Improve your chances of getting into college,

First of all, wear very comfortable clothing. Do wear nicer jeans or khakis and shirt. Don't wear ripped jeans and and old t-shirt. You will be walking a lot on the tour, so you need to be comfortable. The tours are usually the same no matter what day you visit. The tour will consist of "showing off" the college in the best possible light. You may visit the new multi-million science lab or new Olympic-sized swimming pool. However, you may not be interested in any of that. You should tell the admission office (prior to you visit) that you are interested in seeing the theater or other department of interest.

Be sure to ask to see a typical freshman dorm room. Take pictures. This will help you to remember how small the space is if you decide to attend. Look at the bulletin boards around campus. You will get "the pulse" of the campus (especially if the school is strong leaning liberal). Be sure to approach any student (other than your tour guide) and tell them that you are considering the school. Ask them one good thing about the school and one not so good thing. Surprisingly, most students will take the time and tell you their opinion. Be sure to drive around outside of campus. Visit the town or the city. Is there enough to do or things that you like to do in the town/city? Enough Taco Bells or movie theaters?

Ask lots of questions!

Yes, all information that you can get your hands on will help you in this process. Think of it this way...pretend that you are buying a car of your choice. You can spend $5000 - $150,000 on it. You can have whatever options you want as well. If you look at car guide, they will usually give you a rundown of the vehicle (facts and stats). Cars are also ranked: safest, fastest, environmentally safe, etc. If you ask your parents or relatives what to buy, you will get hundreds of opinions. Yet the only opinion you need is your own.

Do your research with all the information that you can gather. Just like test driving a potential car, you need to test drive the college by visiting. It may look good on paper or the web, but once you set foot on campus you will know right away if you like it or not.

Yes and no.

If the college is looking for someone to play center on the basketball team or someone to play the tuba in the band, then someone who demonstrates those abilities will have a greater chance at being admitted (as long as they also meet the admission requirements).

Now, more importantly the colleges are looking for students who are involved in their school and greater community. So first they are looking for involvement. Next, they are looking for commitment. Did you join for 6 months and quit? Did you stick with it for two years? Then the biggie, how did you demonstrate leadership in that activity? You do not need to be the president of the club or captain of a team. You can introduce new ideas and attempt to implement them. You can arrange for volunteers to help with a community service project. There are many ways to show leadership.

So being involved in a few activities with a longer commitment and the opportunity to display leadership is what colleges are looking for in candidates.

Short answer - Yes. When students make contact with a college admission counselor, that counselor tracks it. Students who take the initiative to find out more about a college or to express their interest in the school are viewed in a positive light by the admission office.

With that said, a student over do it and contact a college representative too much. This is viewed as an annoyance. If the representative visits your school, then attend the session and visit shortly with the person after the presentation. When you are choosing classes for your next year in high school, you can contact the admission representative and ask their opinion on the classes that you have in mind.

Nowadays the admission office even counts twitter replies and facebook comments associated with their college as contact. Campus visits are also considered contact.

A good rule of thumb is once or twice a year to have a telephone or email conversation with the representative.

Overbearing parents can be a very difficult situation. It is time for compromise, though. Tell them that you appreciate that they want to be involved in this process; however, it is very important for you to take the lead in this process. You will welcome their input, but they also need to respect your pace and choices. Ask them to make a list of colleges they would like you to attend, and you will make one as well. See if there are schools that match both of your lists.

Parents with high school students are facing the fact that their child is becoming an adult. They have spent the better part of 17 years watching over you and making decisions for you. Eventually, you will need to let them know that you need to be able to make some decisions in order to become independent of them. A really good book for your parents is called "Letting Go" by Karen Levin Coborn and Madge Lawrence Treeger. If anything, buy the book and ask them to read it (especially Chapter 1).

Here are a few to consider (not an exhaustive list):

Brandeis

Drew

Evergreen

George Mason

Georgetown

Guilford

Hendrix

James Madison

Lawrence

Macalester

Mount Holyoke

Oberlin

These colleges have supplements because the common application does not contain a question(s) that the college would like to know. Remember that the common application contains the same exact questions no matter which college you are sending it to. Some colleges may want to know where your parents attended school (legacy) or they may have a questions like "Why do you want to attend ABC college?". Some are just collecting bits of information not asked in the common application.

Recently, students have been asking several teachers for letters of recommendation, reading them, and then selecting the "best" ones. Unfortunately, this is not a good way to get the "best" recommendation.

Start by waiving your rights to view the recommendation. If you have access to the letters (or your parents have access), the letter is deemed "biased" by the colleges. The admissions representatives know that the teacher had to be careful to write the letter so that you/your parents would not object to any of the information. A true recommendation will provide the good and the areas of improvement of a student. Most students/parents do not want the areas of improvement to be part of the letter because they believe it will decrease the chances for admission.

The next thing you can do is evaluating which teacher(s) who can write your recommendation. Strongly consider a teacher who teaches a class that you may have struggled in. This teacher can probably attest to your determination and commitment to improve your grade (seeking help when needed, doing extra work, etc.). Teachers who teach a class that was easy for you will not have constructive criticism to provide the admission committee.

Lastly, approach the teacher(s) well ahead of time and verbally ask them if they would write a letter of recommendation for you. Do not email them or write a note. Once they have said yes, then write a cover letter explaining why you need the recommendation, the deadline(s), and who to address it to. Provide the teacher with the cover letter, your resume, and addressed, stamped envelopes to the college. Don't forget the thank you note to the teacher afterwards.