How to Have Fun This Summer (While Still Preparing for College)

You’ve got a couple of summers left before college, so you better be living it up!

OK, OK, it’s not like summer stops happening after high school or something. And it’s not even like summer stops being fun. (Actually, it gets more fun.) But these high school summers are milestones! Seize the moment.

And while you’re doing that, spend some time on college prep. We know that sounds like the biggest summer buzzkill. But bear with us. You don’t have to do anything major this summer, just do a little bit of brainstorming.

Here’s how to have fun AND be strategic about college planning this summer.

Go kayaking on a peaceful lake. Or find a pool to float in. Bring a book. Bring your headphones. Spend exactly 7 minutes envisioning your future.

There you are, on the lake or in the pool. Looking up at the sky. You are cool. You are thinking about what Netflix show to binge-watch next. You are thinking about how nice it is to not have homework right now. Oh, no, now you have that feeling like you forgot to do your homework! No! It’s summer! No homework! OK, good, you’re relaxed again.

Now spend 7 minutes envisioning yourself at College in the future. Nothing serious. Paint a little mental picture of what you think you’ll be wearing. What kinds of classes you’ll be taking. The friends you’ll have. The pictures in your dorm room.

Then stop. Go back to Netflix, to the soccer match, to whatever’s on your mind.

On a rainy day, make a list of colleges that look interesting to you. Then go binge-watch “Queen Sugar.”

Take a half hour to just put down, on paper, which schools seem interesting to you. Go as ambitious and safe as you want to, but make sure there’s a range so you give yourself lots of options. Then put on “Queen Sugar” because “Queen Sugar” rules.

On the next rainy day, ask those colleges to send you information. Now, wait for the viewbooks to dazzle you.

Go on a hike or a bike ride or play basketball. Have ice cream afterward while you (wait for it) study for your PSAT.

Just taking the PSAT qualifies you for a National Merit Scholarship, and it’s good practice for the SAT, so it’s worth doing a little studying and then taking a crack at the course. After three or four ice cream study sessions, you should be good to go.

Go out with your friends. That’s it: Just go out with your friends.

Obviously, college is on your mind and all of your friends are probably thinking and talking about it anyway. So keep thinking about what you want, who you want to be, where you want to be, and what you want to study.

Got questions? Confused about what you want to do? Interested in a specific program? Send us a message.