Your Acceptance Letter

Check your mailbox for acceptance letters from colleges.
If a college you are considering hasn't responded, contact the Admissions Office to follow-up:

Compare your acceptance letters,

financial aid offers, and other criteria to narrow your selection down to 1-2 schools.

Upon your selection of school(s), you will be required to send in a non-refundable deposit to secure your position in the Freshmen class. So make sure this is the right decision.

College Comparison and Profiles

you can profile two or more colleges on cost, student size, teacher ratio, and other criteria:
www2.collegeboard.com

view college rankings by school criteria and other rankings
www.library.uiuc.edu
college rankings from US News & World Report:
www.usnews.com

Most schools have a May 1 deadline

for acceptance. Deposit money will likely be required to reserve your admission. Stay on track to meet these deadlines.

Not everyone is going to get accepted to their college of choice. With the limited number of slots available, a sizeable portion of applicants will be turned away.

Your college search plan has you submitting applications to multiple colleges. Use your comparison sheet to select the best alternate college for your undergraduate needs.

Other options you might consider:

• Community Colleges:
  some students start with a community colleges to improve their grades and study performance. After a period of time, they transfer their credits and grades to their college of choice.
  
  Make sure the course work you take at a community college will be accepted by your university. You want to avoid repeating classes and course work.
  
  
• Online Programs:
  look into online programs for certain course work. Again this will give you the chance to prove your academic abilities that may be transferred to your college of choice.
  
  
• Work for a Season:
  some students may work during the year and apply to their college of choice in the Summer or other off-season semester. The number of students attending during the summer are fewer giving you a better chance to be accepted.
  
  Some students may seek employment at the university. This does not guarantee acceptance later on. However it does give you an advantage when making an application for attendance.
  
  Check your college's employment listing

But, it also requires late nights in the library to keep up with assignments and course exams.

You can find some helpful guides and books to help you along the way. Some samples from our college prep area:

• illustrated study books and other series
• study notes
• online study guides

It's more difficult to keep up with your college courses than it was in high school.

You will cover 5-10 times more reading material and assignments. You need to develop good study skills to keep up. Some suggestions:

Online Study Skills Workshops:

• From Virginia Tech:
  time management strategies
  seven strategies for improving test performance
  increasing textbook reading comprehension
  strategies for improving concentration and memory
  
  more information
  
  
  
• Developing Good Study Skills
  from the augustine club
  www.columbia.edu
  University of Minnesota Duluth study strategies
  www.d.umn.edu

Learning Abilities:

• University of Texas at Austin Learning Center
  www.utexas.edu/student
  
  Homework & Studying at Home
  henson.austin.apple.com

The most important thing to "take" when you start school is discipline and the motivation to succeed.

You will use discipline to:

• keep up with your class assignments and readings
• prepare for the mid-week exam
• make preparations to continue school
• pass each class with honors
• graduate with honors
• find that perfect job
• build up your career
• live a successful life

The ingredients of discipline include a well-rounded character with hope and motivation.

Learn more about building discipline and a better you.

• FREE Downloads, No Registration Required
  
  pdf file: summary plan for building discipline
  pdf file: complete book on character development

That money can be used for tuition, housing, transportation and even some fun entertainment.

If you worked last summer with a job that you liked, go back and see if you can work with them again the next summer. Or try to find a different summer job that fits your career goals:

• Summer work programs:
  Job listing for teens from many brand-name retail and other name companies:
  www.snagajob.com
  another posting of summer jobs:
  www.summerjobs.com
  job postings exclusively for teens:
  www.teens4hire.org
  
  
  
• Internship Programs:
  internships in your field of interest is a great way to get experience that will help you college
  http://internships.wetfeet.com
  
  
  
• Search Classified ads in LOCAL PAPERS:
  you will find many local summer jobs through your local online classifieds:
  www.newspaperlinks.com

What do you need to do?

Now that you have selected which college to attend, you now need to get yourself there ... plus setup your own home.

• you need find housing
  either on-campus or off-campus
  
  
• you need to think about transportation
  how are you going to get around town? Are you going to have your own car, motorbike, or use public transportation
  
  
• you need stuff for the dorm
  we're talking about clothes, shoes, personal gear, computer, software, bed and bath linen, kitchenware, and anything else to setup home
  
  
• you need to take care of essentials
  that includes bank accounts, insurance, local registrations, etc.
  
  
• you need to plan for the move
  either by car, plane, train or plane. Are you shipping your items or taking them with you?
  
  
• you need to get your school supplies
  includes books needed for your course work (save money by buying used), pencils, note pads, printing paper, and other study supplies
  
  
• you need to start college
  familiarize yourself with campus facilities, campus safety, local services, recreation activities, and other.

Jump over to our college move area for a complete checklist on these important college move items

Includes a FREE college packing checklist (pdf file)

Before making a decision about credit cards, student loans, and other credit financing, take a brief moment to view our affiliated center on credit card and debt management:

(links to our affiliated site at SayGoodCredit.com)

Credit Management
summary review of credit and how to start and develop your own credit skills. Topics include:
introduction: about credit
types of credit
what is credit management
applying for credit

establishing credit
maintaining good credit
repairing your credit

Debt Management
learn tactics to manage and avoid debt.
Topics include:
about debt management
how much debt
solving your debt problems

managing credit card debt

Budget Management
develop important budgeting skills while in school.
Topics include:
why budget
what's in the budget
developing a spending plan

budgeting worksheet
tips: Lowing Your Bills

Credit Card Use 101

It's a big step heading off to college. It's another big step entering into the world of financial management and credit financing.

• As a graduating high school student, you will be targeted by credit card companies on the "EASE" of using and having your own credit card.
  
  Think about it! Your own personal card to buy pizza, clothes, gas, music — you name it — without having to pawn money from your parents.
  

But there is a hitch!

The credit card charges will come due in about 25 days. And if you are like most students, you won't have have enough money to pay your credit card off.

No problem!, say the credit card companies. Simply pay the minimum payment (which will be very low) and continue using your card up to your available credit line limit.

• That is where the credit card companies entrap you — they want to keep you paying that low minimum payment from month-to-month.
  
  By paying just the minimum payment each month, it will take you about 23 years to pay off your credit card balance.
  
  Now you can see why credit card companies want YOU as their customer

You may need a cash card for school

Many college-town merchants will not accept checks and you don't want to carry around cash. But beware! Many students quickly get into debt with easy use of credit cards. What kind of card should you get:

1. Pre-paid credit:
   see how to use pre-paid credit cards to manage and budget your student funds. They work just like credit cards. But they limit your spending by the amount of money you load to the card:
   
   view how to use pre-paid credit to manage student loans
   
   
   
2. Get smart:
   preview student credit cards to get an idea on what type of cards are available. Equip yourself with knowledge on what is out there to avoid getting hooked on a credit card marketing offers:
   
   link over to our student credit card center for a selection of student card programs and benefits