Improve your chances of getting into college,

This all depends. You should never choose a school solely from a guidebook, but guidebooks and rankings can help you in your initial search when you have no idea where even to begin- they can help you eliminate or choose elements you know you do or don’t like (single sex, religious affiliation, size,), and facts about grades and SAT scores can help you determine which schools might be safeties or reach schools. Once you have a larger list of schools from those, relatives and friends who went there can talk to you about their school and give you the more personal lowdown. Ultimately a visit is the best way to see if you would be a good fit for the school too. A great money saving tip utilize the multitude of online resources that offer virtual tours and chatrooms with admissions officials to get a “real” sense of the campus without flying there.

Colleges want to see that you have a passion for something. There is no one specific magic thing you should do to get into a college, but what they do love is consistency and dedication. Whether it’s horseback riding, sports, the violin, colleges want to see that you stuck with your activity throughout high school because you love to do and aren’t simply trying to impress them. This being said, being well-rounded is a great quality too, but being a dilettante is not. You want to go deep rather than broad, but having only one activity isn’t the best either. Community involvement/ volunteerism is a trait colleges love to see, but rather than try and stick it into your application, see if there’s a way to work in what you love to do with helping others. Athlete? A sports camp for elementary schoolers would be a great way to give back. If you’re a musician, try giving a concert to the elderly at a home. Colleges want to see that you go beyond what you are simply told to do. If you take initiative with whatever you do, that’s great!

Keep them involved! It’s tough for a counselor to write a recommendation for a student they’ve never met before until they showed up to ask for a recommendation. Ask them questions, use your counselor’s expertise. They are always happy to help you, since that is why they are there after all! Have a sit down with them periodically and talk to them about where you are in the selection and application process. If you are interested in what they have to say and the advice they can give you, they will be more interested in helping you!

Keep in mind that your parents always want what’s best for you, whether it seems that way or not. If they are pushing you to do something you really don’t want to, ask them why they think that’s the best path you can take. Explain to them what you want, but be clear about why you want it. Be calm. Getting angry with them only makes you seem immature, reinforcing in their minds all the reasons they feel they need to do the whole process for you. Being as adult and open with them as you can about what you and want and why you want it is the best way to show them you don’t need them every step of the way.

- Failing this- do what you know you want. If they try and rewrite your college essay, tell them thank you and then submit your own- they’ll never know. Apply to the schools they want, but also send in that RISD application- when you get in and they see how much you really want to go to art school and not engineering school, they’ll relent.

- Remember that they love you when you get angry. In their minds they are helping, so always be calm and friendly. They’ll be happy to help, so telling them the best way to help is by clearing off for a bit might just do the trick.

Schools with big alumni associations will have groups in large cities or areas. If you google “University X alumni” in your area, there is a good chance you will find an alumni association with contact info. These will tend to be older, professional people though. If you want to find current students who live where you do or just graduated ones, a facebook search is often a great idea. It’s a risk- free way of contacting someone, and you may have mutual friends or common ground that you can talk about.

Sometimes sending in one extra letter to a school explaining why this is your first choice is not a bad idea. The letter must have a good reason other than ‘it’s the highest ranked school I’m applying to” of course, but you should explain what about the school made you feel that you were a great fit for their culture, and what you could offer the school that would make them want you to be a part of the student body, and what the school had that you would love to be a part of, whether it’s a specific research project, their philosophy towards education, certain groups on campus that are unique to that school etc. Remember that you should point out not just what the school can do for you, but what you can do for the school.

A community college is probably right for you for a number of reasons. If you don’t feel ready to move out of your parents’ house, spending 1-2 years at a community college could help with the transition to a campus farther away. If your grades weren’t where you wanted them to be in high school, community college can be a great way to to get your grades up to be a more appealing candidate when you apply for your bachelor’s degree. Lastly, community college is a great option to save money for two years as they are often less expensive than 4-year colleges.

- If you are applying to a state school, this may well be the case. Many of them have quotas for each county, since they use government funding and are required to provide education evenly to the entire state. However, these quotas are carefully calculated so that if you come from a large town the quota is larger. Schools have some play with these quotas so that they don’t have to turn down an exceptional student because of a quota, but they do provide rough guidelines. However, it’s not something you can easily change, and hometown is not the most important factor by a long shot, so it’s not worth worrying about.

