your essay, here are some ideas from ClassBrain.com to help you on your way with ideas.

• What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? Do not limit yourself to accomplishments you have been formally recognized for since the most interesting essays often are based on accomplishments that may have been trite at the time but become crucial when placed in the context of your life.
  
• Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
  
• Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a meaningful way? Why are they your favorites?
  
• What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
  
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
  
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
  
• Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you most like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? These questions should help you realize what you love most.
  
• Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?
  
• What is your strongest, most unwavering personality trait? Do you maintain strong beliefs or adhere to a philosophy? How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about if they were writing your admissions essay for you?
  
• What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
  
• What are your most important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join these activities? What made you continue to contribute to them?
  
• What are your dreams of the future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you need? How does this particular university fit into your plans for the future?
  

You might try writing on some of these topics and then revise, revise, revise. Have someone you trust proofread your work. If you’ve got a good relationship with your English teacher at school, ask her or him to read it and give you some feedback. The more eyes that see your work, the better chance you have of turning in an exceptional essay that will be a quality piece of writing and an asset to your admission packet.

The videos are all fine, if you like that sort of thing, but none that I found really seem to be offering any concrete help in SAT preparation. A few of them were slick advertising for some SAT books or courses you could buy in order to prepare.

All the SAT videos in the world won’t help you prepare to take the SAT. What will help you is a determination to succeed and setting goals to make it happen.

Someone once said if you don’t write down a goal then it’s not a goal it’s just a wish. I think this means that if you’re not going to set some concrete goals and steps to make that goal a reality then you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Write your goal down. Is it getting 2400 on the SAT? If so, then write that down. Now you know where you want to go. The next step is getting yourself there. 2400 is the BIG goal. Now you need to set small, reachable goals in order to get to the big one. Set time aside each day to practice your vocabulary. As you do it, cross it off your list. This will give you a feeling of accomplishement. Make a goal to learn a certain number of SAT vocabulary words per week. Mark off your progress on a chart. As you see the marks pile up you’ll see how much progress you’re making towards the BIG goal of getting a perfect SAT score.

If you continue to reach your little goals you will be moving slowly but surely towards the main goal you’ve set. Reward yourself for milestones reached. Treat yourself then go back to work on your goal. If you do these things and put your forth your best effort, you will succeed.

That’s a huge deal. Going to college is exciting and even a little scary. You may be going away from home for the very first time in your life or you might just continue to live at home and go to a college near your house. Either way, you’re in for some wonderful new experiences in the next four years of your life.

If you are planning on going to a college some distance from your home, you’re going to have some decisions to make about where you want to live. Dorms on campus or off campus housing? I’d recommend that you try living on campus for at least the first semester to give you a chance to find out how things work at your school. This will give you some time to acquaint yourself with the surrounding areas of the university. Take time to walk the neighborhoods, look at what off campus housing has to offer. Living on campus your first year might make it a bit less intimidating for you. If you have an older sibling that goes to the college you are admitted to and they are living off campus, you might want to look into moving in with them.

One thing you’re going to experience at college is having a roommate. Depending on how you grew up, this could be a culture shock of a very serious kind. If you have a lot of brothers and sisters in your family and you’re used to sharing a room with someone, the having a roommate at college shouldn’t be that much of an adjustment for you. If you’re an only child and have never shared a room with another soul before, then this might take some time to feel comfortable. A roommate can turn out to be your best friend or your worst nightmare.

Campus Housing offices generally try to match roommates that want the same things, as applicants fill out their admission forms for housing. If you’re the studious, religious type then it might be best if you were not paired with a punk rock playing slacker. Not that I believe anyone would actually put that down on a housing application, but you see where I’m going with this. It’s best to be compatible with someone that you’re going to be spending a lot of time with.

If you find that you simply cannot get along with the roommate that has been assigned to you, talk to your housing office. Generally they can help you change rooms or make other arrangements in order to make you more comfortable.

