1. In 9th grade, get two college guides from the bookstore.

Among those recommended, in no particular order, are: The Best 331 Colleges (from the Princeton Review editors) The Fiske Guide to Colleges The Insider's Guide to the Colleges (from Yale University Press) Peterson's 4 Year Colleges At this point, some of the important things to look for in a guidebook are: a rating system which gives you a comparative idea of the quality of life (academic, social), general costs at the school, scholarship and financial aid program availability, test scores of entering students, etc. a way of reporting the ideas and attitudes of current students at each school, some of the popular major fields of study available, percentage of students who graduate within 4 years, etc.

Find two books which you like and can read and understand easily. (These are published annually, so plan to get new ones when you are in the actual college application process.)

2. Buy two packets of sticky notes - one color for you to use, one color for your parents to use.

3. Read through the books at odd moments, whenever you can.

As well as educational criteria and financial aid information, look for the magic words non-need based scholarships/grants and needs-blind admissions. The first phrase means that the college has scholarships or grants available which are based on academic merit or special talents, rather than on strict financial need. (Unlike student loans, these scholarships do not usually require repayment after graduation.)

The second phrase means that the college admits students according to their achievements alone, and often pledges to meet the documented financial need of admitted students. Discuss the financial aspects of your college education with your parents. If financing your college years will be difficult and you are an excellent student, choosing schools with needs-blind policies may be important for you.

Of course, as a prospective college student, you should also focus on the overall educational/social criteria which interest you, and especially on the student comments about each school. If these students are representative of the general mindset of the school, would you like to be there? Does the school have special teams or training available in your field of interest? Put a sticky note in your color on the entries that interest you.

4. Have your parents/guardians read through the books whenever they can, putting their color of sticky notes on the pages that interest them.

5. At some point when the sticky notes are liberally decorating each book, sit down together and make a list of the colleges that interest both of you.

This is a time for discussion of the criteria on each side - your needs as a student, your parents' needs as financial contributors. Write off for further information on the interesting colleges after you've agreed on a list. You can repeat the above process several times.

The purpose of this exercise is to allow you to begin thinking about your college choices early, so that you can match your high school activities and classes to the requirements of the schools that interest you. That quaint little New England liberal arts college might require an extra year of foreign language study, or that sleek technical university might require an extra physics class.

You don't want to find this out in your senior year! You and your parents also have time to review financial options at this point, and to look beyond the boundaries of the obvious choices for your future. Just because a college is nearby and well-known in your part of the world doesn't necessarily mean that you should go there.

6. If you can, plan to visit in person some of the colleges on your list during summer vacations in the high school years.

Just seeing the physical place can be enlightening.

7. In 10th grade, plan to take the PSAT.

(The results of the 11th grade PSAT are automatically entered into the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which awards top-notch scholarships to the top 0.5% of test takers, but students who score in the top 3.0% can often get individual scholarship/grant/financial aid offers, if they have top grades as well. If you want to contend for high placement in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, you should take the test for practice before you enter the 11th grade.)

8. In 11th grade, take the PSAT again.

This time, you will be part of the PSAT/NMSQT pool. That test comes in October. Take the SAT itself in the spring of your 11th grade year. Ask that the scores be reported to your high school - we have an official number - and make sure that the reported scores will be made a part of your permanent transcript in the registrar's office. That way, you can apply to colleges more flexibly, because your test scores are part of your high school record. (Some colleges want the ACT test; if so, take it in the 11th grade, too.)

Remember that Huntington-Surrey offers an English-Math Skills Review elective class. If you are in Pre-Calculus, for example, and your Algebra or Geometry skills have gotten fuzzy, it might be a good idea to review them during the semester when you plan to take the SAT or ACT test. This is a good time to ask for an unofficial copy of your transcript and check it for accuracy. Please report problems to the Registrar immediately.

9. When your SAT/ACT scores come back to you, look at them carefully in relation to the reported scores of the colleges you are considering.

If your scores are higher than the reported upper range of the median 50%, you have good grades, and you've chosen a school which has non-need-based scholarships or grants available, you may be able to obtain one.

If you feel that your scores are borderline for this purpose, you have the summer in which to bring up your skills, either in formal classes or in self-taught review sessions. When you take practice SAT tests, be sure that they are timed.

10. When you get your PSAT and SAT results, you'll probably get a lot of promotional stuff from colleges that may or may not be on your chosen list.

Look them up in your college guide books and make a decision about following up or rejecting each college, and throw the stuff into two boxes - "acceptable" and "rejects." (You may shift the stuff in your boxes from one pile to the other as the months go by and your criteria for colleges become more focused.)

11. In 12th grade, get an updated college guide and send off for application materials from your chosen colleges.

Try to have all your requests for college application materials completed and sent early in the school year. It takes time to do a good job on the applications after you get them, so don't procrastinate. As a general rule of thumb, you should apply to about 4-6 colleges.

At least one of them should be a "stretch" - a dream school that you would love, but you might not get into, and at least one should be a "safety" - a school you know you can get into without any problems.

Be sure to sign up for the Senior Advisory class during the first semester of your senior year in order to get focused help with your college plans, applications, essays, and interviews, as well as general issues of dealing with life after high school.

12. If you've decided to take the SAT/ACT a second time, take it early enough in your senior year to meet your application deadlines.

When sending your applications to colleges, it doesn't hurt to make your personal deadline about one month before the "official" deadline; some colleges use "rolling admissions" and are filled by the date of the official deadline. At this point, you can have your test scores sent directly to the colleges, if you wish, but don't forget to have them reported to your high school as well.

13. When you send in your college (and scholarship) applications, make sure that your high school records - with your SAT/ACT score reports - go out at the same time.

At least two weeks in advance of your first deadline, give a written note to the Registrar's office with this information: your full name your social security number the date of your request a list of colleges (with full names and addresses) to which you are applying the application deadline for each college If you are eligible for scholarships, the colleges will send you information about applying for them. You'll probably need separate sets of records for them. Again, give a request in writing to the Registrar's office two weeks in advance of the deadline.

14. When you've finished the first semester of your senior year, check with the registrar's office to make sure that your updated transcript is sent to the colleges - and scholarship committees - you've chosen.

15. When the replies from the colleges come back, you'll probably have several acceptances. Discuss these as a family.

16. Make sure that your final high school transcript is sent by the registrar's office to the college (and the scholarship office of the college) you will be entering in the fall.

Please request this in writing. Normally, only one final transcript per student is sent out. (In most cases, this will finalize the college admission process.)

17. Recycle all the college guide books and all material from the colleges you are not going to attend.

(See if we can use some of the things for the school library.)

18. Give your parents a copy of the college catalog/course book you receive at entry, and get a second copy for yourself.

This is the contract under which you entered the college, and if the standards/requirements change while you are there, you are entitled to graduate under the original ones - if you can prove that you know what they are! (Ask your parents to keep their copy safe, in case you lose yours.)

19. Plan to arrive at your college early enough to attend the freshman orientation sessions, even if these are not required.

At least you will know where to find the various buildings when classes start.

20. Keep in touch with us... we want to know how you are doing!