To make things go a little smoother, heres a checklist of things you should be taking care of.

First off, congratulations on your impending graduation!

Perhaps youve even done someimportant readingabout how to make the most of your college experience.

Now, its time to plan the next few months.

Commit to the College of Your Choice

Choosing a college is a big decision.

Most colleges have a graduation rate somewhere between 60 to 80 percent.

If a college scores lower than that, it may signal a problem worth investigating.

Check out the retention rate.

This is the percentage of students that remain at that college to get their degree.

TheUS averageis around 77%.

Schools that score in the 80s or 90s are pretty good bets.

When youve made your decision about which college to attend, youll need to commit to that college.

You may be able to do this online or you may have to do it in writing.

For starters, its just a nice thing to do.

Many colleges let you decline an offer online.

For others, youll need to send an email or letter to the admissions counselor.

Just let them know youve chosen another school and thank them for their time.

It never hurts to stay on good terms.

This is especially important if you havent been able to visit the college beforehand.

And if possible, bring your parents along.

Orientation can be a little overwhelming and its nice to have the support.

Take the time to write them by hand.

Feel free to be brief.

A simple Thanks for taking the time to help me out will go a long way.

Some colleges host a roommate fair where it’s possible for you to look for a roommate yourself.

Take the time to find out what youll need to do and do it as early as possible.

Typically, you could start looking as soon as youve committed and paid a housing deposit.

Communicate via email or text, or friend them on whatever social media theyre using.

You wont have to worry about having a roommate who doesnt pay their rent, for example.

The school will take care of that.

Some college offer early online registration sometime during May.

Youll need to check to see how soon you might register for classes.

Take a look at the colleges website or call your admissions counselor.

Thats what theyre there for.

There are couple of advantages to registering early:

Classes fill up.

While youre pretty well-assured of getting into your basic required freshman classes, popular electives fill up fast.

Registering early means a better chance of getting in.

There may be summer reading.

Some classes have required reading lists for the summer.

Why not go ahead and get started now, since the summers just going to get busier.

If possible, talk to a professor or students in your department of study and see what they recommend.

When you choose classes, attempt to choose a balanced load if it’s possible for you to.

But for most classes, especially core classes, you shouldnt have any trouble.

Unless theres no other option, skip buying new books in favor of buying used or renting.

Be sure to check out ourcomplete guide to getting cheap textbooksand our readersfive favorite sites to buy textbooks cheaply.

There are evenappsout there to help you compare costs.

And believe it or not, youre going to miss them when youre no longer seeing them every day.

Get them involved in your plans.

If you have younger siblings, dont forget to show them some love, too.

Their lives are also about to change.

And theres one last person to take care of: yourself.

You will likely find yourself without nearly as much alone time as youre used to.

Weve covereda lot of themin the past.

Two of the most important skills you’re able to learn this Summer include:

Finances.

If not, sign up now and learn how to use them.

Take time to get ahead start on your financesand avoid somedumb mistakes.

If that describes you, spend some time this summer learninghow to do laundry like a boss.

Learn how todecipher laundry tagsand maybe evendownload an appto help you out.

But most of all, enjoy yourself!