Join us each month for a FREE webinar where we’ll answer all your college admissions questions!

Welcome to Part Two of our college admissions Q&A series!

If you haven’t read Part One yet (which dealt with transcripts, course rigor, and grades), feel free to go check it out. I’ll wait.

All caught up? Good. Let’s move on from transcripts to test scores.

Test scores a popular topic in our monthly webinars. As a panelist for our Q&A sessions, I see tons of questions about SATs, ACTs, APs, and SAT Subject Tests. Here is a collection of the most commonly asked questions regarding college admissions and test scores. If you have a question that we haven’t answered, post it in the comments below!

Test Scores

When people hear the words “college admissions” and “test scores”, they almost always think, “SAT”. The SAT is one of several tests that high school students should be familiar with when it comes to college admissions. Students should also consider the ACT, SAT Subject Tests, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams.

• What SAT or ACT score do I need to go to ___________ college?
  This is by far the most common question we receive. There is no specific cut off score to get into a specific college because colleges approach admissions decisions holistically, meaning that they evaluate the student as a whole. Your best bet is to visit the school’s website. Most schools will post a range of scores for the most recently admitted freshman class on their admissions page. Even if your scores fall somewhat below this range, you still have a chance to earn admission because these ranges usually represent the middle 50% of admitted students. A lot of students specifically ask about cut off scores for Ivy League schools or other incredibly selective schools. While there is no “cut off” score, it’s safe to assume that you would need to aim for a score above 2100 on the SAT (or above 32 on the ACT) to be competitive for admission at these schools.
• Will a bad SAT or ACT score kill my dreams of going to college?
  No! While it’s true that students hoping to earn admission at the most selective colleges will absolutely need top tier SAT or ACT scores, test scores are not the only thing that colleges evaluate when reviewing your application. Can you get into Harvard with a 1700? Probably not (though I suppose it isn’t out of the realm of possibility). Can you get into a great college with a score under 1700? Absolutely — you’ll just have to do your research in order to find the school that best fits your needs, desires, abilities, and qualifications. And if you are scoring below where you need to be in order to get into the college of your dreams, don’t lose hope: These tests aren’t about innate skills – they’re about how well you prepared for the test. With the right test prep, you can probably get your SAT or ACT score up to where you need it to be.
• Which test should I take: the SAT or the ACT?
  There is no easy answer because some students do better on one test than on the other. The best advice we can offer is to take a practice SAT and a practice ACT and compare your scores. This will give you insight into which test is best suited to your particular skills; then you can focus your test prep efforts on that test. Check out this past article about the tests or view our past webinar, “SAT or ACT: Which Test Is Better for You?”, available on demand in our webinar catalog.
• How can I boost my SAT or ACT scores?
  These tests are all about preparation. A small handful of students score really well right out of the gate – but most students have to spend months preparing for these tests in order to get the best scores possible. The first thing you have to do is to remember that SAT prep and ACT prep are marathons, not sprints. You can’t cram for these tests because they require a lot of foundational knowledge and testing strategies. Some students do quite well preparing on their own with the aid of a good prep book (for the SAT, go right to the source and get the College Board’s version; for the ACT, use The Real ACT, which is ACT, Inc.’s version). Other students need a little more help, whether through formal prep classes like C2’s or through informal tutoring from a test-talented friend. The best two long-term test prep tips on earth: 1) Read a lot to improve your vocabulary, reading speed, critical reading skills, and writing skills; 2) Practice until you think your eyeballs will fall out if you read one more multiple choice question.
• What are SAT Subject Tests, why should I bother taking them, and when should I take them?
  SAT Subject Tests are sort of the ugly stepchild of college admissions tests – no one seems to fully understand their purpose. SAT Subject Tests give colleges another way to compare students’ core knowledge; grades are subjective, but test scores aren’t. You can use SAT Subject Tests to show off (in subjects you’re really awesome at) or to make up for a less than perfect grade (if you really study hard for the test). Plus a lot of colleges (especially the most selective ones) require or “recommend” (which is a nice way of saying “require”) two or more SAT Subject Tests. If you choose to take SAT Subject Tests, the best time to do so is in May or June at the end of the year in which you took the class (i.e. you took Chemistry in 10^th grade, so you take the test in May or June of 10^th grade). For more info on SAT Subject Tests, check out this past post or view our past webinar, “Enhance Your Academic Profile: APs, IBs, and SAT Subject Tests”, available on demand on our webinar catalog.
• How many AP exams should I take and what scores do I need?
  This is another one where the answer will differ from student to student. Some students choose to take AP exams for subjects that they haven’t taken the corresponding class for; if you’re one of those few students who can prepare for such a rigorous exam alone, go for it (but it’s really, really hard!). As a general rule, though, we suggest that you take the exam for each AP class that you enroll in; with the right preparation, you can do well on the exam even if you’ve struggled in the class. As for scores, in theory a 3 out of 5 is considered passing, but each college sets its own standards. Many colleges require at least a 4, if not a perfect 5, for college credit. Still other colleges, such as Dartmouth, don’t award college credit or have developed their own tests for determining college-level content mastery. To learn more about APs, check out our past webinar, “Enhance Your Academic Profile: APs, IBs, and SAT Subject Tests”, available on demand on our webinar catalog.