After the first year of dorm life you may feel that off campus is where you need to live. By this time you’ve probably checked out what’s available and decided where you want to live. Dorms are generally for the underclassman, but you can live there during your entire college education if that’s where you are most comfortable. You can even apply to be an RA, a Resident Assistant. An RA lives on your floor or in your building. They are generally an older student who knows how things work, and they are there to help you with any issues you might be having. Your RA is the person to talk to if you need help or have questions about your dorm room or rules.

Wherever you decide to live while you’re at school, make sure you feel safe there. After all, it’s your new home for the time being.

*Take a hot bubble bath, yes even if you are a guy. You’ll be surprised at how relaxing it can be.

*Read a good book, one you don’t have to read for any class. Send your imagination soaring and you’ll forget about the stress of the day.

*Go for a long walk. If you have a dog, take the canine with you for company. Look at the sky and the flowers and smell the fresh air. You’ll feel better and rejuvenated in body and mind.

*Retail therapy. This is mostly for the girls, but it can help the guys too. Going shopping or simply walking the mall and window shopping can be a way to kick back and relax.

*Do something nice for someone else. When you’re thinking about the needs of others, you rarely have time to feel sorry for yourself or wallow in pity for the things you’re going through. It’s one of the best ways to pick yourself up. Find someone who needs something, or seems down and cheer them up. You’ll feel better in the process.

*Watch a good movie. I’m not talking about some tense, suspense filled shoot’em up bam bam type movie; I’m talking about a classic movie, perhaps one you haven’t seen before. You’ll discover just why it’s called a classic once you see it.

*Grab some friends and play a game of touch football or baseball. Sharing sports with some good friends is an excellent way to blow off some steam and it’s good for your health as well.

These are just a few ideas to get you going. I’m sure you might have your very own way to take a deep breath and step back from the crazy world surrounding you. Whatever works for you is great. Remember that it’s not worth it to work yourself to death and forget to be you. All things in moderation.

One way to make the most of it is to set a goal for your grades and studying. Make a schedule so you don’t lose important and valuable time by spending five hours beating Halo when you should be studying for that chemistry exam.

Yes, it’s time to go back to school and back to responsibility. While it’s not always the most fun you can have, it is very important. When you do your best, when you work your hardest and get that A or A+ you have a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. It’s yours and yours alone. You did this, you worked for it and made it happen. Nothing can take that away from you, unless you allow it to happen.

There are a great many things pulling you in many directions during your senior year in high school. You’ve got to maintain your high grade point average by studying and doing well on tests, you have to prepare to take the SAT if you haven’t already done so, you might have a senior project that you need to finish for graduation and you might even be involved in sports or other extracurricular activities that are all calling for your time. We all have only 24 hours in each day and by cramming as much into it as possible it’s easy to become stressed, lose sleep and lapse into unhealthy eating habits all in the name of saving time. Don’t let this happen to you.

It’s a good idea to schedule your study time, just as you would a doctor’s appointment or a class. If you don’t set aside some time for your SAT prep, the it could quite easily fall through the cracks and be forgotten. Get a notebook calendar or use your electronic blackberry or simply write it down on a piece of paper, but DO write it down. It’s easy to overlook if it’s not written down.

If you have friends who are preparing for the SAT as well, you might want to schedule a block of time during the week to get together and study. You can quiz each other on vocabulary and math and practice writing essays. However you study, make sure you have a set time for it and don’t let it slide behind playing video games or surfing the Internet for hours. If you have problems losing track of time when you’re online it might be a good idea to have a timer with you. Set it for an hour and when it goes off, stand up and walk away from your computer. It’s easy to sit there instant messaging with friends and posting on myspace and before you know it, four hours have gone and you have nothing to show for it. Use the timer, or have your parents clock you. However you want to do it, time yourself. Make time for the really important things. I’m not saying that relaxing isn’t important because it is very important. What I’m saying is that you need balance and if you’re spending an inordinate amount of time on one thing and ignoring other areas of your life, then you need to reevaluate your habits.

In my next blog I’ll give you some ideas that will help you deal with the stress of being a senior and having so much on your plate right now.