With the Christmas season upon us and students on winter break, it’s time to start looking ahead to 2017.

First things first, take a look at scholarships with January deadlines. These should be at the top of your list to begin 2017. Make scholarship searching and applying a priority in 2017. Say you don’t need money for college? Everyone likes free money! The more scholarship money your student earns the less you will have to pay. Save for retirement. Take a cruise. Remodel your home. Wouldn’t you rather keep the money you saved and use it for other family expenses? It’s a no-brainer–every student should apply for scholarships.

For seniors, it’s time to buckle down. There’s no room for senioritis if you are applying to or been accepted to college. Colleges strongly scrutinize your senior year academics. Just because you’ve already applied or received an offer of admission, colleges can and will rescend it if they believe you’ve communicated a lack of commitment and purpose to academics. Start 2017 strong and finish strong!

For juniors, it’s SAT/ACT prep time. If you’re taking the test in 2017, you’re going to be staring the new SAT in the face: it’s going to be available in March 2017. Use the next couple of months to prepare for the test. There are free tools on line to help you study and consider hiring a tutor if you think it will help your student focus and prepare.

Don’t wait to register for these tests at the last minute. If you plan to take the tests in January, REGISTER NOW! And it it’s in the spring, register now to avoid late registration fees. For a comprehensive guide on these registration and test dates, click here.

For sophomores and juniors, it’s time to start thinking about college visits. Sophomores should plan preliminary college visits (visit some colleges to get a feel for college life and prepare a list of wants and needs). Juniors will be making visits to show the college they are interested. Sign up for the tour and schedule and interview. Colleges keep tract of these visits and it will give you an edge when your application is received.

With a new year, comes new challenges and college-related tasks. Planning in December will help you to hit the ground running in 2017.