18-year-old Eesha Khare has invented a device that can charge a cell phone in less than 30 seconds, winning the Grand Prize in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair!

We are always proud of our hardworking students, many of whom go on to attend some of the best colleges and universities in the nation. But this year, we have a special reason to celebrate: For the second year in a row, a former C2 Education student has won the grand prize in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

In 2012, Jack Andraka became the Intel Science Fair grand prize winner and was awarded the Gordon E. Moore Award for his invention, which provided a rapid, inexpensive, non-intrusive means of detecting pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer. The test that Jack invented has the potential to save thousands, if not millions, of lives by detecting cancer in its earliest stages. Jack has recently made news again with his work on a new invention, a handheld device that could be used to scan the human body in order to instantly detect more than a dozen different diseases. Prior to winning the Intel Science Fair, Jack attended C2 Education’s Severna Park location in Maryland.

This year’s Intel Science Fair grand prize winner is Eesha Khare, who developed a device that can charge a cell phone in less than 30 seconds. The device is small enough to fit inside a cell phone, and could also be applied to other electronic items like car batteries. Eesha will attend Harvard University this fall and plans to use her winnings to help pay for her education. This news comes mere months after Eeesha learned that she is a 2013 National Merit Scholarship Finalist, a highly prestigious scholarship awarded to just 1% of the students who took the 2011 PSAT. Eesha attended C2 Education’s Cupertino, California center before taking her PSAT as a junior, making her one of 16 C2 Cupertino students who became National Merit Finalists this year.

Jack and Eesha are amazingly bright, talented, and motivated students who will go far in life. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and brilliant discoveries, and we wish them all the best in the future.

Join us each month for a FREE webinar where we’ll answer all your college admissions questions!

As the school year draws to a close, seniors everywhere heave a sigh of relief. Their high school experiences are over, they have finished leaping through the hoops of the college admissions process, and they are about to embark on a brand new adventure.

But for juniors, the game is just beginning. High school juniors should already have begun the earliest stages of the college admissions process. This summer should not be one for relaxing and playing copious amounts of Xbox – this summer should be utilized to get a jump on picking, applying to, and getting into a college. And not just any college – a really good college.

Over the past year, C2 Education has held a series of webinars designed to address various college admissions issues; each of these webinars features a Q&A chat box for students and parents to ask their college admissions questions. The college admissions process is murky, self-contradictory, and confusing, even for people who are very familiar with the ways that colleges make their decisions, so it’s no surprise that these webinars generate A LOT of questions. (Want to see some of our past webinars? Check out our webinar catalog for on-demand versions!)

I’ve been on the panel answering many of these questions at each of C2’s webinars. Over time, I’ve seen a lot of trends in the questions that people ask us. Today I’ve compiled a list of some of the most commonly asked college admissions questions to help you figure out the crazy college admission game. This is the first in a 3-part series addressing these commonly asked questions. Check back soon for the next installments!

