At last, summer is here! After a school year full of hard work, you can finally put away your books, break out your bikinis, and soak up the sunshine. This is not only what you deserve but in fact what you need: If you have been working to your maximum level during the school year, you owe your body about two weeks off during the summer for a real break. Go ahead and pursue your favorite pastime, relax, sleep, and reflect on the past year and the year to come. Do not, however, get too used to your life of leisure! From a college admissions standpoint, it’s important to be productive during your summer months. Working is looked upon favorably by the more selective colleges; working on your tan is not.

It is important to understand that when it comes time to apply to schools in the fall, you will be competing for admission against a wealth of other students who made the most of their summers by strengthening their talents and skills and/or making up in some way for their weaknesses. Ideally, you have already found something to do for the summer, but if not, here are some summer suggestions.

Are you living with your total opposite? It’s amazing how different two people sharing the same (tiny) room can be. Even the littlest things can drive you crazy after awhile! You eat Big Macs and chicken wings while your roommate swears by tofu and beans; you like Coldplay and your roommate cranks up Tim McGraw. You’re East Coast; your roommate is West Coast. Whatever your differences (and there are bound to be a few), you need to figure out what you’re willing to live with and what’s fair to ask your roommate to change.

Your roommate may have an accent that grates on your nerves, but that’s not something you can ask a person to change. It’s also not fair to expect someone to change his entire personality to suit you. It would be great if we could snap our fingers, and BAM, instant personality makeover! Not gonna happen. So, you need to separate personality traits from irritating habits. You won’t transform your roommate into your new best friend, but you can make things a lot more bearable. Here are a few ideas: