Improve your chances of getting into college,

Play the role of an anthropologist, observing a new culture. Sit in a campus eaterie or hang out on the green. Watch the students. What are they wearing? What are they talking about? Do they seem enthusiastic and engaged, or cold and isolated? Do they seem shallow, intellectual, school-spirited? Homogenous or diverse? As Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Most importantly, ask yourself this question: can you picture yourself here, with these kids, for the next four (transformative) years of your life?

You may first want to get standardized "at a glance" information from sources that cover all the schools, such as College Board, Merit Aid, US News, Kiplinger. Then you can dig in to each college's individual website for more in-depth information.

The most valuable information the college's website can give you is:

1. Majors and minors by school

2. Specific admission information (i.e., performing arts auditions, test-optional alternatives, early notification programs, honors college and special programs). Supplemental essay information is sometimes available, but often you can only get that through Common Application.

3. Specific financial aid and merit scholarship information and deadlines.

4. College visits (Info sessions and tours, interviews).

5. Student organizations, club & intramural sports, and community service organizations.

There are no tricks to navigating a college website. Some websites are great, some are poor---with no relationship to how good the school is!

If you know what you want to study, start with academic programs. The College Finder by Steven Antonoff will help you identify colleges that should be on your radar screen for specific majors. Antonoff also has a website called InsideCollege.com. US News & World Report ranks some undergraduate programs, such as engineering and business.

If you know that affording college is going to be an issue, identify "best value" colleges from Kiplinger's website. You can also do a quick search of merit scholarships at colleges you are interested in at MeritAid.com.

Meet with the admission reps who do a "road show" in your local area or even at your high school. Seek out an opportunity to do a local interview with an alum; these are non-evaluative but very informative and they show interest in the school.

Most colleges have virtual tours on their own websites, or you can also get access to virtual tours and videos through UNIGO, You University TV, and Campus Tours. So you will be able to get a visual, realistic flavor of the school even if you cannot visit.

That said, once you have learned everything you can about a school through the above vehicles, try if you can to visit at least before you enroll. No one wants a mail-order bride. This is a big decision you are making, and it is important to see the campus up-close before making a final decision.

It is okay to visit a campus or two in your sophomore year, but this is an intense process and you don't want to get too burnt out on it too quickly. So I suggest beginning to develop a college list in fall or winter of the junior year, with visiting throughout the second semester of junior year. In the summer, you can begin to develop an application strategy (i.e., choose an early decision school if appropriate, decide if you want to apply early in any non-binding programs), begin your essays, and begin the Common Application when it launches Aug 1.

A parent who can hold back on offering opinions while the student absorbs the experience and determines whether or not he or she can picture attending that school for four years.

It may be good to make one college trip with one parent and another college trip with the other parent. Such "mixing it up" allows for variation in the parent-teen dynamics, and sometimes the student will have a different "take" on a college visit just because of the chemistry of whoever is along on the visit.

It is okay to have siblings along, unless the sibling dynamics is highly conflicted and toxic, distracting the applicant from the task at hand. Sometimes the younger sibling inwardly decides he or she is interested in that college---making it easier when he or she is later going through the college search!

Sometimes a student can go with another family who is looking at the same college for a friend in the same grade in school. This can be fun for the students and they can also compare notes on the college they are visiting.

If we are talking only about public universities, the only real benefit of in-state vs out-of-state is paying less tuition. But sometimes a student who needs to attend a public institution is better off at an out-of-state school, if that school is the better choice for the specific program the student is interested in. Or, perhaps the student wants a certain kind of school atmosphere that is not available in his or her in-state university. For example, maybe a student from Pennsylvania wants a small campus; Penn State University Park, the flagship campus of that state's university system, may be too big. The student might select the equally competitive, but smaller, SUNY Geneseo, one of the most selective SUNY campuses, which only has around five thousand students.

The National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) conducts an annual admissions trends survey. In recent years, one of the factors becoming more important in the admissions decision, according to this annual study, is "demonstrated interest."

As more pressure is placed on admissions counselors to predict their enrollment "yield," they are more concerned with how genuinely interested each applicant is in their school. In other words, if they offer you acceptance, how likely are you to actually enroll?

This trend has strong implications for applicants. It is important to show commitment to the school when answering supplemental essays. It is important to visit the school (and mention your visit in your essays), demonstrate that you have met with admissions reps who come to your local area, and seek out the opportunity to do an interview (even a non-evaluative one with an alum).

DormAid, gives entrepreneurial college students the opportunity to start and run their own business on campus. DormAid, founded by Michael Kopko at Harvard in 2004, provides laundry pickup/delivery, room cleaning, bedding services, and water delivery. It offers direct on-campus services at 25 universities. It seeks to launch on 50 additional campuses. Launching the business on one's own campus would be convenient way to make money, and would give a college student entrepreneurial, managerial and marketing experience that would be attractive to future employers.