- Private schools with heavily national draws (think ivy league) may well have quotas too to ensure they get a diverse student body. However, they will never admit to them or disclose their admissions process, so again, it is not worth worrying about!

Early application varies greatly over different schools. Some schools have an early decision policy, which means that if you apply early and get in, you are committed to going to that school and cannot go anywhere else. Naturally, you can only apply to one early decision school at a time, lest you end up in an awkward situation.

Early action is simply applying early, but you can make your decision whenever you like, and you are not committed to going. Some schools only offer this to in state students, some to all their students. Some schools have a policy where if you apply early action, you cannot apply early elsewhere, though you can make your decision whenever you want.

Few schools have rolling admissions, this tends to be used for graduate schools more often.

Here are a few things to think about when deciding when to apply:

- Early application tends to have a higher acceptance rate. Especially among schools who use early decision or the limited early action described above, the school takes it as a sign that they are your number one choice if you apply early, because you would rather apply early there than anywhere else, and in the case of early decision, the school knows you will attend if they admit you.

- Early application means less stress because you will have fewer schools to worry about in December. Most early decision and early actions schools try to respond to you before December so that if you get in you don't have to apply to any other schools if you don't want to!

- Applying early is a great way to show your top school how much you care. It's worth doing for your top school! If your top school allows you to apply to other schools early as well, apply to as many as you can. You will thank yourself in December when all your friends are freaking out about applications.

It can be very important. You can be recruited to a school to play for them if you are good enough, which is one way to get into college, but otherwise, playing on a sport shows that you have a certain mental and physical discipline. Playing a team sport already shows great teamworking skills, which colleges like to see. Sports are by no means necessary, however. If you are able to demonstrate your excellent qualities through any of your activities that’s great. Colleges want to see that you get more out of your activities than simple enjoyment. If being in orchestra makes you a team player, let them know! If painting helps you express your emotions, tell them! The most important thing is that colleges see that you have good non-academic qualities. Athletics most easily demonstrates things like leadership, discipline and teamwork, but so do other things too.

Not very. Colleges know they cannot reach every student and that those students will still want to apply. Some schools (Like Emory University) do include demonstrated interest as part of their admissions process, but they are open about this, and encourage prospective applicants to visit and attend info sessions. This is rare among schools though, and while visiting a school is certainly very helpful for you in deciding if you want to go there or not, it’s not a decided factor for admissions counselors.

- This varies. There should always be at least one safety school and at least one reach school. Otherwise, think about each school you are considering. If you got in, would you actually want to go there? If the answer is no, why bother applying?

- If you are waiting to visit schools until after you receive acceptances, cast a wide net- give yourself a lot of options! However, don’t apply to so many that you lose the ability to be thoughtful toward each school in your essay. Colleges know when they see a form essay and they don’t like it!

Yes, all students should consider it. This doesn’t mean all students should do it, however. Students who were young in high school may find it is a great opportunity to grow up a bit, catch up in age to fellow students and gain some perspective before heading back to school. Students who want to take some time before going back to school should do it, but students who feel they are coming off a lot of momentum and want to keep going right after high school should keep at it! A gap year is a very personal decision that each student must make based on their personality and goals. Most schools let you defer application for a year, so applying during senior year still works, but writing about what you did on a gap year makes a great application essay too. Applying to colleges before you leave gives you the security that you know you have somewhere to go when you get back, but when you do get back, consider applying to those reach schools you didn’t get into the first time round. Maybe they will like you better after you’ve had your eyes opened in the real world.

- AP exams can get you a lot of college credit, which can either help you graduate earlier or give you extra time to take classes you want to take and not distribution requirements, because your AP exams can get you out of those.

- APs are also harder, so they demonstrate to a college that you are willing to work and go the extra distance. Schools want to see that you took advantage of all the academic resources your school has to offer, so if they know your high school has an AP program and they see you took no AP exams, they think you prefer an easier ride, unless you have a good reason why you didn’t take them.

- Research guides and websites like Unigo are the quickest ways, because they provide many qualitative and quantitative statistics and details in one place so you can easily compare schools with each other, as well as get a superficial snapshot of what the school is like.

- Most American high schools have guidance counselors, but this is not always the best option. If you are interested in going to a non American school then an independent counselor would probably know more than a regular high school one. Vice versa, an international student wishing to come to American colleges should hire one, as they will know more about the application process than a local counselor who doesn’t deal with students who want to leave the country as much.

- If you have special needs in any way that would make your college experience different from anyone else’s, be it physical, mental, religious, dietary, etc, an independent counselor can better help you research which school would be right for you than a high school counselor with several charges and who may not know what schools have the most Halal options for muslim students.

Then it’s not your fault if you don’t take any? Colleges want to see you do the best you can with what you have. If there are no APs at your school that doesn’t mean you aren’t as smart as the candidate with seven credits, you might do even better were you in their shoes. This being said, if you don’t have them, you should be throwing yourself into extracurriculars, and showing colleges that you keep yourself occupied. And of course, taking online courses shows initiative beyond simply learning what your school has to teach you, which colleges would also appreciate.

Visit when school is in session. This way you get to see what the school would be like when you would be a student there. Visiting while a school is on break can make a tour very dull, as there is nothing going on and it seems very lonely, which is probably an unfair representation of the school. Give the school a chance to have you see it at its best!

- Start with looking at yourself. Think about what caliber school you can expect to get into given your grades, extracurriculars, etc. A realistic portrait of your own achievements, qualities and abilities is the best way to have a fruitful admissions process where you can find the school that’s right for you.

- You can do this by looking at schools median SAT scores and grades to get a good idea of where you stand academically, but qualitative details like educational philosophy, class size, political leanings and student characteristics will help you find the school that fits you best.

- Your parents are the easiest people to bring with you, and if you trust their judgement and get along with them, they are great companions to have, as they may notice things you don’t, or think of things you had not considered.

- If your parents aren’t the best people to bring because you have differing opinions from them, a friend that is also interested in the school is a great idea. They will be just as curious as you, ask questions perhaps you hadn’t thought of, and you two can compare notes throughout!

The most important thing about a campus visit is that you are getting to see your potential dream school (or not) in the flesh. This could be the place where you spend the next four years of your life, some say the best four years of your life! Act accordingly, your visit is disproportionately short for that amount of time.

What you should do:

While you are there, try picturing yourself living on the campus. Don't just think about the academics, rankings, or stats- you don't have to be on campus to decide you do or don't like that stuff. Look for the finer details, small things you might like to have in your day to day life.

If you get the chance, find another student who's not your tour guide to ask about campus life. The guides are there to sell the school, but the other students will give you an honest opinion.

Go on the tour when school is in session. Touring a school over the summer when it is hot will leave you tired and grumpy, not to mention it will be extremely empty and look dull and lifeless. No school out of session looks better than a college with students in it. Give each school the chance to show you its best side!

Things to look for:

Are the students you see walking around smiling and happy? Look for details that indicate what makes the school different from other colleges. Read the flyers posted on bilboards and lampposts- do those event sound fun to you?

Look for kids who are dressed like you. I know it sounds superficial, but most personalities and social groups do tend to dress similarly. If you are comfiest in jeans and a T shirt and everyone around is dressed in polos and chinos, you might not be the best fit socially. Look for kids who you would be more interested to get to know. When you're only on campus for the length of a visit, sometimes judging a book by its cover is the only (and not entirely inaccurate) way to form an opinion.

Things to ask: Make sure your questions are all ones that you haven't been able to answer yourself by looking through the website. You have prime access to the school and all its student, admissions officers, professors, etc. This is the time to get the lowdown on what it's like to live and study there! Don't waste your time talking to a student about what their financial aid policy is like!

Hopefully these tips will give you a basic guideline for making the most of your campus visit!

School visits are not necessary for you to gain admission to a school in almost every case, so you needn't worry that not being able to visit will affect your chances of getting in. If you want to learn more about the school, try online research to get you acquainted with the campus, atmosphere, and student body. Many school websites offer virtual tours of campus, or at the very least put up campus maps with pictures of the buildings on their websites. This will give you a feel for the aesthetics of campus.

If you want to learn more about the academics, email a professor in a department that interests you, or even just the admissions counselor. Employees of the school will be happy to tell you about it even if you can't be there in person.

Lastly, if you know anyone from your high school who is currently attending the college you are interested in, reach out to them through facebook or email to get the inside scoop on what it's like being a student there. If you don't know anyone, find a student from your hometown or through family friends. If students like their school they should be happy to talk to anyone about it!

This way, you can get a feel for the look, the academics, and the student life on campus without ever actually going there!

