3 New Year’s Resolutions for Connecticut College Bound Students

2016 will be a huge year for Connecticut juniors heading to college. Here are a few resolutions that you should keep.

1.) I will start the college process early.

This would mean NOW. In counseling college bound students for the last 15 years, I have never head a parent or student complain about starting too early.  If you begin SAT-ACT prep now, you have a chance to wrap up testing by the end of junior year.  If you do your college visits in the next few months, you’ll be in good position to know where you would like to apply early action.  If you gain admission to a college of choice early action, then you will know where you are heading to college by the end of this calendar year.

2. I will do my best to ensure my numbers (GPA/SAT) will generate my preferred options.

Sometimes the small town teen  circles of Connecticut suburbs are wonderful.  Good information is passed on about the college process.  Sometimes, however,  misinformation is generated. Perhaps the biggest misconception among some teens is that colleges are not looking at the numbers as much as they are at activities.  Abundant evidence suggests otherwise.  Make sure that you do what you can to maximize your GPA and test scores, unless you now with certainty that such numbers won’t matter for schools of interest.

3. I will feel grateful through the college process.

Most every teen in the world would feel grateful that their parents are in position to send them to an American college. Students in Connecticut are incredibly lucky.  Most don’t realize that Connecticut is on the short list of great states to raise children.  (I speak as an outsider who has lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC). Feel fortunate that your “problem” is the college process. It is a pretty great problem to have.