College School Year Planning Checklists

FastWeb has published four helpful chronological checklists to help college students stay organized and plan out major things to do as the school year progresses. Each list highlights items that a student should be doing or planning to do at each part of each year leading up to graduation. These are great to print out and hang on your wall or post in your notebook to help you keep track of important things to do as the year progresses. Here's a preview of the items they suggested for each year of college:

Freshmen

• Familiarize yourself with campus resources: health center, student center, libraries, gym, cafeterias, financial aid office, academic department offices, etc.
• Research local banking options and open a checking account. If you're planning to get a credit card, read the fine print on all offers.
• Meet with your faculty advisor to discuss courses, extracurricular activities and career building options.
• Gather financial records and materials you need for the FAFSA. The form is available January 1st.
• Start applying for scholarships from private organizations. Check your FastWeb search results for new scholarships.

Sophomores

• Declare a major (and minor) if ready. Some schools require students to declare their major by the end of the fall term.
• Select a volunteer organization you'd like to get involved with. Community service can help you gain practical experience while building up your resume.
• Put together your resume, including academic record, extracurricular activities, honors and volunteer work.
• Explore alternative career planning options such as: assisting a professor with research, international internships, mentoring programs and independent study.

Juniors

• Map out the classes you'll need to take for the next two years in order to finish on time.
• Start taking leadership roles in clubs, activities and volunteer organizations. Employers are impressed by students who take initiative and demonstrate leadership skills.
• Begin identifying possible career paths. Create a target list of industries and companies you'd like to work for and research them.
• Meet with your faculty adviser to discuss plans for summer and next fall.
• Senior
• If you're planning to go to graduate school, begin studying for the required standardized test - typically the MCAT, LSAT, GRE or GMAT.

Seniors

• Sign up for on-campus interviews. Check your career center for workshops on interviewing, networking and negotiating.
• Conduct informational interviews with professionals in your career field. Ask to shadow a professional for a day to find out about the daily routine of that career.
• Join professional organizations in your field. They can be a good source for contacts and job leads.
• Use free job-search Web sites like Monster.com. Their job boards have comprehensive and up-to-date job listings.
• Review job offers. Make sure to look at the whole package - benefits, opportunities for advancement, location, corporate culture.
• Create a loan repayment plan. Use online loan calculators to help set up your plan.

Fastweb has done a great job of breaking down the major steps that are important in each phase of a college career. Many of the items they listed are pretty common sense but what's most helpful is the time range they give for when to begin and when to be done with those common sense items. For example, everyone knows they have to get a resume together eventually but how many students really begin piecing it together in their sophomore or even their freshman year so that when the time comes to use it, they're well prepared.

Full lists: Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior