Improve your chances of getting into college,

I have about 1,000 tips on this topic, but for the sake of brevity, here are a few:

First, before your visit, spend some time researching the school. Don’t only look and at the school’s website—check out at least two other published/online sources. If possible, also speak to a friend (or family friend, acquaintance, etc.) who either goes to the school or graduated from it within the last decade.

You should also do a virtual/video tour on a site like www.youniversitytv.com before visiting the school. The better informed you are before your visit, the more likely you’ll be to see the aspects of the school that really matter instead of just being wowed by all the big ivy-covered buildings.

Next, on your actual visit, have questions prepared in advance. They should be questions that CANNOT be answered with yes/no or a number/statistic that can be found online. You want unique opinions and personal viewpoints, not canned responses. Ask at least one question during the info session; speak clearly, give your name, and ask away. Do the same with your tour guide.

As for the tour, this is important: Tell your parents to go on a different tour than you do. That way, you won’t be shy about asking the questions YOU want to know, instead of the questions you want your parents to hear you ask. And don’t ask a bunch of questions intended to make you look smart and intellectual—ask questions that matter to you. Your goal is not to impress the tour guide...it's to find out if the school matches you and your interests.

Finally, when you’re on the tour, do some snooping. Think of this as an intelligence mission, where your goal is to figure out what the school is REALLY all about. Look around you (in every nook and cranny), and see which organizations have posters on the wall. If you’re a young Republican and everywhere you go you see rainbow flags and Greenpeace stickers, chances are the school is not the best fit for you.

Abolsutely. Having someone proofread your essays shows you care enough about the school to not make careless mistakes. And one thing's for sure: your computer's spellcheck is not good enough. "From" and "Form" are both spelled correctly, but have vastly different meanings.

If for some reason you can't find someone else to proofread your essays, the best way to proof them yourself is to read them slowly--OUT LOUD. Your ears can hear what your eye will not pick up.

Lastly, if you do have someone else proofread your essays (whether a relative, friend, teacher, or someone else), be very clear that you don't want feedback, or else you'll get unsolicited advice and comments. And that's a slippery slope that leads to "essays by committee", which is a big mistake. They only serve to make you question yourself. So write your essays yourself, go with your gut, speak from the heart, and be your own personal barometer.

It's obvi! With a degree in the arts, you will become a creator, performer, and visionary. Tap into that! I never thought I would become an educational consultant with my degree in Theater from Northwestern University. But here I am, a successful business owner and a well-known author. Before that, I had a career as a journalist writing for magazines such as "Details" and "Seventeen"—all thanks to what I learned as a theater major. In fact, I can honestly say that I owe my entire career (including my ability to effectively lead, motivate, and communicate) to the arts, both through my undergraduate degree in Theater and my Master's degree in Screenwriting from UCLA.

In other words, the creative skills you learn while studying the arts are universally applicable to any field, and employers know it. And if you take a couple of math classes while rehearsing Richard III, well then you're gold!

Finally: In my work as an educational consultant, I find that my most successful MBA candidates come from the world of theater and creative writing. Who woulda thunk it? Being an arts major makes you a better candidate for everything in life.

I'll answer this one like my Jewish aunt used to love to answer questions...with another question!: If you're trying to figure out whether or not to date someone, how important is their Facebook profile? Chances are it's not that important, because people carefully control what comes through on their FB page. They're not going to list out all their flaws and bad habits, only the stuff they want you to know about them.

Ditto for college websites. They're only going to showcase their positive attributes, and try to hide everything else.

That doesn't mean you should ignore college websites altogether--you should definitely poke around and see what they have to say for themselves. And you can learn a lot about a school by seeing what THEY think are their best attributes (which might be very different from what YOU consider to be important attributes). For example, if you're an artsy-fartsy type (like I am) and the college website keeps touting its amazing sports teams and 32 intermural sports clubs and new soccer field while saying virtually nothing about its arts facilities, well then the college might be an amazing school...just not for you.

So while you should definitely check out the college's official website, you should also consult outside sources, from school rankings guides to alumni to current students to knowledgable educational consultants. Combined with a campus tour, they'll be your best guides.