As a teenager it is only natural that we want money now to spend on our cars, video games, clothes and dates. Finding a part time job often becomes very important to us. Part time jobs can be great for they will give us that needed income and can teach us adult responsibilities such as budgeting our time and money. That said a teenager must not overlook their primary job of obtaining a good education. It is education that will enable us to be a success in a future career of our choice.

As a teenager it is your job to start thinking about college admission by the time you are entering high school. Starting early will give you a competitive edge over those that wait until their junior year of high school to do so. While getting into college is not difficult, getting into a more competitive college does require early planning and hard work. A consistent academic record, good grades, standardized academic testing, and extracurricular activities must all come together in a way that shows the college admissions officer that you will be an excellent addition to the school’s student body. In your adult life these same traits will be important to your employer as you advance in your career.

Many teenagers overlook the job of planning early for college and their future job. These teens do not recognize the importance of planning and wait until late in their junior year. These teenagers have no clue what they want to major in, what schools they want to apply to, or even if they will go to college at all. Most of these teens will go to the local community college or in state university. While this is a viable option, many more opportunities are available with early planning.

As a responsible teenager it is your job to start thinking about what general areas of study you want to pursue. Math and science or the liberal arts like history and languages. Start thinking about what kinds of careers these areas of study offer. Do any of those careers interest you? Do you have a natural talent or gift for something? Ask your friends and family what job or profession they think you would be good in. The answers might surprise you.

Next you want to start aligning your high school courses with those interests. Talk to your counselor about which classes to start with and ones that will let you advance in a logical progression. For example, if you choose a foreign language, you will start with Spanish 1, moving onto Spanish 2, Spanish 3, and finally Spanish 4 in your senior year. Math, science, and social study courses will have a similar progression. Ideally you will have 4 years of a foreign language, 4 years of math, and 4 years of science or history by your senior year.

Once you’ve outlined your class selections, start to think about extracurricular activities that your school and community offer. If you chose a math and science path, join the math team or biology club. Athletics such as football, basketball, and tennis can also add tremendous value to your academic resume. The key to choosing an extracurricular activity is to choose one or more that you know you can excel in. For example, when joining the math team, strive to become the team captain. If joining the student government, run for president. Anyone can join a club or participate in a sport, college admissions officers are looking for those that excel.

You can also do things in your community. Volunteer at the local fire station, museum or food kitchen. Look for ways to improve or add value to wherever you are. For example, if you volunteer at a local state park, maybe start a fund raiser to build a new playground, or form a team of students to pick up trash and recycle. Whatever you can think of, be sure to take the leading role and see the project to a successful completion. This will show the admissions officer that you take initiative, work hard, and see things to its finish.

However, do not forget how important your grades are. If any extracurricular activity starts to affect your grade point average, you need to take a pause. Your grade point average is a critical component to the college admissions officer. If you cannot handle high school class work, he/she will be harder to convince that you can handle college level courses and will be less likely to admit you despite all your other activities.

Just as important, and sometimes more important, is your class selection. As mentioned earlier, make sure they are focused and show a logical progression in the area of study you have chosen. Take the most advanced courses available up to AP level courses in your junior and senior year. Ideally, you will take 4 or 5 AP level courses in your senior year.

Your grade point average needs to remain consistent or improve as you take harder courses. Admissions officers do not like to see your grades deteriorate as you advance into harder courses. Even if your freshman year grades were horrible, if you really shine in your junior and senior year, you will make an excellent impression to the admissions officer.

Networking will be extremely important to you as you advance in your future career. As a student you also want to start building a network of people who can write letters of recommendations. This can be teachers, community leaders, or your counselors. Anyone who can vouch for your character and accomplishments. If you are very motivated, you may even want to visit the college of your choice and ask them if it is okay to attend one or two days of classes. Get to know the professors and admissions officer. Then, when you apply, ask the professor for a letter of recommendation!

Your next job is to start planning for standardized academic testing. The SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Tests. Find out what the schools of your choice require. The most competitive schools will require the SAT and two SAT Subject Tests. For the SAT Subject Tests and AP Tests, choose the ones that match your area of study. For example, take SAT Math Level 2 and Physics if you are thinking about applying to a technology school. Take U.S. History and World History if you plan on going into the liberal arts.

There are several subjects to choose from. Ask your counselor or the college admissions offices which ones to take. The most important thing with standardized testing is the final score. Check the web site of the college or university you are interested in for averages and percentiles of admitted students. Generally speaking, for competitive schools, you need to be over 700 on each of the SAT Reasoning Test subjects – Critical Reading, Writing, and Math. You also need to be over 700 on the SAT Subject Tests. For the SAT subject tests, anything less than 700 is very unfavorable.

To improve your chances, look into schools that offer early action and early decision. Only the most competitive schools will offer one or both of these options. More than half of the students admitted to a competitive school apply early. Also, write a compelling essay. Do not choose a worn out subject about some childhood dream or the impact some event has made in your life. Write about how you used your talents to make a significant impact in your school, community, or on others. You want to project what is special about you and that you know how to use it.

Admissions officers are looking for students who are motivated, work hard, and will excel in their field of choice. Success will come to you if you take the job of education seriously and follow the guidelines above. Keep those grades up, apply early, and score well on the standardized tests and you will have an excellent chance of getting into a competitive school of your choice.  While you may think of this as hard work it is one of the most important steps you can make towards rapid success in your future career.