Improve your chances of getting into college,

if you can manage your contact in a positive way, then your chance of getting acceptence will not been damaged.

if you are contacting the department other than the admisisons office, it is different in a case by case basis.

if you are using campuse visits and personal introductions to contract the school, you are doing so to show strong interests for admissions.

students should consider hometown first especially highly selective colleges.

it does require the student to show motivation for college admissions. counselors at prep schools love to work students highly committed. Parents must also play importmant role in in working with the school guidance counselor.

if the student does his or her homework and ask questions about the best possible curricumlum, you can get your counselor on your side easily. it is the smartest thing to get people who are in the position to help you on your side and willing to get out his or her way to help you.

parents are the major force in college admissions counseling. they work well with counselors and can make a difference by allowing the counselors to work closely with the students.

Alumni are asked for conducting interviews for perspective students. if the purpose of contacting the alumini is to get more information about the school, you must keep it in mind that schools change over time.

it is one of the most important task for me in the past to indicate the student's choice for college to admissions office. most international students are not qualify for early decision and it is the best interests of the college to manage their yield successfully. with less than 50% yield, you have to believe that early committment is the key for any schools to manage their yield.\

it is not so effective for the stduent to indicate such committment for reasons other than legal perspective and impact made for admissions results.

athletics department receives the most funding from the college in student activies or services. the fix costs related to supporting the department is huge in many colleges.

with all the seats must fill, students should approach colleges as early as possible if qualifed for athletic terms. no matter of what division you may participant, you can help youself during the admisisons process especially you have the coachs in addition to your counselor to speak very highly of you to the admisisons director.

students should consider college selection process more serioulsy and find different ways of showing strong interests as applicants other than application essay.

try to take time visiting colleges, no more than two per day and take time to speak to admissions reps.

students should also consider to visit departments during the college visit.

sometimes, professiors can help you as well.

if you are not going to take the advantage of early decision option, you should consider between 5 to 10 schools to apply through either regular or early actions.

the best combination is to select 2-3 safty schools, 2-3 likely schools, and 2-3 reachable schools. how to identify those schools is the key and students should work with their counselors closely.

Art students may apply different type of schools with different requirements. however. they should pay a visit to the schools and speak to current students about academic requriements as well as other experiences. it is suggested that students should prepare art samples and profiles to show strong interests. it will help students to gain perspectives if they are parepared to submit best work.

students should consider financial aid planning two years ahead of the application deadline. parents must prepare two to three year tax return to qualify for needs based financial aid.

all students should apply for financial aid.

expand your school selection process by focusing on the best fit plus the best aid.

if you are missionary and you must serve the church of your choice for one year, it is not a bad idea of taking a year off before college.

if you are simply wanting to take a year off for emotional reasons or health reason, then you better do so withou hesitation.

in general, students do not take a year off to save money. you may not return to college as you expected the second year. a lot of things can happen in between.

making the transition to a different enviornment is not easy for anyone. however, the focus should be on campuses in terms of the resources that open to students. if would not apply to you unless you are going to use it.

students shall consider their study skills carefully before signing up for online school. we all learn subjects differently. however, technology may not replace human interactions and two way of communicating between the student and the teacher is always the key to learn more than just text book concetps.

Colleges offer open house to accepted students. Overnight staying is one of the options for students. you should ask for the right place to stay and ask for night events on campus.

if you have your own counselor to work with you, your counselor may set up interviews with the admissions office and other people. that's the best way to go.

if you do not have a counselor, you should visit schools with other seniors or classmates to gain different perspectives.

if your parents are helpful and able to share their perspectives with you, you should consider their inputs seriouly.

if you have college friends, they can help you with their experiences as well.

most highly selective college will not credit the students for taking AP exams so they can save money in college with less credit requirement.

if you have time committment to other activities that you love and have passion for it. you may limited your time for AP exam just enought to show colleges that you can do the work if time allowed.

if you are looking for admisisons information, you can limit yourself to undergrad admissions as perspective student. if you are researching majors and departments, you may go to academic departments to seek out faculties and programs.

graduate school pages will offer you something else, sometimes, students learn graduate programs at school as undergrad students but apply graduate programs at different colleges.

students should prepare a list of important questions during the college visit. one of the important thing to do is to schedule on campus interview for admissions.

politically active colleges provide student organizations fundings and resources to bring members and conduct meaningful activities.

I am persoanlly a big fan for women's colleges. they are normally misundstood and misconceptions from parents are the steretypes just like everything else.

the common competitive advantages for women's colleges are personal attention and individual growth for better confidence and higher motiviation.

it is also critical for the right students to apply women's colleges. it is not designed for one size fits all and it is promoted for leadership in the professional field.

for example, one women's college emailed Chinese applicants to test their knowledge about the nature of the women's college, the feedback showed only less than 5% actually knew they were applying women's college, I don't believe the 95% percent applicant deserve the rights to be reviewed for consideration.

high school seniors may consider college visits and contact the college other than the admissions office for participanting in sports and other activities.

I also suggest the students to work on applications, especially the essay for admissions.

if financial aid applications also requrie essay, students should accomplish the tasks during the summer.

I think that most students can benefit from early guidance and planning in high school.

by having a plan in place, students can save time and more productive for college admissions especially financial aid.

first common unexpected surprise is the academic requirements and teaching style of the faculties which completely different from the student's high school experiences.

the second common mistakes made by the student is that the social and campuse lives may not be the same as imaged when apply to college.

the last common misunderstanding about the college is the fact that brand name is only as good as how much you can touch it and use it for your own advantages. knowing how to take advantages of the resoruces at each college is not a easy task and handled over to your hand as you expected. you must seek, active, and earn sometimes.

US News has its top ranking corporate responsibilites, that is to make money as any other US corporations.

College Board is the non profit educational services organization most recognizatable in the US and around the world where stardard tests are provided to students and schools. publications and research are also provided.

US News provides the ultimate college selection ranking information that used by every single Chinese students and agencies for contracts. their ranking information has been enhanced with payment ranking accordingly by agencies in China. that's how the Chinese shopping for colleges and pay for agencies services based on rankings.

how do you get the most of the US News is very different here as American students are more individualized and it is against their common sense to apply schools based on the rankings alone. we have many ways of recognize the excellences of what each college has to offer. that also explain why US counselors have no roles or places in China and faced the greatest challenge to work with Chinese families.

extracurriculars are required by selective schools and always help the studen to gain admissions in general. it is time consume and it requires committment for each selected participantion.

sports is one of the extracurricluars activities most recognized by colleges for admissions consideration. it has nothing to do the level of the performance the student actually achieved unless committed to play for college during the college period.

academic activities are also important as extracurriculars if you are determinded to compete for the most selective schools.

summer programs are the key for some schools. be careful to plan and use your time wisely are my suggestions.

when "need blind" policy implementated by college, students are considered for admissions soley on academic performance and other facts for admissions. once the students are accepted by the admissions office, then the student's financial aid application will be reviewed by the financial aid office. those are two seperate process and procedures.

" need sensitive" is the term that college use to determine the seats open to financial needy students for admissions. it has a lot to do with the amount of scholarships offered by the college, the amount of federal and state aid received by the college, and what percentage of students should be under fiancial aid classification.

if your school has the first class counseling services open to students, you should consider highly selective schools to gain competitive advantages for admissions.

if you are not going to apply for financial aid, please use early decision strategy for admisisons, highly selective schools offer early decision with better acceptence rate.

if you are strong in academics and do not have access to first class counseling services, you should consider highly selective schools through regular decision and pay attention to the list of schools to apply.

the common mistakes made by the majority of middle class students are apply too many similar schools based on brand name recognition and nothing outstanding other than academics.

yes, it is true that many colleges are seeking out minorities with underpreviliged background and unrepresentation of the student bodies. it is also true that that the majority of highly selective schools are having less than 5% minorities. Chinese students are not classified as miniorities.

