college // high school checklist & articles to read (for senior year, but you can do this any time!)

Decide if the ACT or SAT works with you/your plans, and which one you want to take (if you want to take any at all - I didn't take either one and I still got into college. I applied to a jr college, Ivy Tech, and from there went on to transfer to a public university that would have needed my ACT/SAT scores if I'd directly applied there instead. That's definitely an option if you think you won't have good scores, or don't want to go through the testing stress).

Read this article to make sure the subjects you're studying in high school are adequately preparing you for college, as it goes over everything colleges will/won't look at when you apply and turn in your transcript (you don't have to worry about the transcript, Mom will do that for you if you graduated from high school at home. If you graduated from someplace like CEC, they'll send the transcript. I think you just have to email them and tell them what college to send it to).

Then, read this homeschoolers' guide to getting into college to not only hype you up and reassure you that you have a leg up in the application world, but it can also give you tips, tricks, pointers, and resources to help you on your way. Definitely good to read right around when you start applying, as it can give you an idea of where you want to apply and who can help you get there.

Read this checklist about useful tips/tricks/things to do senior year in order to prepare for college and making the last year of high school really count. Don't push things off until after you've graduated. It's easy to feel overwhelmed with all the work you have to get done for high school, much less add other stuff on top of that (stuff that's not graded and doesn't have a deadline), but if you start now, you will not regret it. I pushed everything off and didn't get into Ivy Tech for another YEAR because I was so unprepared. Start sooner rather than later and you'll become more disciplined, motivated, AND proud of yourself because of all you juggled in high school! You'll be impressed that you managed high school, possibly a job, AND prepping for college, you'll also be able to look back and say "dang I was a go-getter when I was a teenager" which always feels good. I wouldn't know, bc I was a huge slacker in high school years.

I might have already given you this link, but here are the ACT's student learning resources (I think most, if not all, are free. You can ask mom to fund anything extra like tutors, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Also expect to take the ACT at least twice, the first time always sucks because of nerves so if you get a bad score don't be surprised or worried - the first ACT doesn't really reflect your actual brain, and if you're not skilled at taking tests then it doesn't matter how smart you are, you're going to do badly at testing bc that's just a skill some people have that others don't).

START YOUR COLLEGE AND CAREER PLANNING JOURNEY HERE, all free! Just scroll through and click on the things you're most stressed about, just to get a sense of what you'll need to do or what it'll look like once you've graduated high school.

Plan out paying for college, so that you can start budgeting and planning out how you're going to spend your money. You may need to take a gap year to save up, but that's no big deal. Work long hours over the summer and you'd be surprised how much money you begin to rack up. Just make sure you budget strictly and penny-pinch so you can save every last bit and invest it in your future. Hopefully you'll graduate with a great degree and an amazing job, so you can sit back and loosen up, and enjoy life!

Scroll down this page until you hit the videos on college planning during freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years respectively. Click on the video most applicable to your life atm and go from there! I would suggest having a notebook and pen/cil handy to take notes on what you personally can do - categorize what's discussed in the video with what you can do this year, this month, this week, and this very day right after the video is over. There's no time like the present, and the sooner you get started, the less stress you'll have when gap year/high school is over and you actually have to make decisions.