If you have questions that aren’t answered here, feel free to leave us a comment below and we’ll do our best to get back to you with an answer!

Transcripts

Transcripts are a lot more than lists of classes and the corresponding grades. Admissions officers use your transcripts to evaluate your entire high school education within the context of your particular high school, so your transcript is easily one of the most important pieces of paper in your application file.

• Is it better to get an A in a regular class or a B in an AP class?
  The answer you’ll get from any college admissions officer is, “It’s better to get an A in an AP class.” It’s a really annoying answer (in that it isn’t really an answer), but it’s sort of true. Yes, it’s best to take those really hard classes AND get really great grades. But college admissions officers know that you don’t live in a perfect world. In a situation where you have to choose between taking the AP class and possibly earning a slightly lower grade or taking an easier class and getting an easy A, you’re better off looking for the challenge. When admissions officers examine your transcript, they aren’t just looking at your grades – they’re also looking to see if you took challenging classes or took the easy way out. That said, if you know that you can’t handle the workload of an AP class, don’t tank your GPA by taking one. The key is to take the most challenging classes that you can reasonably handle – loading up on AP classes and getting bad grades in all of them won’t help you get into college.
• What if my school doesn’t offer AP classes/only offers a few AP classes/restricts how many AP classes a student can take?
  Colleges evaluate your transcripts in the context of your school, which means that they take into consideration the courses available to students at your school. So if you didn’t take any AP classes because you COULDN’T take any AP classes, you won’t be punished for that. If you only took 3 AP classes even though your school offers 26 AP classes, it’s a different story. The same goes for rules limiting AP classes – you don’t be punished for your school’s policies. If you’re really concerned about it, you should ask your guidance counselor to make note of your school’s AP offerings and policies when they submit their recommendation to the colleges of your choice.
• What if I get a bad grade?
  Never panic over one bad grade. If all your other grades are high, any admissions officer will realize that your one poor grade is an anomaly and not a reflection of your usual efforts. That said, there are still steps you can take to mitigate a less than satisfactory grade. First, consider taking the SAT Subject Test for that particular subject; if you got a C in Biology, a strong SAT Biology score can help to demonstrate that you did eventually master the content. Second, when you submit your applications, consider including a brief addendum to your application explaining any special circumstances that contributed to your poor grade. If you had a severe illness, a death in the family, or something similar, it’s worth letting the admissions office know that there was a good reason that your grade slipped.
• What if my grades were bad in 9^th/10^th grade, but now they’ve gotten better?
  Colleges look for trends in your transcripts as well. An upward trend, where your academic performance improved over time, is often seen as a positive – it shows that you’ve matured both emotionally and intellectually in order to improve your performance. A downward trend spells trouble because it suggests that you might do even worse in college. If your grades started out poor and have since improved, you should do what you can to mitigate those earlier bad grades. This means taking SAT Subject Tests in any subject areas in which you did poorly and submitting an addendum to your college applications to explain any special circumstances, including reasons for why your grades were poor to begin with and why you turned them around. (See the question above for more info on mitigating a bad grade.)
• How many years of a foreign language do I have to take?
  Most colleges want to see at least 2 years of a foreign language. That’s the bare minimum. Because colleges also look for dedication and consistency, your best bet is to take the same foreign language during all four years of high school.

Do you have college admissions questions? Use the comment box below and we’ll do our best to answer them!

In the next month or so, millions of high school seniors will don their caps and gowns as they ready themselves to walk down an aisle and accept their hard-won high school diplomas. This is the culmination of a lifetime of work – but it is a beginning, not an end.

In 1997, Mary Schmich wrote an opinion piece to graduates everywhere entitled “Wear Sunscreen”. In 1999, Australian director Baz Luhrmann used the essay in its entirety to release a musical single, which was heard repeatedly by every graduating class for years to come. In fact, you may be listening to it still.

