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Start your college career while you are still in high school by taking classes at your local junior or community college. Many of these institutions are open to the idea. Terry O’Banion, former president of the League for Innovation in the Community College, explains the possibilities. “In the last decade or so, many high schools and community colleges have created articulated programs to allow students enrolled in high school to take courses for community college credit,” she says. “Called ‘dual or concurrent enrollment,’ the practice is very widespread and is likely to expand in the next few years.

“The practice emerged because able high school students often exhaust the supply of solid courses by their senior year; there is no reason to wait until they graduate from high school to begin taking college-level courses,” adds O’Banion. “Additionally, community colleges and high schools in the same region share common purposes of preparing students for the workforce or for further education, and they can enhance that purpose by creating opportunities for high school students to take courses at the local community college to round out their schedules,” she concludes.

Tonia Johnson, associate director of admission at Guilford College, also discourages students from leaving school early in their senior year. Just because you have all the credits you need doesn’t mean you need to cut your year short. A better plan is to use this time to do something that will impress admissions officers. “Take courses somewhere, get involved in an internship, but use the time wisely,” she says.

Regardless of the stage at which you need to make changes, don’t look back at your mistakes: look forward to your possibilities. Making that difference can be enough to get your admissions application placed in the “accepted” pile instead of that other stack. Write out a list of the top ten things you want to change, pin it up and give it the attention it needs. You might be surprised at the results!