- Large schools are usually state schools, and have lots of students. Small schools are most often private, with fewer students, usually below 10,000. Larger schools tend to have more diversity, more extracurricular options, more sports enthusiasm, and large numbers of opportunities to try new things. They are a large draw for speakers and musicians who know they will have an audience, so it is a plus if you want to be somewhere where things are happening! Of course, going to a small school in a big city will have the same effect too. However, it can be harder to be noticed by faculty due to the high student:teacher ratio, and socially it can be an overwhelming place as there are just SO many people.

- Small schools are a little less diverse, which can be good or bad depending on how well you connect with others who are very different from you; they have more accessible faculty and the school will often have the ability to spend more time on you, making sure you are doing well in school etc. There may be less extracurricular activities due to less students, but socially as well it can be nicer, more of a learning community if everyone knows everyone. Of course, everyone knowing everyone can also be a bad thing. It all depends on personal preferences!

- TYPOS!! Don’t make them!

- Don’t send an essay to College A with College B’s name in it

- Check and make sure every part of the application is filled out before you send it in

- Make sure you have represented yourself well. Did you make all the points you wanted to make in your application? Go over everything before you hit that ‘submit’ button!!!

- Going to school far away certainly incurs many more expenses. Travel home is costlier in terms of time and money, and time zone differences might make communicating harder too. However, a school may well be worth the distance, and if so, going far shouldn’t deter from going to the school you love. Distance can also be a good thing for students who want to get away from their house and try something completely new.

- Being close to home is cheaper in terms of visiting home. However, students may be at risk of surprise parents visits if they are too close (and if their parents are like that), but also they are less likely to meet new/different people, as most students tend to go to schools that are relatively close to their homes. Far away schools expose you to a more diverse friend group (there really is a difference between East and West coast, and the north and the South!) and can let you make new social connections. Going to your state school with all your friends means it’s easy to not make any new ones and doesn’t force you to develop and put yourself out there.

Large public universities are likely to have more opportunities for you in terms of social life, extracurriculars, and classes. More people means more potential friends, more clubs to join, and probably more classes to take.

Small liberal arts colleges provide the main benefit of being able to focus more on the well-being of their students because there are fewer, meaning you will get more time with professors, counselors, whatever you need. Small schools are better for students who know what they want, as they are likely to pick a school tailored to fit them. They won't want for friends, classes or activities even in a smaller setting because it fits their personality. Students who are still figuring out what they want to study, who they want to be, and what they want to do will have more options available to discover at a larger university.

Many college guidance counselors (including myself) say that nine is about as many colleges as you should consider. Any more than that, and it becomes difficult to really focus on your applications and target each one. If you've got too many schools, they all tend to run together in your head, and it's harder to think about why you really, really want to go to each one. If you don't really, really want to go to each one, why are you applying there at all? Colleges can tell when you aren't enthusiastic, and you wouldn't want your top school to think you didn't care that much about them simply because you were so worn down from applying to twenty other schools that you couldn't give this one your all on the application.

The amount of reach and safety schools you want to apply to depends. Instead of classifying each school as reach or safety, try to go for a range. You'll have one school that you're almost positive you'll get into, and one that you'd be flabbergasted if did get into, but put a mix in between for the rest of your schools. That way you won't necessarily feel like you're settling if you didn't get into your dream school, because you may have gotten into a school that's not quite as prestigious but better than your safety school! Just like good investing, you want a diverse portfolio that will give you a lot of options.

The Common App is amazingly useful for consolidating a lot of information such as basic facts like date of birth, GPA, extracurriculars, etc. The Common App essay also allows you to present yourself to all of the schools that will see it, so you can introduce yourself to them.

However, as a result the Common App only shows very basic information. Schools want to get to know you more than that, and after they know a bit about you, they want to know why you would be a good fit for THEM. They will ask you the questions that they want to know the answer for because it will tell them if you are a good match for the school. A more science and engineering based school will ask different questions than a liberal arts college will.

This is the part of your application where you really need to think about yourself in relation to each school. If you have certain qualities you believe a school will appreciate more than another one, play those up! The supplements are where the personal stuff takes place, this is where you become more than just a number.

Each answer should be as tailored as it can! That being said, do not misrepresent yourself to a school by telling them what you think they would like to hear. Remember that the admissions process is a matching system. Counselors not only look for academic qualifications but also for whether or not they think the student would be a good fit for the school. If they think you would fit the school well and you only told them what they wanted to hear you might be very unhappy there.