The advice in “Wear Sunscreen” is excellent, and I strongly recommend that you read the original essay and/or listen to Baz Luhrmann’s version. In fact, some of the best advice I’ve ever received was upon the release of Luhrmann’s single, and I still live by parts of the essay/song to this day.

As Ms. Schmich wrote in 1997, “Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people…I encourage anyone over 26 to try this…” I’m not sure if I qualify as “world-weary”, but I’m definitely over 26. So here goes…

Ladies and gentlemen of the high school graduating class of 2013:

You deserve the time to congratulate yourself on completing the first leg of your journey in life. Enjoy this time – it is fleeting.

You are now an adult. The law says that you can join the army, get married, and enter into a legally binding contract, so it must be true. But you are still a young adult. Because you are young, you will find yourself constantly peering over the horizon. Right now, you’re probably anticipating college and the realm of new experiences that will open to you. This summer, you will probably daydream about your future dorm room, the friends you’ll make, and the accomplishments you’ll achieve in college. By your sophomore year of college, when the novelty of being a college student has worn off, you’ll start to anticipate graduation, and the graduate program or career to follow.

Don’t.

Enjoy this time in your life. A decade from now, you’ll look back over the intervening years and wonder where on earth they went. You’ll long for summer vacations, spring breaks, and the comparative ease of the life of a student. You’ll even miss writing term papers. (Ok, maybe not.) You’ll definitely miss being young and since you only get to do it once, make sure you do it right:

Meet your roommate before you arrive on campus. This person will have a huge influence on your experience in your first semester of college. For good or ill, you probably won’t forget this person. Make friends now before you suddenly realize you’ve become enemies later on.

Enjoy the fact that you can pull all-nighters. Sure, it stinks to be awake at 3 am finishing a long-procrastinated research paper; but in ten years, when you can’t get by without a good night’s sleep, you’ll miss having that ability.

Wear pajama pants. College is the last time in your life when it is socially acceptable to wear pajama pants in public. Enjoy the freedom.

Take a crazy trip during spring break at least once. After college, you’ll never get another spring break (at least not until you have small children, and the vacations won’t be nearly as fun then). But keep the crazy within reasonable limits – fun memories last a lifetime, but so can a criminal record.

Stop worrying about what you’re going to do with your life. Very few people actually end up doing at 30 what they thought they’d do when they were 18. And that’s ok. As long as you try your best and work toward your goals, eventually you’ll end up in the right place, even if it’s not where you thought you were headed.

Explore new interests. Explore things you aren’t interested in. Just explore. When you graduate from college and start your career, you won’t have time to explore again until you retire. And then you’ll be wrinkled and have arthritis, so you won’t want to explore anymore.

Be nice to your parents. Call them, even if they nag you about not calling them often enough (and they will). They’ll miss you while you’re gone, and there’s a good chance that you might have to move back in with them after college. Even if you don’t, one day, it’ll be your turn to miss them. And when that day comes, you’ll regret not calling them more often.

Don’t get your textbooks at the campus book store unless you have no alternative. Don’t sell them back to the campus book store either. There’s no way to win when dealing with a campus book store.

Don’t eat pizza more than once a week. The Freshman Fifteen doesn’t magically melt away when you become a sophomore.

Don’t try to be something you’re not. Anyone who doesn’t like you the way you are isn’t worth your time.

You will have at least one absolutely horrible boy/girlfriend as a college student. That is your right as a young adult. You won’t realize how horrible that boy/girlfriend was until long after the relationship is over. Years later, you’ll look back at that time and realize just how stupid the whole situation was. But as long as you learn something from it, you won’t have wasted your time.

Don’t get a credit card. Just don’t.

You’ll be sorely tempted to skip class at least once a week. Go anyway. You (or your parents) are paying for the privilege to attend school now – make sure you get your money’s worth.

And seriously, wear sunscreen. When you notice your first wrinkles before you turn 30, you’ll really regret not listening to everyone who told you to wear sunscreen.

