This paper asserts that for gifted students, college planning should be one step in a life development process that takes place between 7th and 12th grades. Characteristics of gifted students that affect their college planning include multipotentiality, sensitivity to competing expectations, uneven development, ownership of their abilities, dissonance, taking risks, and a sense of urgency. To help resolve the problems encountered by gifted students, the following areas might be considered: self-exploration, academic planning, effective work/study skills and time management, decision-making skills, intellectual and social/emotional enrichment, and learning about colleges. Learning about colleges involves seven steps: (1) gathering information, (2) planning and choosing, (3) making two visits, (4) applying, (5) interviewing and writing an essay, (6) applying for financial aid, and (7) making acceptance decisions. The application process can be looked on from two points of view--that of the gifted student and that of the admissions officer. Admissions officers look at the academic rigor of the student's high school program; standardized test scores, including Subject Test results; extracurricular activities; and community service. Some schools also require an interview and an essay. Persuading a college or university to choose them requires students to know how to present themselves so that an institution will recognize them as a good match. Part of that presentation is based on what they know about themselves; part involves what they learn about how colleges make selections. (A list of college-planning Internet resources is appended.) (LPP)