Making the Most of Your Summer

By Dave Berry

Eventually, it's the end of another school year. Some of you have made it through high school and the college admissions process, and now it's on to your college or university. Between now and then, though, lies summer. What to do?

For most of you, summertime is probably work time. If you're going to work, you most likely already have your job lined up. You may even be working one during the school year and will just keep on working through the summer.

If you don't have a job, it may be a little late to start looking for one after school is out. Most high schoolers start their summer job search in the early Spring, around March or April. That's when most businesses that depend on summer help start looking for applicants. Don't let that discourage you, though, but keep in mind the fact that the closer you get to summer, the more highly desirable jobs become more scarce, having already been picked off by early prospectors.

If you're a sophomore, junior, or senior-to-be, and you don't have concrete plans for summer work, you can still have a profitable summer. Even though you may not want to hear it, the summer is an excellent time to get ahead on your preparations for the Fall's standardized tests, mainly the SAT. You can enhance your test scores and college admission chances in a couple of ways.

First, you can increase your frequency of quality reading. Emphasize the word "quality." Summer seems to invite students to turn off their brains and recline into three months of MTV, game shows, video games, and soap opera digest. Don't be one of those. Go to the library and check out some classics or some poetry. Stimulate your brain. Even if you can make it through only one good book this summer, you'll be ahead of the game.

Another method is to get one of those SAT study guides (get a good one, like The Princeton Review's) and slowly work your way through the chapters. Even if you don't want to do the lessons, you can study the vocabulary lists that will help you prepare for the tougher of the two SAT sections, the Verbal.

Summer - it's a key part of the college admissions and paying for college process: You can earn money, knowledge, or--best of all--both.