No school wants to read what is clearly a form essay. You should think about each school as you right your essays, thinking what it is you like about them, etc., but make sure that you tell them about YOU. Telling a school how prestigious it is is something they already know. They want to see why YOU would be great at their school! That's the most important thing to think about!

Yes. Almost all, if not all, college applications are online nowadays. 400 schools use the Common App, an online application accepted by those schools which means you only have to fill out forms, and write a personal essay once, making the process much easier. It allows you to track your progress online as well. Each school will have their own supplement to the main Common App which includes other questions and essays, but will be based off of the main document.

Please be suspicious of a college that does not use an online application. In this day and age when technology is not only so prevalent but so necessary to an education that prepares a student for the real world, a college with no online application may not be able to give that necessary skill to its students.

Probably not. Schools may review applications as they come in, but they are not expecting the bulk of the applications until the deadline. It might help in that, as one of the early ones, your review is not surrounded by tons of other ones and so may be more memorable to the counselor that submitted it, but you will not get any extra points for getting it in ahead of schedule.

- Research guides and websites like Unigo are the quickest ways, because they provide many qualitative and quantitative statistics and details in one place so you can easily compare schools with each other, as well as get a superficial snapshot of what the school is like.

The best ways to prepare for the SAT and/or ACT is through a comprehensive study method that is efficient, effective, and guarantees results. The Edge has successfully assisted hundreds of students in attaining their goal scores and the best way to guarantee results is with a customized approach. The best thing is to start with a diagnostic SAT and ACT to determine your specific areas of weakness and then prep for the test where you have the higher starting score. Whichever test you do, you should supplement your preparation (tutoring/online course/bootcamp) with REAL practice tests from either the College Board (SAT) or the ACT organization.

Each student learns (and tests) differently so there is no cookie cutter recommendation for all students, but here are some good suggestions for everyone:

1. Take the PSAT in 10th grade. This will really give you an idea of what the SAT will be like the following year (NO ONE will see your grade so it is purely for practice).

2. If you happen to be in an advanced level class in school, you should look to take the SAT II exam for that particular subject in either May (if you take AP) or June (if you are not in an AP class) while the material is fresh.

3. Take a practice ACT (if available) or register to take the actual ACT in September of your junior year.

4. Take the PSAT again in October of your junior year

5. Your PSAT scores will come out in December. At that point compare your PSAT score with your ACT score and see if one is drastically higher than the other. If one of them is, you should definitely opt to focus on that one. If not, you can take both.

6. You should opt to take the SAT or ACT at least twice, if not three times before applying to college. Target SAT test dates should be March, May, October (of senior year) or January, May, October (of senior year) for international students who don't have a March test. Target ACT dates should be April, June, September (of senior year).

7. Plan to take more SAT IIs in June of your junior year (or May and then take your SAT in June).

WHICH ONES?

The SAT was designed as an aptitude test—it tests your reasoning and verbal abilities, not what you've learned in school. In fact, the SAT was supposed to be a test that one could not study for (though this is hardly the case today). On the other hand, the ACT, is an achievement test, meant to test what you have learned in school. However, this distinction between "aptitude" and "achievement" is dubious. There's concrete evidence showing that you can study for the SAT, and as the tests have evolved, they have come to look more and more like each other.

HOW MANY TIMES?

There is no set number of times that a student should take the SAT; however, most students will take the test at least twice. Some students choose to take the test three times, if they have been working hard to prepare and are confident that their scores will increase. It is not recommended that a student take the test more than three times, and it is recommended to only take the SAT subsequent times after doing some form of preparation, since you definitely do not want colleges to see a lower score on the second test.

Hope this helps!

The importance of standardized test scores varies and it should be remembered they are just one of many components of each student's application. Most schools will review a student’s application in 2 parts: academics and then activities and everything else. SAT or ACT scores basically make up half of the academic component (the other half is GPA), so they are definitely important, but poor scores can always be balanced out by excellent performance in high school and extra-curriculars.

A study method worth paying for is one that has proven results. I woud say the top 2 things every student should purchase are the College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide and Real ACTs and then depending on whether you prefer private tutoring, a classroom setting, or an online program, opt for something tailored to your needs.

