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At the risk of sounding like your parents (and one day, you will realize how intelligent they really are), one of the most important steps you can take in high school is to make your studies a top priority. Does that mean that you will never see your friends and that you must give up any semblance of a social life? No. Instead, it simply means that when you think about your day, school should be high on the list, somewhere below breathing, eating and drinking, but way above watching The Three Stooges marathon on television.

If you have homework and your best friend calls and asks you to come over and hang out, give it some thought. Do your best to look beyond the fun of the moment to the potential reward down the road. It’s not easy—but it is the mature thing to do (so be sure and let your parents know you made the responsible decision and earn a few brownie points in the process).

By making school a priority, other things will fall into line. Doing homework and studying for tests means better grades, and better grades mean a higher GPA and most likely a better performance on the SAT or ACT. In turn, both of those will strengthen your chances of getting into more colleges. Amanda (Mandy) Warhurst Webster, senior associate director of admissions at Salve Regina University, says, “Students must realize that the senior year is very important. You have to remain focused on academics and come in with a very strong first semester.”

Please remember that difficulty of admissions does NOT equal quality of education. Just because a school is really difficult to get accepted into does not guarantee that it is the highest quality or best fit for you. Keep an open mind. If you haven’t heard of the college, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a wonderful place. I am personally biased towards small colleges— they give you individual attention, professors and other administrators know your name and you have the chance to develop the academic self-confidence you need.

— Judith Mackenzie, Mackenzie College Consulting