ACT, Inc. announced plans last week to add a digital component to the ACT starting in 2015. As early as spring 2015, the ACT will be available digitally, reflecting the tech-savvy nature of today’s students. The traditional pen-and-paper format will still be made available, and the content and scoring of the exam will not change. However, ACT, Inc. has plans to add what they are calling an optional “constructed-response battery of questions” alongside the multiple-choice portions on the digital version of the exam. These constructed-response questions will basically be open-ended questions requiring a student-generated response rather than selection of an answer choice.

A recent Washington Post article provided hints into what these “constructed-response” questions might look like:

As of now, ACT, Inc.’s release states that the digital version will only be offered in schools that administer the test on a school day as part of state, district, or school assessments. In addition to its more common use as a college admissions exam, the ACT is also used in some schools to evaluate student achievement. Of the 1.7 million ACT test-takers last year, most took the test at a testing center on a Saturday. So at least for 2015, it’s likely that the digital shift will only affect a small portion of test takers.

But –and this is merely an educated guess — depending on the success of the new digitized version and the makeup of the optional “constructed-response” questions, it’s entirely possible that the digital ACT could overtake the more traditional pen-and-paper version. If colleges find the new ACT to be more attractive and more accurate as an assessment of student knowledge, it’s likely that ACT, Inc. would decide to make the digital version available to all test-takers.

If the digital version becomes available to all test-takers, ACT, Inc. would need to decide what to do with the constructed-response questions: would they remain optional, much like the ACT essay, or would they become a required part of the exam? Unless ACT, Inc. decided to do away with the paper-and-pencil version of the test altogether, the constructed-response questions would likely remain optional, leaving students in the uncomfortable position of determining whether or not to spend time on a purely voluntary portion of the test.

“Regardless of the shifts to the ACT, C2 Education will remain ready and able to help students tackle these kinds of decisions and, of course, prepare for all sections of the exam,” says C2 Education co-founder and CEO David Kim. “We are monitoring the issue closely so that we will be prepared to help our students adjust to these changes.”

In advance of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s address to a joint session of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner and others hosted an informal reception for the visiting dignitary. Because of his standing as a leader with in the Korean-American community and his accomplishments as a successful entrepreneur, C2 Education co-founder and CEO David Kim was invited to attend this reception.

This is the second time that Mr. Kim has been invited to attend an event in honor of a South Korean leader; the first such occasion was a state dinner held in honor of former South Korean President Lee Myung-bok in 2011. Though this event was far less formal, it was no less important to Mr. Kim, who was excited by the opportunity to meet a second modern leader of South Korea.

“President Park’s comments regarding South Korea’s relationships with both the U.S. and North Korea align perfectly with my own personal views,” says Mr. Kim. “It was a pleasure to hear her speak of the partnership between the U.S. and South Korea and of her hopes for a united Korea in the future. I wish President Park and all South Korean citizens the best of luck in coming months.”

C2 Education is staffed by a lot of avid readers, so it comes as no surprise that talk around our water cooler invariably trends towards books and film adaptations of books. Lately, we’ve all become just a little fixated on Game of Thrones. Okay, obsessed might be a better word.

Game of Thrones is HBO’s film adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The show draws an average of 13.4 million viewers each week, making it HBO’s highest rated show for the moment.

Of those 13.4 million viewers, it’s impossible to know how many have already read the original books and how many are Game of Thrones newbies. For those of us who have read the books and have a pretty good idea of the direction the show is going in, the reaction of newbies to each episode is incredibly amusing. But we’re all willing to forgo this amusement in the interest of convincing newbies to read these amazing books. This is the story of a C2 Game of Thrones newbie and his decision to crack open the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire.

Eugene Lee has been with C2 for a long time — he started working here while he was still in college and is now a leading member of our marketing team. Although Eugene likes to read, he’s a bit more tech-minded than many of our fellow C2 co-workers and had not read any of the Song of Ice and Fire books before Game of Thrones premiered in 2011. It didn’t take very long for Eugene to succumb to the peer pressure of his C2 co-workers and start watching the new show. He was hooked immediately.

