Improve your chances of getting into college,

Extremely important. Often times, athletics can be the tipping point in a student's admission decision. In fact, in some conferences the extra weight in admission is actually called, 'tips'. These 'tips' are allocated to coaches to use each year on their top recruits. Depending upon the need of a sport and a school's commitment to a sport, top athletes can stand to gain a big advantage in gaining admission.

Students interested in intercollegiate sports should get excited because it's a wonderful opportunity to continue playing something that you love. First off, students need to become familiar with the NCAA and visit www.ncaaclearninghouse.net to understand the requirements and expectations for going through the recruitment process if they plan to play Div. 1, Div. 1A or Div. II sports. Interested students should begin creating a resume specific for their sport and consider creating a DVD. They should inquire with coaches and fill out online inquiry forms on the college's websites.

Students can become recruited by coaches after they have filed with the NCAA Clearing House for Div 1 and II. Students can fill out inquiry forms online and contact coaches to indicate interest. Students can ask their current coaches to contact college coaches. Prospective athletes can make video's and resume's to submit to coaches.

Students looking to major in the arts ought to consider if they want a traditional arts school with a curriculum largely comprised of art and design classes or a school that has a strong arts program but exists within a liberal arts curriculum that offers more diversity in courses. For students who are certain of a career in the arts, the following schools should be researched:

Otis College of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design, Ringling School of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Art and Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, Pratt Institute.

For students looking for strong undergraduate art schools with opportunities to take other classes consider:

Boston University, New York Univ., Syracuse, Smith College, Furman Univ., Cooper Union., Skidmore College, Unv. of Michigan, and Virginia Commonwealth Univ.

A conservatory dance department is a college that offers programs that concentrate specifically on the study of dance. The curriculum is designed to allow students to concentrate on their work with an emphasis on future careers in dance. While many universities have very strong dance departments and offer a solid education in dance, the environment is usually very different from a conservatory, as students do not necessarily intend to pursue careers in dance and are often majoring in more than one area. Small college-level conservatories focus exclusively on dance. Everyone is a music or theater arts or dance major, and competition, even after admission, tends to run high. At a college, students will be taking other courses designed to allow them to be successful in other areas not just limited to dance.

NYU, Goucher, Julliard School, Sarah Lawrence, SMU, Arizona State, UCLA, Florida State Univ.

A common preconception exists that students majoring in the arts are not competitive for other careers or jobs if they don't get a full-time work as an artist. This is simply not true. The education students receive from their respective college awarding the arts degree most likely has core graduation requirements and prepares students for life after college in many aspects, not just to be successful as an artist. Graduates with art degrees can go on to become successul in many related areas. In fact, author Daniel Pink, of A Whole New Mind, argues more right-brained, artistic people will be needed to be competitive in the rapidly changing world of automative production. These artists can help develop more creative design's for merchandise, clothes, tools, and nearly anything else. Creative, right-brained artists will undeniably be needed in nearly every economic sector.

From Facebook to Twitter, colleges are using social networks to deliver everything from campus visit information to college acceptances. I worked at a college that used social media extensively to generate interest in campus events, admission visits to schools, and staying in touch with prospective students. Colleges also use the social media to inform them about potential candidates; therefore some information posted on Facebook could lead to a negative impression in the application process. Interviews are being scheduled online which is a great option for students who are unable to make it to campus. There are pro's and con's to the use of social media in college communications. It's not going away, and ought to be addressed by The National Association for College Admission Counselors

A BALANCED LIST

Potentially, the most emotionally difficult aspect of creating the college list is choosing and sticking with several schools to which the student is quite likely to gain admission. Every parent understands the rich talents and personality of his/her child and has come to view certain schools as excellent and others as adequate. The challenge is finding several schools that both the student and parent feel are strong and to which the likelihood of admission is excellent. However, if the search continues on too long, it can sidetrack the student from senior fall courses and constructing strong applications to an already established list. Highlighted below are two areas in which parents and students can make this part of the process easier:

1.) Last year’s admission rates were the most selective of all time, and with more students predicted to apply to colleges this fall, it will likely be another record year. While this has made the more prestigious schools even more competitive, it has also made less well-known schools both more demanding and composed of stronger students. Consequently, before students dismiss a school because they have not heard of it or because they know someone who attended several years ago and found it unimpressive, they should do their own research into what that college is like today. Yesterday’s weaker school may be a college of high quality today.

2.) When visiting schools for the first time, consider visiting schools other than those that are among the most competitive for admission.

A BALANCED LIST

Ideally, when creating a balanced list of schools, we recommend that you include two to three likely, two to three probable, two to three reach, and that you individually discuss super reach schools that are reasonable for the student’s time, energy, and financial situation.

We want to try to avoid the current trend of the scattergun approach, where students blanket admission offices with as many as 15-20 applications. Colleges prefer to invite students who they believe will actually attend, as this will increase their yield, which subsequently makes them appear more attractive. Because of this scattergun trend, admission offices are finding it more difficult to identify the sure bets. Increasingly, admission offices are likely to count students’ every phone call and visit. A recent survey by the National Association of Admission Counseling found that nearly 55 percent of higher education institutions now consider “demonstrated interest” when making admission decisions.