For your application progress and your peace of mind, this is the time to prepare for the moment you return to campus in January.

You want to be able to hit the ground running. But that's going to take a little planning.

Begin by asking:

• What situation do you want to be in when you walk onto campus in January? Where in the application process do you want to be?

• What do you need to do in the next two weeks to make that happen?

For instance, you might want to focus on:

• Tying up any data collection threads

• Finalizing which progress you want to make before April and which situations you are just going to live with

Of all the things you could do towards your application right now, make "hit the ground running in January" your new goal.

Next, reprioritize your December tasks to ensure you create your January vision