The beginning of a new semester means not only going to and studying for new classes but preparing for the next year of college! Unless you're a senior and getting ready to graduate, there is a whole list of things to complete for the coming school year. Cheers to added stress on top of an already-new semester's worth of classes and worrying about our GPA's!
1. Scholarship Applications
This is perhaps the most important thing on the to-do list, as even a little bit of money can go a long way. Fill out and submit your university scholarship application, and any other applications you have the option to go for!
It may feel time-consuming and pointless to write yet another essay about why you deserve free money over someone else, especially when it hasn't gotten you anything in the past, but do not give up hope. This is a new year and you are not the same as you were last year. Perhaps you have new organizations and activities to report. So go for those scholarships!
2. Financial Aid Documentation
You can't receive your scholarships if you don't have the proper documentation submitted to the financial aid office. Fill out all of those forms, the ones that confirm that you're still a dependent, or that you did or did not file your taxes last year. If you haven't turned your FAFSA in yet, do that too! Until those documents are in, any financial aid coming your way will be put on hold, or worse, given to someone else.
3. Housing
Your current lease is going to expire at some point or another, so be ready to renew the one you've got or find somewhere new to live. Do it sooner rather than later, unless you have other plans for next year.
One thing is for sure, you definitely don't want to get caught without somewhere to live, or to get there too late and find that everywhere is full. And no one wants to end up in the shoddy little apartment with the thin walls and loud neighbors and a random roommate that doesn't have any bathroom etiquette.
4. Summer Plans
What are you doing this summer? If you're vacationing, planning ahead is a huge deal to get where you want to go. It's important to put in for time off at your job well in advance so that there aren't any unpleasant surprises there.
Maybe you're going home for the summer, in which case it is important to pay off your rent and make sure you completely clean out your apartment - it won't be any fun when you discover that you left all of your underwear behind. Or, you're staying to work and take summer classes. Register early and figure out exactly what it is that you can take, and figure out how that fits into your work schedule.
5. Next Semester
Yes, it's early, but the semester tends to fly by in a flurry of papers and exams and plenty of stress. Before you know it, registration will be upon you, and you have to know what classes you want to take next fall and when you want to take them.
Plan your schedule. Find an older friend to hold a class for you if possible. Talk to your department advisers about what will work best for you. Enroll in that program you've been looking at to see how it will fit with your studies.