But he never read the books. Season one finished (Eugene almost fell off his seat at the ending). Season two finished. The entire office nagged Eugene to read the books. (I think I even bought him a copy to guilt him into it!) No such luck.

This year, the third season finally (FINALLY!) convinced Eugene to read the books. “I never felt the need to read the books because I thought, and still do think, that the show was good enough to keep me entertained,” Eugene says. “But I realized that everyone in my circle of friends and co-workers had read the books, so I decided to give it a go.” See? Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing. Besides, Eugene could only put up with everyone’s knowing glances and sly refusals to confirm or deny his theories about the show for so long.

Eugene is still reading the first book, so he certainly hasn’t caught up with the show. “I must admit that I am thoroughly enjoying the first book. Even though I already know the major plot points, reading the books after watching the show has been great. The show helps you to better visualize the author’s detailed descriptions and to keep track of the 100+ characters in the series,” he says. “But more than that, reading the book has given me insight into the history and characters of the show. I feel like I can enjoy the show more because I understand it at a much deeper level now, and I haven’t even read enough to catch up with the show yet!”

So what’s his favorite part of the books so far? “The books are set up so that each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character, so you get the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and motives of the main characters in a way that the show simply can’t match. It’s one thing for the show to give a visual suggestion of a characters inner thoughts, but with the books you’re inside the characters’ heads.”

With summer right around the corner, we urge you to pick up a copy of the first Song of Ice and Fire book (the aptly titled A Game of Thrones). If you already love the show, the books will give you a whole new experience. And if you’ve never seen the show, the books make for an excellent fantasy series all on their own (although Eugene and others agree that the books are a lot easier to get into when you already have a basic understanding of the setting and main characters from the show).

Just for fun, here are some stray observations and favorite quotes from the books and the show:

• “Winter is coming.” (Ironic when you consider that Game of Thrones always premiers in spring…)
• “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” (Thanks for telling us on EVERY SINGLE PAGE, Ygrette.)
• “HODOR, HODOR, HODOR. Hodor. Hodor?“
• A Lannister always pays his debts. (Or at least gets his Daddy to do it.)
• Those who read the books get to know Strong Belwas, a super cool character who has been inexplicably erased from the television series.
• If you think you’ll be bored with the books because you’ve seen the show, think again — even people who have read the books multiple times are left guessing with the show because the show writers have made a lot of interesting changes to the plot and characters.

In August, the Common App will undergo a massive makeover. The so-called Common App 4.0 will be more streamlined and user-friendly than its predecessor – but it will still be a lengthy, rigorous process. How will these changes affect you? Read on to learn more…

What Is the Common App?

Once upon a time, students applied to maybe 3 colleges – a safety school, a reach school, and a dream school. Those days are long gone; in fact, more than 25% of students report applying to 7 or more colleges. That’s A LOT of applications to fill out. That’s where the Common App comes in.

The Common App is an application accepted by 488 schools, including such big names as Yale, Harvard, and Stanford. Although students often have to submit extraneous supplemental materials for each school, the Common App allows students to complete just one primary application. It’s a huge time saver and makes the whole process go a whole lot smoother.

Why Is It Changing?

The Common App is currently still running off of a computer system put in place seven years ago. In terms of technology, that’s dinosaur age. Because of its age, the current Common App is clunky and confusing. For example, the application shows all of the questions for a given section at once – sometimes more than 2 dozen questions, many of which are irrelevant to the student.

How Will It Change?

The Common App 4.0 is the result of an entirely new computer system, and it will be much more intuitive. Think of the new application as the difference between completing a tax return by hand and using Turbo Tax. Turbo Common App will show students only a few questions at a time, and the student’s answers will determine which subsequent questions will be asked. No more wondering whether or not you were supposed to leave something blank!

