Believe it or not, it is never too early to start thinking about college, even as a 9th grader.  The good news is that the more you do now, the easier it will be later on during crunch time when you need to start applying for college, financial aid, and scholarships.  At this stage of the game, it is important to look at your steps during 9th grade as laying the foundation for your high school career and making choices that will help you to achieve your college and career goals.  These steps are as follows, per season:

Spring/Summer

    •    Add to your credentials – meaning, if there are additional activities, community service projects, or other things you can join, it would continue to help pad your high school resume and help maximize your chances of getting a scholarship.

    •    Start learning about college – spend perhaps a weekend during the spring and summer visiting college websites.  Learn more about the costs to attend each college, the types of majors they offer, and their statistics on post-graduate career placement, income levels, etc.

    •    Start visiting colleges – it isn’t too early to visit colleges, especially those in your area, so that you can start getting a better feel for college life.  College is not just about the party scene – if you can visit schools, especially during the school year, you can see exactly what types of activities students are involved in, you can meet current students and ask them questions, and get a sense for each school’s size and enrollment numbers.  Some students may prefer a smaller college.  Hence, visiting schools are the best way to learn more in this regard.

Fall

    •    Meet with your guidance counselor as soon as you can - have a conversation with your guidance counselor in terms of getting advice about the classes you should be taking and other steps you should pursue in light of your ultimate college and career goals.

    •    Get involved – being part of school activities make you a well-rounded student, something that is important to many colleges when selecting applicants.

    •    Pursue the right courses – don’t just pick classes because you think you will like them.  Taking college prep courses will definitely help you when in college, and make sure you are pursuing the core requirements, including math, science, foreign languages, and English.

Winter

    •    Make sure you make the grades – starting off with a high GPA and overall class ranking undoubtedly will help you get into college.  Furthermore, they also make it more likely for you to receive a scholarship so that you will have to pay/borrow less money to attend college.

Any Season - Start Saving

    •    Whether you’re just getting started with the college search process or you’ve already been working on it, we highly recommend that you access and use the Smart College Report, as one of its many benefits is to give you a good sense of what you may owe at the end of your college career in light of your intended major and career choice.  Once you do so, you can then come up with a savings plan where money is put aside every month or money is added to an existing savings account.  It is never too late to start saving money – start doing it now!  It will make a difference.