Improve your chances of getting into college,

1. Take the tour. Attend the information session. If the school is of great interest to you, see if you can schedule an interview with the Admissions Department. Also, if there is a department that your are particularly interested in, call ahead and see if arrangements can be made to tour the department and possibly meet with a professor.

2. Listen, look, learn. When you are walking around campus on the tour, does your student ambassador know a lot of the other students on campus?

3. Check out the other students on campus. Do they look happy? Are they walking around by themselves? In groups of friends? Do they look like people you'd want to meet?

4. Stop in the student center for a burger or a cup of joe and eavesdrop shameless. Catch the rap and see if the conversations are ones you'd like to join in on. How do students dress? Can you relate?

5. Read the student newspaper. Can you relate? Does it feel extreme? Or does it feel like you?

6. Do you feel comfortable? Excited? Pumped? Or are you freaking out. Sometimes you will have negative or positive reactions to a school, but cannot describe why you feel that way. Its okay. The important thing is to LISTEN to your intuition.

7. Pop into the labs, classrooms, if possible. Clean? Up to date equipment? Windows?

8. Search Twitter Facebook, Tumblr, etc for posts from students at that school. This will give you some insight on the culture. What are students chatting about. What are they complaining about? Altho this is not fool proof information, it may give you a little insight.

9. Visit the Career Services Office - are they friendly? How many counselors do they have. Check out their Social Media. Ask about Internships and/or coops and/or community service opportunities. This office is a TREMENDOUS resource to you and you want the best possible service.

10. What about the counseling center? Do they run workshops on stress, time management, homesickness, college life adjustment? How many visits are you allowed each semester. Getting used to college life can be BIG. Know what resources are there for you.

11. Student Success/Academic Support - what is available to you. Is there a writing/math center and/or tutoring resource? Are there peer mentors students who can help you navigate through your first semester?

12. International study. What do they have to offer? If there is a specific office, and this is important to you, go visit the office.

13. Keep your eyes and ears open. You will change and mature a lot during high school, and you may change your mind about what is important to you - or may not know what is important to you. So remember to "go with our gut" feelings too,.

The great thing about the internet is that there is so much information available! Take advantage of it by:

1. take virtual tours of the campus via the college website.

2. use google maps to explore the immediate area.

3. google the name of the town where the college is located and see what information is available.

4. promise yourself that you will find a way to visit the campuses that you have been accepted into if this is possible. Narrow it to your top three choices if you have limited time or money.

5. Take advantage of Twitter and Facebook and discover what types of posts and tweets the students at those schools are making to see if it feels like a fit for you.

6. Call the Admissions Office and see if there are any alumni in your area with whom you can meet. Many Alumni volunteer this service to their alma mater and this gives you an opportunity to find out about their experiences at the school.

This is a great question and is an important part of determining the "best fit" school for you. In other words, understanding the pros and cons of attending a large university vs a smaller school is an important part of understanding and identifying your personal educational goals and where you are most likely to thrive and become a successful student.

Typically, a large school offers many many academic paths. Does this mean you will access to their diverse offerings? Yes and no. If you start at a large school in one program, lets say technical theater is you intended major, that does not necessarily mean you will have automatic access to the school's course offerings in information science. You need to find out what the school's policy is on switching majors or programs.

Socially, a large school may offer more diverse extra curricular opportunities and you may have the opportunity to meet more people, and more diverse people than at a small school. However, you need to research the school's demographics (found in college handbooks and on the school's website) to make sure this is true.

Large schools may also offer more research opportunities. Is this an important factor in your criteria? Do you like research?

What about class size? Many schools, large or small, have large introductory classes in their general education and/or in your major. How do you feel about being one of 300 in a lecture hall? You can inquire about the size of classes on your tour, or when you email or call Admissions Offices. Remember, just because the school is small, this does not mean that all of your classes will be small.

How important is a sense of community to you? When you walk to class, is it important that you know or recognize everyone you pass on the sidewalk? Or are you content just to get to know the students on your Residence Hall floor. Or in your major? Think about your high school. Does it feel too big? Or too small? And what do you like about your high school.? Or, are you ready for a change? Perhaps you go to a small school now, and the thought of a big campus is attractive?

What are the social opportunities? Small schools often work just as hard to provide action packed weekends and or evenings on campus or through school sponsored trips, etc. However, some of the big schools offer the excitement of big sporting events, that you think might be fun.

Remember, there is no right or wrong answer here. It is a matter of understanding what the school has to offer. During this college exploration period, these are the types of questions I hope you are asking yourself and are trying to find the answers for. It is important to consider whether or not you are looking for a lifestyle that is similar to what you have now, or if there are lifestyle and academic choices that you'd like to make to seek a different kind of experience from that of your high school life.

