You’ve worked hard all year long. After your months of studying, writing, and cramming for school, you have probably earned yourself a long summer vacation. Yes, you deserve a break today, but summer is the perfect opportunity for a little self-reflection.

You can spare yourself a lot of mental anguish in your last year of college by deciding on a future career as early as possible. Think of it as working backwards.

Many students enter college with no clue about what they want to do with their lives. While it’s perfectly fine to take some time to explore your options while at school, a lot of students still find themselves lost by the time graduation rolls around. So, why not take the opposite approach? Decide what you want to do BEFORE you enroll in college!

Before you rush out and submit a bunch of applications to a slew of random colleges, make some time for a little self-analysis. If you haven’t already committed to a dream school and a perfect career, it might be a good idea to make a list of your talents, skills, qualifications, and goals for the future. After all, if you see yourself working in a certain industry, it will be a lot easier to choose courses and pick internships. And it will also give you a lot more motivation to work harder! Many students waste valuable time, money, and energy taking classes that don’t interest them. By having a set goal in mind, you will have a lot more focus in your studies.

College is a pretty important decision. Going to school will help solidify your career goals and teach your valuable skills that you can use in the workforce. So, keep these factors in mind when choosing a college:

• Faculty – you can’t have a good school without good teachers! Check out your school’s website and see what projects the professors are working on and how much teaching experience they have. Facts like student-teacher ratio are also good things to know.
• Job placement – does your college have a career center? If so, how many students took advantage of their services to find jobs? It’s important for your future job security to find a school that helps you get a leg-up on your career.
• Students – who are the students at the college? What are they like? What career paths do they choose after graduation? Since the students are people with whom you will be networking and learning, the quality of the student body is almost as important as the faculty!

Take your time deciding on a college and career. After all, it’s as pretty important decision. And remember, haste makes waste!