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you might think that your college experience begins when you drive up to

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your dorm with a car full of stuff and one or two weeping parents, but if you [boy moves into dorm room]

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want to make it to your dorm room you're going to need to start planning way

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before that fateful teary morning. and yeah we're referring to more than just

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bringing them back to Kleenex. one thing you should definitely start thinking

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about a major. students who haven't found a passion or interest in a subject are

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more likely to drop out of college. do you know that? and unfortunately dropouts

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don't get a fraction of a degree. sorry Bailey you're a quarter of a BA isn't

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going to help you on the job market but it might give some employers a good

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chuckle. what's more knowing your major early helps you plan what courses to

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take in high school. looking to study engineering well then you'll want to

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load up on math and physics computer stuff like that. load it up on English [boy smiles as math books fall from the sky]

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courses and you might have a hard time convincing an admissions board that your

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deep knowledge of poetry makes you a great bridge builder no matter how good

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you are at rhyming. it's also a good idea to get involved in some

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extracurricular activities. it shows responsibility and you have a

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willingness to work with others which is way better than being irresponsible and

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excelling at pushing people into trees. both are qualities colleges tend to

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frown upon. you can choose activities related to your college and career goals

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like student government or Math League and even ones that are just plain fun.

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and if you don't find a club that matches up both your interest well start

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your own. why not? that way you get the added bonus of being president even if

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it's just president of the Society of people who read Harry Potter while [man smiles while giving presentation]

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listening to pop music on full blast. then summer jobs are also a good idea

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sure flippin burgers might seem like a drag but summer jobs help you learn soft

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skills like customer service effective communication critical

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thinking teamwork decision-making and personal grooming among others. they also

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teach you how to pour twenty pound bags of frozen fries into a deep fryer

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without burning yourself but you might want to leave that off the college

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application. you can also get similar skills by volunteering. not only do you

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get to help out people around you but also shows colleges and future employers

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that you care about your community which usually means you'll care about your

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college campus and places of employment in the future. and colleges much prefer [ man collects trash off campus lawn]

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that kind of individuals as someone who writes an essay about how

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are a genius with a blowtorch usually. you'll also need to do well in a few

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tests the two prominent tests required by the colleges for admissions are SAT

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scholastic aptitude test and the American College test ACT exam. you may

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know them better as I have to wake up at what time and seriously wasn't one test

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enough? well different colleges set their own minimum scores for applicants to

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achieve before being admitted but regardless of where the bar is you want

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to prepare for these tests as early as possible. you wouldn't wait till the day

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before big baths test to learn a terms worth of math so why take same risk with

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a test that helps determine whether or not you're going to get into college. and

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no because I got distracted by You Tube videos on cats not a great excuse. this [man sleeps at desk]

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might seem obvious but to get to college you also have to what's it called oh

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yeah apply. beginning in the summer after junior year or likely earlier, you should

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be filling out applications the college's you're interested in. you can't

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just expect that colleges are going to hunt you down like prey, which is

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probably for the best actually. we've never been fans of tranquilizer darts

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for seniors. and last but not least keep an eye out

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for financial aid. unfortunately money doesn't just fall from the sky anymore

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and even if it did you'd need to collect a whole lot of it to cover college cost.

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we're talking Olympic pools full of money it's like a quarter million

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dollars to get to a private school these days. financial aid is offered at federal

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level through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. [hand fills out document]

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aka FAFSA. and in smaller local scholarships may be awarded by the

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Community Foundation or even school organizations. we recommend checking with

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your guidance counselor for more details. they might even be able to recommend an

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Olympic pool to hold your scholarship bucks. yep. it's a lot of prep work but if

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you do it all it'll be much easier way to start your college career. it'll still

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be tough on your parents. you are their little baby after all so remember to

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pick up the phone every once in a while. [parents excitedly pick up phone]

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