college access is one of the major obstacles, college success is another major obstacles. they are related closely and impact the students before and after admisisons.

if monitities are not encourged to apply and helped with the admisisons process, most likely, they will not be considered for admissions.

if the monities are not prepared and selected the wrong school, they most likely to drop out college during the first two years.

most students will spend time on test preparation during the summer before their senior year. however, if you have a three year plan for summer, you should stay with your plan and work on your test prep throughout the year.

it is also the last opportunity for students to catch up with their activities outside classroom.

if you ca not affort to do anything else, you may get a job and work part time.

students shall check their emails to make sure the communication between the admissions office and the student online access account is good with no outstanding requriements.

students should also prepare for interviews requested by the admisisons office. mock interivew is necessay if it can be arranged.

the parents are also must prepare for financial aid filling during the application process.

you can do self study to take the exam directly or you can take the class outside the school such as community college.

you may also consider online courses.

other options including SATII exams

you should visit a few schools during your junior year and more schools during your senior year.

most likely your parents are the ones to come with you for college visits.

if your school offers counselor's tour, you should take on the opportunity.

it is well accepted that student must find a best way to promote themselves for college admisisons. better prepare admissions will bring more options and more financial aid for the student. the process required expertise and connections to colleges for recommendation and help the students to gain long term perspective for having a long term academic plan.

it is not a marketing plan because the student can only approve themselves on paper or in person, it can not be done through enlarge the facts and misleading.

it is game plan becuase just like any sports, we want everyone to win no one to loss. the win-win situation must present by selecting the right schools with the best fit and match.

I personally do not believe college rankings and I suggest you to guide yourself by asking the right questions that are important to you.

Students should start their search during the junior year, it is never too early to prepare.

students should consider to use a worksheet as part of the college search. some online tools are also good for selecting the names and locations as initial search purpose. in the end, students may work with his or her counselor to understand the details of the most important aspects of the college search.

you may want to know the class size, home work style and requirements, course selection, and student activities from the current student's point of view.

you may attend school fairs, and pay attention to on location school visits at your high school.

you can also visit the schools after the acceptence for making the final decision.

there are difference in undergraduate colleges and universities and graduate focused national universities.

large or small are designed to have a different focus on classroom size, teaching style, access to faculties, and opportunities for placements.

doing something you have passions about is not right or wrong. You will be surprised the insignificant things you spend the most time with can be very important to colleges.

most private schools used such strategy to secure seats. Very few public schools provide systematic approach to admissions. If you are qualify for needs based aid, you should not worry about your aid if accepted.

close to home is always better to keep your part time jobs but will not serve the purpose of keeping old friends.

when you heard the president of the university saying that having more than 500 students from China is part of the university diversification not financial gain at one year as freshman class, you will know exactly what I am talking about. if you would like to enjoy such diversification at US campuese, you will not be one of the many US students dropping out classes from your Chinese classmates.

I don't believe it is necessary that students should consider to submit different applications to each school. applications are data collections about persnal profile and school profile. however, essay is different and should be considered unique and customized for each school. it is time consume and requrie a lot of practice.

here are many ways of applying colleges online such as common applications, direct application through university websites, and national applicatoin center etc.,

however, you may still need provide additional information and use paper applications to satisfy requirements. for international students, you should consider apply online yourself and pick the right email account to access communications without problems.

not all the pieces of the application need to reference one another. if you are useing common application, you may focus on the supplemental materials more. if you are using university application system, it is normally simple with less individualized questions.

colleges perfer the online application for better data base management. paper applications has its advantages and not used very often those days.

I believe if you prefer to use paper applications, you can provide more information and add more materials.

colleges normally start to read applications at the same day for regular decision applicants. unless you are apply early decision, no benefit to submit ahead of the deadline.

