if you’re a rising senior who plans to go on to college, there’s a decent chance you’re doing at least two things this summer: thinking about application essays and taking a road trip with friends or family. And if you follow me or read this column with any regularity, you know I believe that inspiration for compelling takes on the world is everywhere.

Photo by Pat Berry

When you’re feeling frustrated with your writing, walking away may be the best approach—as long as you’re purposeful in what you do with your “down time.” To refill the creative tank, look for activities that have potential to encourage you to think.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Chances are you are on a high. You’ve done it. Maybe you feel a palpable sense of indebtedness for efforts made on your behalf — the counseling, the recommendations, the shoulders provided during stressful times. Notice the energy in that emotion? Well, tap into it now because, come July, that grateful spirit likely will have morphed into excitement over next steps as you peruse the aisles of Bed, Bath & Beyond for Twin XL sheets.

Photo by Howard Riminon for Unsplash

Touring colleges with your high school student this spring break? You’ll likely enhance each stop if you also check out the go-to eateries and hangouts beyond the campus gates. 

Photo courtesy Moira McCullough/College Scoops

If you’re someone who really does participate in several extracurricular activities, congrats. But before you fill out your activity list, weigh quality over quantity, be confident your involvement in each activity is meaningful, and give some thought to how your list reflects who you are. The last thing you want is for an application reader to wonder whether you’re spreading yourself too thin or, worse, padding your résumé.

Photo courtesy Jon Bonesteel

It’s never too late to develop a reading routine.

Photo by Seven Shooter/Unsplash

Now that high school seniors have hit SUBMIT on their college applications, attention in high school guidance offices nationwide has shifted—to juniors. For those eleventh graders who plan to attend college, most of the application process lies ahead, and the path is bound to be bumpy at times. But according to several independent college consultants I interviewed, maintaining good grades and keeping a calendar of key events and activities will help to limit the headaches.

Photo by Emily Rudolph on Unsplash

When a student describes, with bittersweet detail, how moved he is by the sacrifices his immigrant parents have made on his behalf; or crafts an elegant narrative that links her favorite pastimes, tennis and reading math books, to her growing self-confidence—I am gobsmacked.

Photo by Joshua Earle for Unsplash