The paperwork nobody chases
Colleges have a name for admitted students who never arrive in the fall, which is summer melt, and the cause is usually a missed form rather than a change of heart. The school now writes to you, not to your parents, and it writes to the student email account it issued you. Check that inbox twice a week all summer.
- You confirm that the enrollment and housing deposits were received.
- You ask your high school to send the final transcript, because an admission offer is conditional until it arrives.
- You accept or decline each line of the financial aid award, and you complete any loan counseling and promissory note the award requires.
- You submit immunization records and the health form before the deadline, since a hold on your account can block class registration.
- You register for orientation early, because course selection often happens there and the good sections fill first.
- You take any placement tests seriously, since a low score can add a semester of courses that carry no credit toward a degree.
Earn, and keep half
A summer of full-time work at modest wages can produce three or four thousand dollars after tax, which covers a year of books, travel home and small emergencies. Put half of every paycheck into savings on the day it lands. Open a checking account with a bank or credit union that has fee-free cash machines near where you will live in the fall.
Skills to learn before September
You should be able to do your own laundry, cook five plain dinners, refill a prescription, read a bank statement and get yourself out of bed without a parent. Each of these is easier to learn in a kitchen where someone can show you than in a dormitory at midnight. Collect your own documents too: a certified birth certificate, your Social Security card, your insurance card and a passport if you have one.
If you are not going to school
The summer still needs a plan with dates in it. Apply for apprenticeships, full-time work or training programs in June, because a gap that begins as a rest tends to become a year. A job you do not love still gives you money, references and information about what you want next.
Tip Say the goodbyes on purpose. Friendships that survive the fall are usually the ones where somebody made a plan to visit before leaving, not after.