The content of the application itself will not be changing, but the essays will. The old Common Application had a 500 word limit, which wasn’t very well enforced because students could upload their essays so there wasn’t a technological barrier to submitting essays longer than 500 words. Common App 4.0 will not allow students to upload their essays – they will have to either type or copy/paste them into a given field, which will automatically warn students when they exceed the word limit.
The word limit itself is also changing – from 500 words to 650 – as are the essay prompts. For one thing, the “topic of your choice” is gone. A lot of students will probably groan at that one, but we are actually happy to see it go. Why? Students had a tendency to write an essay for a specific college’s essay prompt, but then use that same essay under the “topic of your choice” category to apply to several other colleges. It’s rarely a good idea to use the same essay for ALL of your college applications, especially if it was originally written in response to a specific essay prompt from a specific college.

Interested in learning more about the new Common App, college applications in general, or college admissions essays? We’ll be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, May 15 at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST). The event is free, but registration is required and spaces can fill up fast – register today!

Here in Georgia, where C2′s corporate headquarters are based, final exams are just two or three weeks away — our local students are already in a rush to get ready for these end of year exams, which can count for 20% or more of a student’s final grade. Students in most of the country still have five or six weeks to go, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepping for these tests already!

Take it from a former procrastinator: Cramming doesn’t work.

For the immediate benefit of students in the South, who are anticipating summer break, and for the future benefit of students in the rest of the country, who still have a little breathing room, we’ve compiled a list of some of our best final exam study tips:

• Do Triage. Especially if you know you’ve got a LOT of reviewing to do and not enough time to do it in. You might think that you should divide your time evenly among all of your classes, but you shouldn’t. Identify the classes where your grades are the weakest and the classes where you think you need the most help — focus your efforts there. Don’t ignore all your other classes, but allot less time to those subjects that you’re already doing really well in.
  
• Don’t Be Afraid to Admit Weakness. The time before final exams is the time to admit to any potential weak areas. If you know you need an A on your Algebra final, but you also know that you won’t be able to get that A on your own, ask for help while there’s still time. Start with your teacher — a lot of teachers are more than happy to stay after school for intensive study sessions. Alternatively, seek out a good tutor. C2 Education’s tutors help thousands of students get ready for mid-terms and final exams. They’ve been in the studying trenches, and they know how to help students maximize their exam scores.
• Be Careful with Study Groups. Studying is boring — we know that. Studying can be less boring if your friends are in the trenches with you. But study groups only work if all members are equally dedicated and on roughly the same page in terms of subject knowledge. Otherwise, your study group can easily do more harm than good.
• Look At Past Tests. There’s a good chance that the material your teacher tested you on throughout the semester will appear on the final exam. If your teacher didn’t give you a review packet or a list of items that will be tested, then reviewing past tests and quizzes is your best bet.
• Teach Someone. The absolute best way to master new information is to teach it to someone else. So if you need to work on understanding the Pythagorean theorem, make your mom sit down while you explain it to her. Teaching the concept to someone else will help cement the information in your mind.
• Outline Your Outline. Yes, that’s redundant. What we mean is that you should look over your notes from the semester and condense them into a study guide. The very act of writing out the most important information will help you to better remember it. In addition, the mental processes of organizing the data into a single, truncated study guide will force your mind to absorb more of the information. And then you’ll have this nice, neat, condensed study guide as you continue getting ready for finals. Who know — maybe a younger sibling will thank you for that study guide in a few years.

Today is National College Decision Day. Most colleges want you to submit your final answer by May 1, which means you know where you’re going to college, and you can’t wait to get there. But first, since graduation is just around the corner, you plan on spending the next few months kicking back and relaxing after 12 long years of primary and secondary schooling. You deserve a break…right?

Maybe you do, but wasting that break isn’t going to be helpful in the long wrong.

The summer between high school and college should be a time to enjoy the ending of a major chapter in your life, but it should also serve as the preface to adulthood. These precious months offer you the chance to begin the transition to college and to adulthood, getting you a few steps ahead of your peers and making your life easier down the line.