The commonly accepted answer is that colleges are looking for students who have in-depth experience in one or a couple of extra-curricular activities, rather than a student who is involved with many activities, but none in any depth.

Always keep in mind that college admissions reps are trying to "build their community" - they know what kind of students they are looking for --- but it is your job in your application to give them an honest peek at who you are.

So, if you have not yet found "your calling" and have tried on different activities, you should try to address this circumstance in your college essay. In a sense, you want to help the college admissions' offices understand who you are and what is going on in your life and in your head regarding trying on many different hats!

And depending upon what school year you are in, now may be the time to make a commitment to one or two extra curricular activities. Show yourself that you have what it takes to be open minded and to stick with something whether or not it immediately appeals to you. Every situation provides learning opportunities!

1. Make sure YOU, the student, is the one making contact with the Admissions office. Although you are busy, and your mom/dad/guardian is used to helping you with your schedule - take the time to email/write/phone the Admissions office for information, tours, etc. Many schools do keep that information on file.

2. NO TYPOS NO TYPOS NO TYPOS! A great way to have your parent/family member/teacher/counselor help you on your college admissions is to have them proofread your essay and application materials.

3. Filenames. Take care when naming electronic files. Make sure that any essay or resume you submit has not been named as a different college than the current one you are submitting files to.

4. Your cell phone voice mail, email address, twitter account, facebook, other social media. Keep them all clean. Open a new gmail account for the college application process. yourname@gmail.com Not - hotstuff@gmail.com. Check out all your social media and make sure its squeaky clean enough to make your grandmother proud. Scholarships and offers of admissions are at stake. And regarding your voice mail --- make sure you clean out your voice mail box regularly. You don't want to miss a message. And your voice mail message should not freak out the coach who may be calling you!

5. Don't be a stealth applicant. If you are interested in a school, LET THEM KNOW! Email them. Thank them after you visit (email or handwritten note). It helps them if they know you are a viable candidate.

Take the tour. Go to the information sessions. Request a specialized tour (if available) for a particular program or department that you think you might want to declare as your major. Ask for an interview with an Admissions Officer and prepare for it. (another post)

THEN - the real work begins. Go to the student center and have a sandwich or cup of joe. Eavesdrop shamelessly. try to get the vide. Look at the students and how they walk, talk, dress. Do they look like people you would want to become friends with? Too artsy? Not artsy enough? Love the bow ties? Are students walking around in groups and smiling and laughing? Are students walking around by themselves?

Pick up the school newspaper. Read it. Does it feel like you? Go on Facebook and search for groups and people from that school. Read the posts. Same with Twitter.

Visit the Career Services Office - are they friendly? How busy is the office? How many counselors? Lots of Internship Programs? What is their job placement rate?

Find out about the Counseling Center. What kind of services do they offer? Do they run stress relief programming? How many visits can you make per semester for personal counseling?

Resident Advisors? Who does the college hire for the Residence Hall Advisors? Undergraduates/ graduate Students? What kind of training do they have? When you visit the dorms, check out the bulletin boards. Are there lots of educational materials? Notices for outings and activities?

This topic can be controversial, as educators have different opinions on the value of AP classes and exams. However, if you are aspiring to highly selective schools, a school transcript that shows you have taken many (10 - 12) AP classes throughout high school and scored high on the AP exams (4s and 5s).

this route is not for everyone, as AP classes are rigorous and demanding. There is also a considerable amount of required work during the summer to prep for upcoming AP classes. Also, you need to consider how this level of commitment will impact the rest of your life. Can you handle sports, the school musical, community service on top of all this work?

The answer lies in the level of your desire to attend top tier schools and your ability to handle the work load.

The first year of college is all about transitions. New food. A roommate who, on the first day of school is likely to be a perfect stranger. Professors who have different expectations of you than that from your high school teachers. In high school, you were in school from 9 to 3. In college, your class time is much less. You have a lot of unscheduled time to manage. You have to make more decisions for yourself than ever before.

So- take the time to make an honest appraisal of your current lifestyle. Do you need a lot of down time? How much time do you spend with your family? If you go to school in state, it is relatively easy for you to get home for a quick and inexpensive break in you are craving your own bed, a home cooked meal, and time with siblings and parents.

In state schools, or schools with a lot of instate students may (and I repeat MAY) have a lot of students that go home on weekends frequently. Which means some campuses may be very quiet on the weekends. When you visit schools, be sure to find out if this is the case and then determine how you feel about that. Visit the school during the week and then again, on a weekend.

Out of state schools - even though all colleges are actively recruiting a more diverse student population, going to school out of state offers you the opportunity to explore a new region and its micro-culture. Internships and community service programs also deepen your experience, help you establish career networks and contacts, and help you understand if you want to re-locate to that region after you graduate!

One last note - in this economy, state (public) schools often have higher enrollment. Best to check on how easy it is to get into the courses you want. Find out about this.