It’s time to get out your ScholarPrep Organizer and see what you’ve accomplished since last month. If you don’t have anything to write down, take this time to go over the tips in each section and set some goals.

January Focus: Organization and Planning

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to prioritize organization and planning! Taking a little bit of time to focus on creating an organizational system will set you up for success the rest of the year.

Organization is essential for preparing to apply for college and scholarships, but it is also one of the most important life skills to develop in high school.

To help you start the new year off right, we have put together two blog posts:

1. How to use winter break to get a leg up on college-prep

Planning for college takes time, but you don’t always have time during the year with school, sports, volunteering, extracurriculars, competitions, and spending time with family and friends. So we have put together a list of 5 things you can do with that extra time you have over winter break (read the full article for details and to grab the free downloads):

  • PERFECT YOUR SYSTEM
    • Includes a free download: College-Prep System Checklist
  • TACKLE THOSE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS
  • REFLECT ON YOUR YEAR
    • Includes a free download: End of Year Reflection Exercise
  • NARROW DOWN THAT COLLEGE LIST
  • HAVE “THE TALK” ABOUT COLLEGE COSTS

2. How to stay organized while preparing for college

On top of this, we’ll be posting new resources and articles for you EVERY WEEK on our blog. Here’s a little sneak peek of some of the topics we’ll cover in January:

  • How to prepare for college in high school
  • What grade to start planning for college
  • Help your child get a jump start on the college essay
  • Where to begin prepping for college
  • Choosing senior year classes
  • Using technology to help you plan for college
  • Why I am obsessed with the pomodoro technique
  • How to keep up with college-prep deadlines

Finally, make sure you’ve joined our private ScholarPreppers Facebook Group so that you don’t miss any of these great tips. We will also be sharing FREE BONUS videos and resources in the group.

Happy New Year – and Happy Planning! 🙂

Jordan Schanda, Founder of ScholarPrep


This is one of our monthly college prep reminders that we send straight to your inbox to help you stay on track. Once a month, we will remind you do a little planning for college. This is the best way to keep track of what you’ve been up to and set goals for the next month. Our monthly reminders will also give you exclusive access to tips and other resources as you prepare for the college and scholarship application process.

Sign up below:

P.S. After you sign-up, be sure to add info@scholarprep.org to your email address book so that your tips and reminders don’t end up in the SPAM folder! That would be awful! Oh and you might also need to check your Promotions tab if you use Gmail ? Happy planning!