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Your credit score can be a lot like an SAT score.  That is, you really don’t care about it until it isn’t high enough.  Like SATs, cramming doesn’t really work.  When it comes to your credit, there are no shortcuts.

That doesn’t mean that you are stuck and unable to impact your credit score. You actually have all the control. Here are six simple things to keep in mind:

• Pay Your Bills On Time. Mom and Dad were right; on-time payments demonstrate responsibility and show creditors that you manage your accounts.  If you have to, even paying just the minimum amount – but on time – will help.
• Check Your Credit. Be sure that you are checking your credit at least every 12 months to ensure that you know where your credit stands. This also helps you to make sure that no fraudulent activity has been going on in your account.  There is no need for a costly service – you can do this for free by requesting your free credit report each year.
• Take Care of the Past. If you have any negative entries on your credit report that you haven’t resolved yet, do it.  Take any extra cash you have and pay off any judgments or liens. While these items may stay on your credit report for some time, resolving these matters demonstrates your efforts to get your credit score under control, which will then raise your score.
• Close with Caution. It may seem ironic, but closing credit accounts can actually hurt you. It may be better not to use a credit card than to actually close it.  It has to do with your available credit and the amount of your available credit that you’ve expended.  Keep in mind, though, that some credit cards charge annual fees, so weigh the cost and the benefit.  You can always call the credit card company and ask them to waive your fee.
• Get Credit for Rent and Other Payments.  Those with little to no credit histories can bolster credit files by having rent and other recurring payments reported. Traditionally, these payments do not get reported to the credit bureaus and therefore, these positive payment histories are often missed.  Online rent payment service WilliamPaid.com will pay and report your ongoing rent payments and provide you with flexible rent payment options.  You can also use WilliamPaid’s Bill Verification Service to verify and report bills that you’ve already paid.  This can allow you to use past payments to prove your creditworthiness.
• Open and Manage Accounts. Establish yourself as a serious borrower by opening a checking and savings accounts to begin tracking your money more closely and saving what you can each month. The longer your positive credit and banking relationships, the better your credit score will be.

While your SATs can determine what school you get into, your credit score can determine everything from the type of loan you can receive to what kind of apartment you can rent to whether or not you will get your dream job, so take care of it and it will take care of you.

If your college-bound teen is heading off to dorm life in the fall (or you’re looking ahead to that day) here’s a great article about making living with an unknown roommate bearable. HEED this advice!

Your random roommate is a total stranger who’ll sleep by your side and share your air for at least a semester. Here, how to make things (a little) less awkward.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to make it through freshman year shacked up with a stranger: your new roommate. Um, awkward. Want to reach out to your roomie lay down some laws — and hopefully the groundwork for a great relationship? Here’s a five-step plan to increase your odds of survival at the foundation of your school social life: your dorm room.

1. Make Contact
A proper introduction sets the tone of the relationship, and breaking the ice early gives you a head start on addressing more pressing issues (like who’s bringing the Xbox — see No. 3). So, once you get your roommate’s name and contact info, put it to good use by shooting him an e-mail or a Facebook friend request. If you’re feeling particularly brave, pick up the phone and dial those digits.

By the way, be careful not to jump to conclusions while stalking your roommate.  ”Facebook is just a way of getting that initial impression of the person and taking the ease off the nervousness,” says rising junior Jasmine Laroche of the University of Pittsburgh. “Actually spending time with and getting to know your roommate is your best bet.”

2. Meet and Greet
Meeting up before school starts gives you the chance to make a casual but high-quality first impression. Plus, it makes things a lot less awkward on move-in day, when you’ll likely be towing your parents and breaking a sweat emptying your stuff out of the ol’ minivan. A pre-screening allows you to calm your nerves too, since it means you’ll have one more familiar face (and one less unknown factor) come fall. So, if you’re attending a state school and your roomie lives nearby, there’s no excuse not to get together. But don’t give up on meeting if you’re a beach bum in So Cal and your future bunk buddy lives in the deep woods of Maine. You don’t need to be majoring in rocket science to sync your summer travel schedules and meet up. Otherwise, there’s always video chat.

3. Set Ground Rules
First off, make sure the two of you have similar packing plans for stuff you’re going to share, like a TV, large rug or mini-fridge. “There’s so much stuff to bring that it’s easy not to be on the same page,” reflects Virginia Tech senior Valerie Carboni. After you figure out who’s bringing what, it’s time to lay down the law.

You should discuss each of your expectations about staying up and waking up, partying, having guests over, cleanliness and borrowing each other’s things. (These are the most common conflicts, but they might not be the only ones.) There is no better time than the present to voice your opinion or strike some compromises, even if it results in early head-butting. It’s better than letting issues build up later, which can lead to heated arguments and uncomfortable passive-aggression (and that really sucks).

4. Reach out (While You Branch out)
Roommates tend to spend a lot of time together early in the school year, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be the lone kid on campus if you and your roommate don’t hit it off. That said, many roommates grow apart after week one.

Regardless, be sure to show some empathy toward your roomie. At the end of the day, she will be the one you come home to and the first to notice when you are sick, stressed or heartbroken. “This is the person you live with and see every day,” says Carboni, “and even if you aren’t the best of friends, it’s still important to check in on someone.”

So, if your roommate needs a quick term paper edited or is crying for some impromptu relationship advice, grab a red pen or muster up your most genuine “It’s not you, it’s him.” It’s also nice to extend an invitation every now and then, even if you suspect the offer will be turned down (like when you’re headed out to a party and your roomie is decked out in pj’s and staring blankly at the computer screen). Hey, it’s the thought that counts.

5. Keep It Real
Embark on your roommate relationship with a positive attitude, but realize that not all random roommate couplings are going to end up BFF. And you don’t need to fake it. If you follow all the above steps and it turns out you’re still like oil and water, hey, it happens.

Meanwhile, keep in mind that this is only the beginning of an illustrious college career, and you’ve got plenty of time to forge new relationships. “Your roommate can turn out to be your best friend or just an acquaintance, but don’t measure your roommate experience to what college is going to be like,” Laroche points out. Bottom line? Just buckle up and enjoy the ride … er, mission.