Take a look at a statement the student must check before signing the Common Application: “I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented…” Does that mean that you cannot have an English teacher or a parent review the grammar? No, in my view, checking the mechanics with a knowledgeable expert is part of being a conscientious applicant. But when parents start “re-writing,” it becomes a slippery slope.

Even a sprinkling of well-intentioned re-writing could call the student’s authorship into question. You don’t think admissions people can tell the difference between a high school writer and a parent? Think again. Reading essays is what they do for a living! If your teenager does not have stellar verbal skills, as evidenced by lackluster English grades or SAT scores, but his or her personal statement reads like a Pulitzer prize-winning novel, don’t you think the admissions reader will raise an eyebrow? If the student’s academic record is incongruent with the essay, the admissions reader could doubt the veracity of just about anything on the application. It is not worth it to raise such a question in order to submit a better essay.

A college interview is NOT an interrogation. Since most college interviews are non-evaluative, the interviewer will quickly shift gears and ask what questions you have about the school. Take advantage of this opportunity to find out more about the college and its programs. Asking well thought-out questions that exhibit a thorough understanding of the school also demonstrate serious interest. Questions that are too superficial (easily gleaned from the website) might communicate a lack of interest.

There is only one mistake in a college interview: having NO questions.

Interviews are offered at elite private institutions, such as Ivies, and small liberal arts colleges that take a holistic approach to admissions. Most interviews are conducted by alumni who represent the school regionally, since admissions staffers are busy reading applications. They are typically optional, non-evaluative, and offered throughout the country so as to not require long distance travel for applicants.

If admissions says the interview is non-evaluative, then it is non-evaluative. Positive comments from the interviewer certainly add a nice little halo effect, and certainly, a disastrous interview would raise red flags. But I would not lose sleep over college interviews.

I recommend the following resources to find good ballet and dance programs:

The College Finder by Steven Antonoff

Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers by Elaine Loveland

A Guide to College Choices for the Performing and Visual Arts by Ed Schoenberg

Becoming an educator in the performing arts is an obvious choice, particularly Music Education. This is also a demanding career, beginning with the college audition, which is not an "automatic" at an elite music school or conservatory. Performing arts educators have special gifts beyond their arts--think Mr. Holland's Opus. "Those who can do MORE, teach." If you would like to inspire young artists and impact their lives forever, become a teacher of the arts.

That depends on many factors. First, the personality and culture of the student and his or her relationship with the family is paramount. A student who is very close to his or her family, who has strong emotional needs for coming home frequently, would probably be happier attending a college within a three hour driving radius. There may be expectations of frequent home visits for families from some cultural backgrounds.

Second, the student's extracurricular activities may involve the family. If the student participates in sports and the family enjoys going to his or her home games, or if the student is in the performing arts and the family attends his or her concerts or plays, it may be important to be within that magic three hour radius.

Third, the family's financial situation and/or time flexibility may dictate geography. Air or train travel adds cost to the college bill. If the parents do not have time to drive eight or more hours one way to pick up a child at school, perhaps the student should consider a college nearer to home.

All that said, you only go to college once, and part of the college adventure may include exploring a different part of the country. Willingness to consider colleges outside of your geographic comfort zone might open up more academic options as well.

Usually size is related to whether the school is public or private, and the choice of public or private is driven by affordability. If your family's financial situation requires that you attend a public university, you may still be able to find a small campus environment. For example, the SUNY system (State University of New York) is comprised of small to medium-sized campuses throughout the state, as opposed the typical model of a huge flagship campus with a few less selective satellites.

Generally, small schools offer a better learning environment for students, because they facilitate more intimate classroom settings and more personal connection with faculty. Many high school students believe they want a large school because of spectator sports, but that does not mean they will thrive in such an environment---many freshmen feel lost in large, anonymous lecture-hall classes and consequently flounder and fail. In fact, many small and medium sized schools offer great spectator sports, "school spirit," and all the benefits of a large school.

If affordable, I would encourage a student to consider a small to medium size school to gain the most transformative college experience.

Due diligence is the key. See if you can do an overnight visit, where you can see what campus life is really like at the school. Make sure you sit in on some classes to get the "feel" of what it would really be like to go to college there. See what the surrounding town or urban area is like, how easy or difficult it is to get to the city a suburban college brags about being near.

If you know what major you want to pursue, meet with professors in the department. Make sure it has a robust, full program in your major. Will it meet your needs for all four years? Will you have enough opportunities to "do your thing" whether that means participating in performing arts programs or doing scientific research?