For international students, their application normally done by agencies so the red flags are everywhere.

for domestic students, taking the SAT tests more than three times is one of the example of red flags.

in other cases, if the student has nothing to share what he or she did during the spare time with no activities whatsoever, including summer time, that's a huge red flags.

it is commonly used for private colleges and universities.

it has more than 400 schools on board.

it allows freshman and trasnfer applications

it is used as universal application to save time and data base management for schools.

make sure you leave postive impression to admissions rep during college fair and school visits. without counselor's introduction, you can still communicate with the colleges directly. there was a story about a applicant sending funny postcards to the admissions office everyweek and finally got accepted, he late became one of the David Letterman's successful writer. it was a true story. that's a college admissions hook.

international students can use universal appliation as common application for many colleges at the same time. it is normally used offline and accepted by many colleges. for colleges that are not listed with common application, they will accept universal application from the students.

students should prepare a list of introductions for recommendation letters.

it is always better to leave the teacher more time to write about you.

provide your teacher a list of comments about yourself, ask the rigth teachers to write the recommendations. do not wait until the last min.

saving for college has many forms and shapes. it depends on tax, income, and amount of money saved each month to pick the right product for college funds.

you can open college funds and ask for birthday contributions in cash and direct deposit each year.

each student can have two accounts opened by family members. it is used to pay for college with tax deferr and tax free benefits.

it can also be transfered to other family members.

you can use your 529 plan to go anywhere.

it is not used for financial aid qualification but it is considered as funding source for students.

some schools may not grant you credits for AP courses, so make sure you learn the facts before your application deadline.

it has to be part of the merit based scholarship not needs based aid.

if you pick the right school to apply, you will receive aid package with tuition discount based on your SAT score.

if you are listed under the tax return, the household will file financial aid for you.

that's why you are seeing more and more international students around the campus everywhere. they are full paid students.

the average financial aid package is reduced 30-50% compare to the past five years.

if the government aid is staff loan, you still have to pay back with low interests rate.

financial aid officesuse different formula to come up with the qualification amount for each student.

FAFSA and CSS profile are two different ways to come up with the two very different number. find out the requirementsfrom the colleges directly first.

students should use out of pocket cost to compare different schools.

other expenses should also take into consideration such as travel, text book, living expenses, and trips.

in many cases, student's financial aid application is not reviewed until accepted first. therefore, it does not impact the admissions decision.

however, if the student is placed on top of the list, the financial aid office will offer more money and apply scholarship to attract the rigth students.

even parents are not obligated to pay for college by law.grandparents are not qualified to file aid application or take out parent's plus loan for the student.

for the right schools, they will work with the students that are the top ones. however, without aid application on time and without issues, colleges will not go out their way to help you.

financial aid can be worked case by case, I personally have many cases in the past to help my students getting more aid than initial offer letter.

student loans are the best way to pay for college.

if the relatives are willing to help out, they can send tuition to the school directly.

many schools offer students scholarships to provide discount tuition, it is used to attract the most qualified and competitive students only. that may or may not have anything to do with financial aid qualification.

you can also ask for credits if you have APS exams over 4.0 above.

students normally received three different type of aid. including scholarships offered by the college, workstudy issued by the government, and student loans and parents loans which must pay back with schedules and interest.

parents should file the financial aid application, not the students. students will make mistakes that hard to fix late on.

on FAFSA application, you can explain special situation or financial hardships to financial aid office directly. you may also visit the financial aid office during your college visit if it's very important to you.

first to find out your aid qualification, then file the aid online both FAFSA and CSS profile, plus business supplement if appy. schools may ask for tax return. in order to get needs based aid, students normally shall apply selective schools. check out the needs meet percetage from each school. for schools that meet 90% needs, that's a good school. to get more needs aid, again, students must apply the right schools and get accepted first.

the financial aid process is not simple and easy, that's why many families missed the opportunity.

students can use online tools to find out their financial aid qualifications. then parents must file aid on time and submit tax return before the deadline.

you must know your aid qualificaitons by FAFSA or CSS profile.

if the school did not meet your needs by the right percentage, you should know and expect the right amount.

students must apply first and obtain work study on campus. financial aid must file and qualify for work study. it is a on campus job paid by the US government to the school.