Students should start out with diagnostic tests for the SAT and ACT and should focus on prepping for the test with the higher starting score. The ACT is another standardized test that colleges will use to evaluate how well a student will do in college. It is scored differently than the SAT, with a maximum score of a 36, instead of a 2400. It is also structured differently than the SAT, with four sections: Math, Reading, Writing, and Science. The other difference is that the essay on the ACT is not required, whereas it is required on the SAT. Students are not required to take both tests and a student should probably decide which test to take after taking diagnostic tests for both. If a student does considerably better in one than the other, then the student should focus on preparing for that test.

While more and more American colleges and universities are implementing test-optional policies for admissions, acknowledging that test scores do not necessarily correlate with college success, the SAT remains incredibly important to gaining admission to top tier colleges. Regardless of whether or not a student’s dream school requires the SAT, high scores can only have a positive impact on the student’s chances of admission.

There are many different test prep methods, and while they vary in cost, type, and effectiveness, there is not just one way to study for the SAT. Some students do well with the least expensive option: studying from a test book. While for others this does not produce results because they need motivation from an instructor or tutor. For students needing an extra push, the next level of test prep would be an online course and then the more expensive options are in-person classes and private tutoring.

Practice with timing drills! Take a full section of whichever test you are preparing for. Time yourself. If you complete the section in time, try it for the rest of the test. If you ran out of time. Mark exactly where you were when the time ran out and calculate the number of minutes you spent per question. THEN calculate the average number of minutes you SHOULD be spending per question (divide the total time given for each section by the number of questions in the section), and see how far off you are. Then work on short timing drills until you can close the gap. Some other tips are skimming passages or reading only topic sentences and looking for key words. In the math sections: if a problem is too hard and taking too long, skip it! Move on to easier questions and easier points!

1. Time management is important: remember that easy questions are worth just as much as hard ones and the more questions you answer correctly, the better your score will be.

2. Use Whatcha Got: if you can’t correctly solve the problem, look at the answers and try to insert them into the problem. While this may not always give you an answer it helps to eliminate wrong answer choices.

3. Know when to use your calculator: very few of the SAT math problems truly require a calculator so don’t get caught up trying to solve every question with it.

DO make sure that your own personality shines through. Colleges look at the personality of each student as well as their qualifications. This is your chance to show them who you are, not just what you've done!

DO proofread! Over and over again.

DO have someone proofread your essays! Don't be afraid to ask for help on wording and style either, just make sure that your voice is always the one being heard, not your proofreader's.

DO use the first person. Colleges want to hear about YOU. This is very different from an academic essay.

DON'T use a form essay! Colleges can tell when you weren't thinking about them specifically as you wrote your essay and were just casting a really wide net. Especially if you put the wrong colleges name on the essay!

DON'T put the wrong school's name in your essay!

DON'T use too many exclamation points- you want to seem passionate about something, but exclamation points are informal, and too many can seem overly frivolous.

DO write about something you truly care about. The more you enjoy your subject matter the easier it will be to write the essay.

DO use rough drafts. Write one, leave if for a day. Come back the next day with a fresh eye and go over it. You will be able to streamline your line of thought that way so you can fit into word counts.

It is most certainly okay to have someone proofread your essay before you submit it. It is NOT okay to have someone write your entire essay for you or edit it in such a way that it takes away from your voice. However, as with writing anything, proofreading is an integral part of the writing process. You should first proofread it yourself to catch any major grammar or spelling errors, but sometimes a second set of eyes is necessary to catch minor things that you may not have noticed as the writer.

The essay is a very important part of your application. This is one of the few chances that the college gets to see you as more than a number or a statistic. Up to this point you have only been able to list your grades, accomplishments, and activities, but you have not been able to show them your personality, or tell them why you are proud of those accomplishments, or love those activities.

Make sure in your essay that a college will really be able to hear your voice through it. Colleges pick students they think will be a great fit for the school both in terms of academics and attitude. Your best chance of finding the right school is being true to your own personality- it's not worth getting into a great school if you hate it, so let them see you for you!

This entirely depends on you. Most universities structure classes so that they do not get in the way of practice schedules, but varsity athletics programs are grueling to say the least, requiring many hours a week of practice, as well as time spent traveling for games. However, it is still possible to maintain an excellent academic record while being an athlete. It requires a great deal of hard work and discipline and there is no room for slacking off, but then, sports are like that too.

This all depends on what extracurricular activity you wish to join. Activist clubs that promote social causes are usually open to whoever wishes to join. Performing arts groups, whose popularity and credibility rely on their talent and skill, are usually audition-based in order to maintain the quality of their work. Sports teams are usually selective at the varsity and club level, but intramural sports allow anyone to play.

