But, we encourage students to take some time before the Christmas break to begin researching their summer plans. Many of the top summer programs at colleges and private schools fill up well ahead of the spring deadlines.

Focus on your academic interests: if you like science, then check out top science-oriented programs. If you like writing, then look into journalism camps or poetry workshops. Remember, sometimes financial aid is available on a need basis, so don’t be shy about applying. The internet is a good first step to sifting out your options. Check strong programs like summer school at Cornell, Columbia, Andover, and many others.  Advance planning now will come in handy later when you find yourself scrambling to finish these applications by the appropriate deadlines.

For now, at least, request information from 5-10 programs. You might need to organize teacher recommendations, write essays, and in some cases have interviews – so get started now.

Take time to get to know your college counselor. Remember, your college counselor will be writing your college recommendation letter and if he/she doesn’t know who you are it will show. He/she provides an important piece of the puzzle for college admissions officers. They are the “voice” of your school, summarizing how you stack up next to your classmates in the academic competition. They are also your official advocates throughout the college admissions process, even if you use an outside counselor. It’s never too early to set up an appointment to introduce yourself and to keep him or her updated on your latest accomplishments. Prepare a short summary of all your extracurricular and academic accomplishments, especially if they took place outside of school. How else will your counselor find out the necessary information to support you? They are your strongest ally besides teachers, so USE them to your advantage throughout your four years of high school!

One of the best tools available for determining your odds at a particular college is Naviance. This is software many high schools have added to their college counseling services. If your school is not yet on Naviance we urge you to advocate for the addition. Naviance will show you exactly where you are (using your GPA and tests) in relation to other students who have applied to specific schools. The scattergram is a graph with clear indications of past students results and where you fall in that rubric. If your school has Naviance, use it. If not, advocate that they add it ASAP. One thing to point out, however, is that Naviance does NOT show if a student has a hook (minority, development case, athletic recruit), so the info can be a bit skewed.

If your school provides stats on college acceptances in a report style, study it carefully. It might show GPA, as well as scores, and indicate if a student was accepted, rejected, waitlisted at colleges. That way, you can compare yourself directly with other students from your school and get an even better impression of how you stack up.