I know what you are thinking. “Why would I read this now? Senior year is so far away.”

It’s not. First semester is almost over, and soon enough you’ll be wearing shirts that say 15 on the back of them and tailgating in the parking lot. Soon enough you will be expected to make major decisions that will affect the rest of your life. I’m not saying that you need to know what you want to do with yourself for the next thirty years, but I am saying that it’s time to buckle down and prepare yourself for Senior year. Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t believe the rumors

Everyone is telling you Senior year is so easy. Some of graduates went to great colleges and skated by their Senior year, so clearly it’s easy right? Wrong. Senior year is not easy for most by a long shot. While there may be a few seniors who had great grades early on in high school, didn’t take a rigorous schedule, or maybe don’t have their sights set on a selective college, you have no idea if you will be one of those Seniors next year, so do not get into the mindset that Senior year will be a breeze. It will take hard work. Most senior classes require that you be able to produce college level work, so while you may think your Junior classes are hard, Senior classes can be just as bad.

2. Learn to manage your time

I am sure you’ve learned a little something about time management throughout high school and especially this past semester, but Senior year is a whole new ball game. The college application process is like adding another class to your schedule that requires a lot of homework. Unless you have decided (and talked to your parents about this decision) that you won’t need any scholarships, you are going to be writing a lot of college essays about yourself and every other topic under the sun. You could be done applying to all your colleges and be accepted into most but still have honors college, special programs, and scholarship applications to fill out. So you have to manage your time! Early in the year, before most of your major projects start getting assigned, set aside a little time every night to work on your applications. The process can and will be stressful, but if you get it done in small chunks early, it won’t be so bad.

3. Stay (or get) organized

This tip goes hand in hand with the second tip. By now you probably know how to organize your school work, but you will have a whole new set of things to organize for next year. Help yourself for the application process by having a way to organize college deadlines, scholarship deadlines, application requirements, and other things. If you have a chart with all of your college choices, their deadlines, and their costs, it will really keep your parents out of the dark, and therefore save your sanity by eliminating all the questions. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to have a running to-do list for all of your college needs. You can either keep it written down or on your phone. For me, crossing something off my list is extremely satisfying. Plus, having a list of things to do will help you whenever you have spare time and want to get work done. Also you will be getting a lot of mail from colleges at this point. Having someplace to put papers from your college choices whether it be your fridge, a labeled folder, or a special spot on a desk, will help you immensely, especially as some colleges won’t email you all the info you need.

4. Start thinking about your college choices now (but don’t take them too seriously)

Off all the colleges I had been thinking about since high school began, I applied to exactly zero of them. I did not even apply to my top choice junior year. But because I was aware of what I wanted or didn’t want early, it was easier for me to decide which colleges I wanted to apply to. Most students aren’t as indecisive as me (but then again most didn’t obsess over college as a freshman), but everyone will benefit from examining your options and knowing what you do and don’t like. You are going to change every year, and what you want from college will too, so don’t stop the college search until you have applied to all the schools you want to apply to. Most of you will work on a college research project second semester that lets you learn more about college. This is a great time to start thinking about and narrowing down your choices, so don’t write the project off as too easy for your time. Use it to your advantage!

5. Enjoy yourself

Senior year is going to be he best year yet. I promise. Try not to get too caught up in the acceptances you didn’t get or the grades you didn’t make. It’s time to forget about what is in the past and enjoy what’s to come and what’s happening now. It’s so easy to slip into the numbers mindset, where you feel like your worth is solely your GPA, test scores, and class rank. Remember, YOU ARE NOT A NUMBER. You are a human being with friends and a life, so get out there and enjoy it.