- Look for schools that offer merit money. These may not be your "first choice" schools, but merit money is generally based on GPA/SAT/ACT. They also often become the financial safety schools.
- Start touring early. With my older son, we did our first visits right after his freshman year of high school. He had never been on a college campus before, so he got to see what a dorm looked like, tasted the food and saw the facilities. One of the schools he saw during that trip made his final cut, too.
- It is not too late to become involved. If you are in NHS, volunteer to tutor or do the blood drive. If you love sports but are not a great athlete, think about doing the statistics for a team. My older son had a blast doing the stats for the girls basketball program. The public library always needs help. So become involved in something.