You are about to spend $200K. Make sure you will be spending it wisely.

Of course they can. A letter of acceptance usually includes a provisional statement, saying that the offer of acceptance is contingent upon academic performance consistent with the student's performance to date (that earned the acceptance at this school). If a student gets a bad case of "senioritis" and stops working in second semester of the senior year, the student needs to be aware that the college acceptance might get pulled. They get midterm and final year grades from your high school, for this very reason.

Admissions can also be revoked if a student does something unethical. For example, if I student is accepted at a binding Early Decision school, but does not withdraw applications at other institutions, and then gets into one of them and decides to go there instead of the ED school. Both schools will probably find out through the high school guidance department, and the admissions world is a small world anyway.

Of course, if a student does something illegal, such as shoplifting, being arrested for underage drinking, drug use or DUI, all of these behaviors can cause an admissions offer to be pulled. How does the college find out? From your high school, of course. Your high school guidance department is honor-bound to deal with the colleges in an upfront, honest way. If they know that an accepted student has done something unethical or illegal, they will feel obligated to tell the college.

So, if you're fortunate enough to be accepted to the school of your dreams, don't blow it by doing anything stupid.

No, because colleges want to protect the student's privacy (just like HPPA in healthcare). A student has a login to go online to access his or her grades, and the parents can only see the grades if the student shares the login info with the parents.

Given this situation, it is important for college students to develop independence and ownership of their college performance. This is ultimately the goal, isn't it? Autonomous adulthood? Parents can help high school students develop those "independence muscles" so that they will be more prepared to be truly independent in college.

If your student is not quite ready for total independence freshman year of college, it is essential for you as a parent to have the kind of relationship with your young adult that will promote openness about his or her college performance. Your student has to give you permission (and login info) to see his college record, so if you want to see it, you have to have a good working relationship with your kid.

Yes. The most obvious misstep for parents is practically writing the essay for their kid, which may call into question your authorship. Take a look at a statement the student must check before signing the Common Application: “I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented…” So if your essay sounds like it was written by your parent, the admissions people may doubt your authorship, therefore your integrity. This will hurt your admissions chances.

There are other helicopter missteps, such as pestering the admissions department. Neither the applicant nor the parent should not bother admissions ad nauseum (although calling or emailing with legitimate questions is certainly fine). If the parent is calling, it does not project the image of a professional, confidence, grown-up applicant who can self-advocate.

Parents can help students with the application process by being informed themselves, getting their kids started early on, and providing basic "touchpoint" structure to the process. Micromanaging is not necessary nor advisable, since it is toxic for the parent-teen relationship and does not improve the student's application as much as the parents may think it does.

Start collecting things that your high school student would otherwise lose: test results, transcripts, awards, sports accomplishments, community service hours, and exceptional essays. Don’t go crazy, don’t insist on your teen’s involvement, just quietly do it, so everything will be organized in one place when your son or daughter needs it. Chefs call this approach “mise en place” (everything in place). Get the ingredients ready so you’ve got them right there when you need them.

The best defense against interfering parents is credibility. What I mean by that is, don't just plead with your parents to leave you alone and give you space. Independence is earned by showing your parents that you can handle yourself, your grades, your job, without so much micromanaging.

I once heard a parent of a high school student say, "As long as he gets A's, he knows we will leave him alone." That's what I'm talking about. If you want your parents to get off your back, bring home a 4.0. They will feel kind of silly bothering you if you have perfect grades.

Manage your college process yourself. Research the college websites. Register for your standardized tests. Fill out the Common App when it launches in August. You can do all these things---it's not that hard. The more you rise to the occasion, the less your parents will bother you, guaranteed.

A deferral or a wait list notification is now a long shot option. It is best to emotionally de-invest and move on to Plan B.

If the college is still your first choice, express your interest to your guidance counselor and communicate it directly with admissions as well. Beyond that, that is all you can do. Do not pester the admissions department; they know you would like to move off the wait list.

Make sure that a deposit is sent in by May 1 to a school that has outright admitted you, and which you would very much like to attend. Wait lists are a long shot! You need to de-invest emotionally in the wait list school, and wrap your mind around the most likely outcome.

Yes, but you need to get accommodations at least six months in advantage. Whether or not you are classified (504 or IEP) in your high school, you need to also be evaluated by an outside learning consultant and have your specific learning disabilities documented. This documentation needs to be sent to College Board (for the SAT) or ACT Inc. (for the ACT) several months in advance of the test date.

If you are not classified in high school, or have been de-classified, and seem to be performing okay academically without being given extra time on tests in high school, it is unlikely you will get accommodations on the SAT or ACT. But if you believe it is necessary, go see a learning consultant, get tested, and make the request.