{"id":3705,"date":"2015-05-28t09:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-28t09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=3705"},"modified":"2015-07-30t18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30t18:43:00","slug":"that-summer-before-senior-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/gen\/that-summer-before-senior-year\/","title":{"rendered":"that summer before senior year"},"content":{"rendered":"

as consumed by finals as you may be (or may not be, if you\u2019re an intelligent senior\u2026 i am not one of those), you can start finding solace in the fact that the end is near. i\u2019m talking breakfasts at 11:00 a.m. afternoons by the beach. evenings catching up on every netflix movie that you somehow haven\u2019t seen yet. summer 2015, here we come!<\/p>\n

but before you let the days breeze by, there are some activities worth planning into your two months that will make senior year just a little bit easier.
\n <\/p>\n

1. volunteer<\/h2>\n

summer is the best time to try your hand at giving back<\/a>. there are so many different opportunities out there, and with more time in your day, it\u2019s easy and rewarding to fit in an early environmental cleanup, or a couple hour shift at an animal shelter. while this will obviously look good on your approaching college applications (we\u2019ll talk about those momentarily), it will also serve as the perfect way to add structure and meaning to your otherwise open schedule.
\n <\/p>\n

2. start the journey<\/h2>\n

\"tsbsy_img1\"<\/p>\n

you probably knew this one was coming (also \u2013 i\u2019m not sure why the photo is of hippos, but, hey, let\u2019s go with it). i cannot stress how beneficial it will be to you to begin narrowing in on what kinds of things you are looking for in schools and, even, where you want to apply. the common application (which is used by the vast majority of colleges country-wide) and the uc application both typically open around august 1st<\/sup>. use this to your advantage. <\/em>read over the essay prompts and get to brainstorming, outlining, writing down thoughts. fill in the easy parts to at least get your feet wet. there truly is nothing worse than entering your senior year panicked and overwhelmed, so let yourself start asking those soul-searching questions: do i want to stay in my home state the next four years? what sort of college experience am i looking for? how will i fathom living without my dog? (that last one still gets me).
\n <\/p>\n

3. visit schools<\/h2>\n

once you claim your throne at the top of the high school food chain (think this only less game of thrones-y\u2026),<\/p>\n

\"tsbsy_img2\"<\/p>\n

you\u2019ll find that you\u2019re actually kind of busy \u2013 at least for that first semester. and with the exception of winter break (which is when most applications are due), you won\u2019t have a lot of days off to travel and tour potential colleges. if you aren\u2019t in the position to pay for airfare or anything of the like, look into summer-road-tripping to campuses nearby. they very well may be schools that you have zero interest in attending, but walking around them will give you a better idea of what your preferences are regarding architecture, dining halls, college towns, etc.
\n <\/p>\n

4. find a job<\/h2>\n

similar to volunteering, working keeps you in a nice routine to prevent that weird, mid-summer limbo where you\u2019re partway bored but also partway too unmotivated to do anything about it. holding a job lets you meet new people, earn points from colleges, and learn the kinds of skills that can be hugely helpful in building your resume for the summers following. plus, you know, money\u2026<\/p>\n

\"giphy\"
\n <\/p>\n

5. sat\/act prep<\/h2>\n

maybe you are signed up for official \u201cclasses,\u201d or maybe you are utilizing the amazing online resources (like magoosh!) to prepare. either way, setting aside a few hours a week to study can really move you closer to your target score. i\u2019d personally highly encourage you to pick a day of the week (for me it was sunday) to sit down and take full practice tests<\/a> \u2013 timed breaks and all. my neighbor and i (it\u2019s way less horrible if you go through it with a buddy) ended up self-proctoring roughly four sat exams, and they were fundamental to my success come september.<\/p>\n

it is, obviously, near impossible to manage all five of these things while still enjoying your brief liberation from high school. so pick and chose. tailor your two months to best fit not only your passions but also your application weaknesses. it\u2019s certainly no daunting task to spend a summer that\u2019s as productive as it is blissfully fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

as consumed by finals as you may be (or may not be, if you\u2019re an intelligent senior\u2026 i am not one of those), you can start finding solace in the fact that the end is near. i\u2019m talking breakfasts at 11:00 a.m. afternoons by the beach. evenings catching up on every netflix movie that you somehow haven\u2019t seen yet. summer 2015, here we come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[97,98,180],"ppma_author":[24904],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nthat summer before senior year | high school (life) | magoosh blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/gen\/that-summer-before-senior-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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