We’ve asked some of our tutors and past students for insight into that last summer before college. Among their many tips, here are the ones we think are the most helpful:

1. 1. Learn how to do laundry. That sounds ridiculous, but you’d be amazed how many college freshman arrive at the dorms without the slightest clue about laundry. Unless you plan on looking like a hobo by the end of the first semester, now would be a good time to figure out the mechanics of sorting, washing, drying, and folding clothes.

1. 2. Pre-orient yourself. Colleges provide incredibly elaborate orientation sessions that sometimes take up your entire first week on campus. It’s easy to end up with information overload during orientation, so use some of your time this summer to familiarize yourself with the various administrative offices (financial aid, bursar, student services, etc.) that you’ll be in contact with at college. If it’s possible, consider arriving on campus a few days before orientation begins to give yourself a chance to learn the campus layout.

1. 3. Read, read, read. College is going to require a ton of reading — far more than you’ve had to do for most high school classes. If you let your brain take an extended break this summer, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Keep your brain in tune by tackling some of the classics you didn’t have to read in high school. (Or the ones you were SUPPOSED to read, but relied on Sparknotes for…)

1. 4. Brush up on your chosen foreign language. We’ve heard from far too many college students who enrolled in an introductory language course hoping to broaden their horizons with a new language only to find intense competition. Sadly, a lot of students choose to try for an easy A by enrolling in an introductory language class in a language that they have already studied in high school or spoken at home. Be ready for the competition by brushing up on your chosen language over the summer. There are plenty of online sources available, from podcasts to online software, and bookstores everywhere stock a wide range of foreign language materials.

1. 5. Consider getting your feet wet with a college class. One of our teachers chose to enroll in two summer courses at an inexpensive local state university in order to get a jump start on her college credits. She reports that the time demands were reasonable (two courses meant six hours of class time per week), and says that the experience made her first day of classes at her chosen college far less stressful. After all, it was the first day of college classes for her peers, but she already had six weeks of class under her belt and felt far more secure. The six extra credits she earned (at a cheaper, public school tuition rate) certainly didn’t hurt. One caveat: Make certain the classes you select will transfer easily to your chosen college before you put down a tuition deposit!

1. 6. Get a part time job. Even if you don’t need the money, a part time job has great value to someone who’s about to head off to college. For one thing, a part time retail or service job teaches time management skills and responsibility. The extra money certainly won’t hurt, either, once you’re on campus and run out of spending money.

1. 7. Spend time with high school friends. No matter how much you swear that you’ll all stay in touch, most of your high school friends will eventually fade away with time and distance. This may well be the last summer that you have together, so take some time to enjoy it.

1. 8. Take control. The biggest and most shocking difference between high school and college is the degree of independence that college students are expected to manage. Independence sounds like an amazing thing — and in many ways it is — but it is also a massive pitfall for many college students. When your professors don’t remind you of deadlines and test dates, reprimand you for missing class, check to see if you read the assignment, or lecture you for your late paper, it becomes amazingly easy to skip classes and assignments with abandon. The consequences don’t manifest until you see your grades for the semester, by which time you may have failed classes, wasted tuition, or lost merit scholarships. During the summer, get into the habit of managing your own schedule and responsibilities; use a calendar app or to do list app to help you get on track.

1. 9. Figure out personal finances. Once upon a time, when many of our teachers were college freshmen, credit card companies preyed on college students. They basically threw credit cards at 18-year-old students, who often maxed out these cards and wound up in trouble. Today, regulations prevent such practices, but personal finances are still a major issue for college freshman. For many of you, this will be the first time that you have your own bank account to keep track of and your own budget to maintain. Your best source of guidance in this transition is going to be your parents — fight the urge to independently navigate the waters of personal finance and go ask them where they bank, what kinds of bank accounts are better, whether they’ll help you set one up, and how they handle their day-to-day budget.

1. 10. Don’t lock your family out. There’s a temptation during this summer to spend all of your time with your friends and your other obligations and avoid spending time with family. Remember that this is a big transition for them, too, and that these months are likely the last months that you’ll be able to spend this kind of quality time with them. Schedule in plenty of time with your parents, brothers, and sisters because whether you believe it or not, you’re going to miss them.