School has been out for more than a month, so high school students may be looking toward the new school year and how they need to prepare – whether it’s for the next year of high school or the first year of college, university, or a technical program.

Here are some ideas to maximize the summer break: 

9th- & 10th-graders:

• Read, read, read! Keep your brain fresh by checking out a novel from your campus or local neighborhood library.
• If you haven’t done so already, Login to Naviance. Your login information is as follows:

Username: Student ID#
Password: Birthday (MMDDYYYY)

• Start learning about college. Look at the college Information available on Naviance, browsing hundreds of majors and programs that best fit you.
• Begin Building an Academic Resume. Keep track of academic and extracurricular awards, community service achievements, and anything else in which you’ve participated. This will come in handy when you’re applying to college or for a summer job.
• Apply for a summer enrichment opportunity while there’s still time! Search for hundreds of summer learning events that will help you discover what you may want to pursue after high school graduation.

11th-graders: 

• Read, read, read! Keep your brain fresh by checking out a novel from your campus or local neighborhood library.
• Didn’t get the score you wanted on the School Day SAT? Retest! Summer break is the perfect time to ramp up your studying using Khan Academy SAT Practice. HISD students have raised their scores 400+ points, and you can too! One hour per day or less is all you need.
• If you have an academic resume, use this time to update it with all that you’ve achieved. Don’t have a resume? Create one with Naviance’s resume-builder!
• Are there colleges or universities the pique your interest? Add them to your list of “prospective schools” in Naviance. Your counselor will get a better sense of what schools interest you and can notify you when those schools are coming to your campus.
• Have you thought about when you’re going to visit colleges this year? Consider planning some college visits over summer break to give you a better sense of whether or not a school is right for you.
• Apply for a summer enrichment opportunity, as there’s still time! Search for hundreds of summer learning events that will help you discover what you may want to pursue after high school graduation. Here’s what Michelle Obama has to say about why summer is important.

12th-graders: 

• Read, read, read! Keep your brain fresh by checking out a novel from your campus or local neighborhood library.

If you have not done so already:

• Register for New Student Orientation! Here, you will sign up for classes, meet new students just like yourself, and become better acclimated to your campus.
• Ensure that the college or university you are attending in the fall has received all necessary documents (e.g. final transcripts, recent SAT scores, etc.).
• Review and accept your financial aid; if there financial aid you are not accepting, decline it. You may be keeping another student from receiving that offer.
• Pay your new student and housing deposits; many schools actually require this during the month of May.
• Notify schools that you will not be attending in the fall that you have selected another institution; you may be keeping a wait-listed student from receiving that offer.
• Complete your FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you have already submitted your FAFSA, check to see if you have been selected for verification and submit any additional paperwork. Questions about this? You can still see your advisor in the college success center.
• Contact your school’s financial aid office if you have any remaining questions about your award package. In fact, getting to know your financial aid staff early is a good idea no matter what—they can tell you about deadlines, as well as other scholarships for which you may qualify.
• Do you have AP, IB, or dual-credit? Be sure to transfer that information to your institution over the summer; do this to ensure you don’t take/re-take classes (remember, they cost money now)!
• Short on cash that you need for school? Use this time to submit scholarship applications. Use the scholarship search feature in Naviance to search, find, and apply for scholarships (e.g. free money for college)!
• Going to school in Texas? Consider taking summer courses at HCC to get ahead!