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Coming home for the summer, after being on your own for the past year, can be a big adjustment. You’ve tasted independence and have become used to making your own decisions. Suddenly, you’re home. . .and your parents may expect you to fall into the same routine you had when you were in high school. If you don’t want to spend the summer fighting with your parents, take the time when you get home to negotiate the ground rules. Problem areas tend to be related to curfews, money, household chores and responsibilities, friends coming over and car-Internet-phone usage. Before you sit down to the negotiation table, write down a list of your concerns.

The best idea is to discuss what you want, and what your parents want, and then be willing to compromise! It will show your parents that you’re mature enough to handle your new-found independence.

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Schools usually require students to live the dorm-life for at least the first year but most require you to live on-campus through your sophomore year. One of the perks of entering your junior year is that you have the choice of where you want to live. If you’re considering a move to an off-campus apartment, you need to plan ahead both in locating the right apartment and finding the right roommates.

Available apartments near a college are sometimes hard to find and the “good ones” are taken off the market quickly. Spring is the best time to begin the search as graduating seniors, transfer students and others will be vacating their pads at the end of the spring semester.

Read the local papers and check the real estate sections to see what apartments are available. Ask around to see if your friends know of an upcoming opening. Check your schools student lounge or anyplace that offers bulletin boards for posting announcements.

There are a number of things to consider before seriously beginning the great pad search. Will it just be you or do you have a group of friends who would get along well enough to manage living together? The answer to this question will tell you if you’re looking for an efficiency or a three bedroom apartment.

You also need to consider your budget to determine if you can meet your monthly rent and utility bills (including food). Depending on how far you’ll be located from your classes, you may need transportation. Is there a bus route within walking distance? Is the apartment in a good neighborhood or a bad section of town? If you don’t feel safe, you won’t feel comfortable (and neither will your parents).

You should look for an escape clause in the lease should your situation change and the need for the apartment no longer exists. If the landlord offers resistance to an escape clause, look for another apartment. Landlords should have little problem finding a new tenant in a college town.

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If you took the time to explore a variety of award programs to help pay for school, you may have benefited from thousands of dollars in free money awards. That’s the way we recommend all students approach paying for school; get as much free money toward your cost of tuition as possible before you consider taking out student loans.

One thing to keep in mind is that many free money awards include some form of merit criteria. Awards either require that you maintain a certain GPA or show academic progress. Most of the GPA criteria requires that students maintain a 3.0 GPA(this varies from award to award)to be eligible for the award to be renewed for your sophomore year.

Sounds doable, especially if you are used to being near the top of your graduating class or at least getting good grades. But you may be surprised how many students are not able to meet that requirement to continue receiving the award money. Whether you may have trouble adjusting to college life or the difficulty level of your course work is extreme, many students become ineligible for continuation of some of their awards due to academic performance.

Suddenly, thousands of dollars that you were counting on for tuition are gone! Most award recipients should know whether they will have a strong enough GPA at the end of their academic year to qualify for award renewal. If you know the “writing is on the wall” and you will not qualify for an award for additional years, you should talk to your financial aid administrator as early in the spring semester as possible.

Explore other awards. Try to replace your lost awards with new ones (this could be difficult, but it’s worth exploring). Consider loans, either additional student loans or asking your parents for help with a PLUS loan.

If you lose an award due to your GPA, don’t think you are the first person to experience this. It’s a fairly common occurrence, so do what you have to do to secure new sources to replace your lost funds.

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Until next time......