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You're on track to get your high school diploma, and you're ready to face the world of college. Or are you?

According to "Diploma to Nowhere," a new report from Strong American Schools, which advocates making public school education more rigorous, one-third of American college students have to enroll in remedial courses. Before you say "not me," consider this: nearly four out of five students who undergo college remediation graduated from high school with GPAs of 3.0 or higher.

If a high school diploma alone is not enough, what else can you do to make sure you're prepared for the academic rigors of college? Take these four steps to  

college readiness

 .

1. Choose difficult courses.
Taking folk dance and ceramics might boost your high school GPA and make your senior year more fun, but choosing easy courses over difficult ones won't boost your college readiness. According to "Diploma to Nowhere," 59 percent of students taking remedial courses report that their high school classes were easy. Plus, when students from the high school class of 1992 were ranked by the intensity of their academic courses, more than two-thirds of those in the bottom quintile needed college remediation. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

2. Get serious about SAT prep.
Your SAT score doesn't determine your future, but it can be a sign of college readiness. Of the students who enrolled in college in 2003, those with SAT scores below 1000 were twice as likely to require college remediation as those with scores above 1000. And taking an SAT prep course can equip you with essential study skills, which are key to success in college.

3. Take AP courses and exams.
Taking college-level and AP courses in high school can give you a good idea what to expect in the college classroom. Of the students who enrolled in college in 2003, those who took AP courses in high school were more than a third less likely to need college remediation than those who did not. Your scores on AP exams can also be good indicators of your college readiness in a variety of subjects.

4. Read, read, read.
If you can't read well, you won't be able to perform well in most college classes. One study referenced in the report found that of the students who took remedial reading in college, more than two-thirds were in three or more other remedial courses and only 12 percent eventually earned a bachelor's degree. As the saying goes, "reading is fundamental." So find an author you like or a subject that interests you, and spend as much time reading as possible to boost your college readiness.

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