If you are reading this, most likely you are somewhere between 15 and 18 years old (or have a child of this age), trying to comprehend a large, obscure and scary monster called College Admission. You’ve probably already been told many bitty pieces of advice regarding this topic and are confused by the amount of preparations you have to go through. On one hand, it is completely natural! Going to college is one of the most important steps towards building a successful career. It is a milestone that largely predetermines your whole life. It’s also a decision you certainly do not want to regret in the future! Moreover, it is a long-term investment and should be thoroughly planned.

However, on the other hand, studying should be fun, isn’t it? And there is little fun about going crazy with worries and uncertainty, that’s for sure! While there is nothing we at KeepSolid can do about your school attendance or exam results (you, the student, are the one responsible for this), we offer our top-notch solution, Roadmap Planner, to assist you with the planning process. Keep reading and you will learn a few weighty tips that will help you better understand the road you are about to take. After all, well begun is halfway done!

Tips for students

The list of steps you have to take can be split into long-term tasks (1-3 years before college) and short-term tasks (less than 1 year before college).

Long-term:

• If you haven’t already, it is about time to consider which college you’d like to go to attend and start saving money for it.
• Take classes in core academic subjects. In the US, for example, colleges generally require three years of science, math, social studies, four years of English, and, in most cases, two years of a second language. That’s the minimum you should focus on.
• Get involved in school-based activities, or consider volunteering or working in areas related to your future career.

Short-term:

• If you reside in the US, we suggest you submit your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) right after October 1st, as well as any other financial aid applications you are required to submit.
• Take SATs (Standard Attainment Tests) or any other such exams. You’re often allowed to pass them multiple times (or to pass training tests). Use this to your advantage to make sure you get the best results possible!
• Apply to the chosen colleges. It’s highly recommended to apply to multiple schools at once.

Tips for parents

If you are a parent of a college bound student, there is work for you as well. Consider the tips below and help your child reach the winning results.

Long-term:

• The main thing you should do – the sooner the better – is to discuss with your children their college plans. You’re likely to find some sort of misunderstanding or lack of knowledge regarding this issue in them. And it’s extremely important that you help your child figure everything out and get rid of confusion.
• Keep an eye on their grades and study habits. It’s a stressful period for high school students and you should be ready to involve and help them.
• By this point, you should have already opened a college saving account for your child – make sure you add to it regularly.

Short-term:

• Help your child fill out all documentation they have to in order to avoid any last-moment complications.
• Understand terms of student loans and taxes and explain them to your child along with the responsibilities involved in accepting them.

Additional hint

Despite the fact we have only listed the most crucial and somewhat tricky tips, it might already feel quite overwhelming to keep track of such a long and various sets of tasks, isn’t it? Which is perfectly fine, a human brain normally can’t trace such information for a long time. However, our top-notch productivity solution, Roadmap Planner, will definitely remove part of this weight off your shoulders. With this app, you can easily set an arrange of tasks within a specified timeline and monitor their completion. This way you will never forget about a crucial milestone or lose track of an important assignment – a great aid to planning and visualizing future for both students and their parents.

As you can see, college admission is a big deal indeed, but Roadmap Planner will help you to better structure the final goal and make the road to it more clear. So give it a shot, download Roadmap Planner and try all its premium features for free with a 21 day trial version.