I typically spend as much time in the summer as I can visiting college campuses.  My 13 year old son knows the game.  We plan a trip, and I instantly go into the mode of figuring out what colleges are nearby and how can I find an excuse to get there!  Now that he's getting older, and college is in his not too distant future, he doesn't dread our treks across campuses like he used too.  AND...he has quite an impressive college t-shirt collection!  His summer lacrosse travel team afforded the following visits recently:

Johns Hopkins University:  Known for its awesome location...close to Wash DC, which provides many great opportunities for internships, jobs, networking, and fun roadtrips, JHU ...

Many students ask me what activities they should participate in to get noticed by the colleges.  They want to know what they need to do to build their resume for their college application. When it comes to college admissions, it is old-school thinking to believe that you have to be a star student, participate in every club and activity under the sun, play three sports, be captain of the chess team...and have a summer internship.  So I typically answer their question with a question...What is it that you love to do?

Colleges don't place a value judgment on 'what' you do, as much as 'that' you do something..and that you are interesting as a person in your pursuit of a passion or hobby or ...

Love em or hate em...they're not going away anytime soon.  I'm speaking of standardized college admissions tests, affectionately known as the ACT and SAT.  So stop kicking, screaming, and fighting it.  Get signed up for the tests you need to take, when you need to take them...and then get off the couch, log out of Facebook, close the laptop and start preparing!  Learning the differences between the two tests is the first step.  Playing to your test-taking strengths is the second.

Research shows that practice makes perfect.  Okay, so you may not hit a "perfect 36" on the ACT or a "2400" on the SAT, but you should be shooting for the stars ...