Colleges do reserve the right to revoke offers of admission, but this is usually contingent on only a few factors. If a student's grades drop dramatically after admission that might be a reason to revoke admission, as the student is expected to maintain the academic level of excellence of which they displayed they were capable when applying. This occurs only in extreme cases of grades dropping, such as double letter grades in several classes, for example. To prevent this, a student need only keep up the work they have been doing for the past three years in high school!

If a student is arrested between the time of admission and matriculation this can be another reason a school may rescind admission. Again, this is an easy situation to avoid. Don't break the law, and keep your ticket to college!

Yes. When your child goes to college they will likely be living away from their parents, they will have to take classes and take care of themselves alone. A student whose application too obviously has the mark of over-attentive parents will signal a red flag that the student is not ready to handle college as they are too dependent on their parents for their academic success, and would not be able to maintain the academic caliber the school would desire without parental support. Remember, your child is applying to college, not you.

This is not to say you should not help and guide them through the process, as indeed you should help your child, but you should help them, not do it for them.

I like to involve parents in the college admissions process as much as possible so they are aware of what their children are doing and can help out whenever possible. My main tip to parents to help children succeed throughout high school is to take their kids to visit a college EARLY in their high school career (I'm talking freshman/sophomore year). By getting kids excited early about college, they are MUCH more motivated in their studies throughout high school because they know what they're working towards. During the actual nitty gritty of the process during junior and senior year, I always have parents make a ton of folders organizing all of a student's honors, certificates, and community service hours so it is easy to access during application time. When advising students with applications, I also have parents sit in on sessions because they often offer great perspective on significant accomplishments (since most students don't really love talking about their successes).

The campus tour is so that the student can get a feel for the campus and ask questions about what it's like to live and study there. Their job is to decide if they like the school and if it feels like a good fit for them. That is not the parents' jobs to be asking those questions. However, a parent must think of the logistical issues of putting their child through college- paying for it, getting them to and from school, etc. A parent's job on the college tour is to ask the all the questions they need to find out if this is a school they can help their child succeed at. Remember, parents know their kids better than anyone so they can help their child process what they learn, and maybe think of the questions they forgot, but they are there as a support team.

- Start a spreadsheet! Keeping track of your expenses by keeping receipts and entering them into a spreadsheet will give you an idea of how much you are spending. You can divide it into what type of expenses too, so if you need to cut back you can see where you are spending the most money.

- Get a mobile banking app. Nowadays, almost all banks have smartphone apps. If you have your own bank account and a smartphone, download your bank's app. It will give you quick access to your balance. Make sure you check it regularly, and you will see how you are doing moneywise.

- Sometimes using cash is better. Instead of using your debit card for expenses, try only using it to withdraw cash and pay for everything that way. It will mean that you are dealing with a smaller amount of money at a time so you can see how quickly you spend it. It also makes money more real to you- by spending cash you can see exactly what you spend and it's not as emotionless as swiping a piece of plastic and getting whatever you want. Make sure you keep your receipts, though if you still want to maintain a spreadsheet!

Some schools recommend it for applicants who were young for their class year. College is a big lifestyle change from high school, and an extra year of experience for students who are younger than their high school classmates can be crucial.

Gap years can be highly beneficial if the applicant is productive in their time off. Whether they volunteered for a cause, took classes to earn credit beforehand, or worked a job to earn money to pay for school, colleges want to see that they have something to show for the year they took off. If an applicant can easily and ably demonstrate how they grew and benefited from their time off and what they learned (even working at Starbucks can teach you something!) then colleges will likely respect their decision and consider it favorably in an application.

If you take a year off from going to school, colleges want to see that you either had a good reason, or that you have something to show from your unstructured time.

If you did nothing for an entire year and simply enjoyed not being in school or went on vacation, colleges will not be impressed. This is not to say you cannot enjoy your time not spent in school, but a year away from school should still be a year of personal growth and productivity. Spending a month in Spain will not harm you, especially if you volunteered there, stayed in a homestay and learned the language or even just vacationed but spent the remaining eleven months, volunteering, working, or taking classes, but spending a month on vacation and then doing the same for the other eleven will not help you get into college.

There are many scholarships available to minority students! A simple Google search will yield many, many useful results.