on parent's tax return, education credit of $2000 dollars may apply to the parents.

if the student files his or her own tax return, he or she may be able to obtain tax credits directly.

noncustodial parents are required to fill CSS profile. however, counselors sometimes can work with both parents to fill out the form.

your parent's financial aid return will determin your qualification for needs based financial aid. however, if you are apply merit based scholoarship, you won't need their applications.

the other way is to apply the rigth schools for maximum aid.

colleges can not offer federal aid to students unless FAFSA is completed on time and subject to audit up to 33% by law.

income has higher percentage and assets has lower percentage.

both income and assets are subject to deductables.

stepparents are on the tax return, therefore must report assets and income.

financial aid is more complicated than income tax return in many cases, so for serious students, parents should consider to hire someone to do the job right and able to communicate with the aid office for more money if unfair package is offered.

many highly selective colleges use css profile to qualify students for aid. they are needs based insitutions nor merit based aid.

they are two very different methods to determine aid qualification.

after Jan first, make sure you apply PIN number for both you and your parents first. then file tax return ASAP. all students should file FAFSA in Jan and make corrections after return is filed.

colleges want to know the income and resources that parents can bring to pay for tuitions.

that has nothing to do with tax, can be taxable or nontaxable income. and income can be any type of form.

if you plan your payment options with enough flexibility to quickly and most effectively pay back your student loan, you may need to stay with it and apply discipline to yourself.

ask your comployers to pay some of your student loans are more common those days. your parents can also buy insurance policy to pay off your loan.

first of all, students must qualify for loans. without filling financial aid application, both the student and parents are not able to take the loans.

if you are intent to use parents plus loan to pay for the most of your expenese, you then should consider select the right school first if you still can. second of all, you should apply aid no matter what becuase financial situation changes without notices such as unemployment etc.. you will lose one year unless you have filed the financial aid the year before.

student must qualify for student loans first. therefore, you must apply financial aid each year to obtain qualifications.

the next step is to select different loan providers. you may use parents plus loan to pay for college expenses which is the most common way of paying for college.

students can transfer and shopping for better interests rate anytime. however, students loans are not easy to manage unless you have a stable job. in this case, it is alway better for the student to consider longest term and lowest possible payment schedule. you can always pay a lump sum anytime.

it depends on the type of loans that are obligations of the student. with or without a co signer is also improtant fact. credit score of the parents can be resolved by different type of loan by going throught the process. bad credit can still get you the parents plus loan.

there are many benefits comes with the student loans if you have to compare to to other loans such home equity loans, and credit etc.,

colleges use to provide students the perferred loan providers and encourage students to take on student loans.

in today's enviorment, students should consider the possiblity of minimum loan by selecting the right school, graduation within less time, and combination of masters degree in five year programs.

if your parents have other investment and willing to help you, they can set up withdraw and use insurance policy to pay back loans at monthly basis.

please do not use online paid search website to seek scholarships.

try not release your personal info unless the website belongs to professional organizations.

there are many non profit organizations out there for minorities and underrepresented students. if you can find yourself the counselor specialized in minorities and underrepresented students, you will save time and money to seek the best college with the best financial aid packages.

it is not about small or big, it is about the most effective way of spend your time. you should consider school selection the most critical one for more aid, and then fill aid online with qualification for scholarships, last one is to use your spare time to get some extra aid. remember, your outside scholarships will hep the college to reduce your aid.

every scholarship is designed to a very specific purpose under by laws and missions to delivery a message.

if you have satisfy the minimum requirement and have been recommended by someone for the scholoarship award, you normally are subject to better considerations.

if you received financial aid which including scholarships as freshman, the aid offer is good for four years unless you did not meet the minimum grade or you failed to fill for financial aid renew. in any case, once your family financial situation or qualificaiton has change, you are subject to more or less aid.

many colleges will use the student's SAT score to determine merit based scholarship.

for the past five years, colleges used class ranking and SAT score to attract most desireable students to accept the admisisons ticket. in recent years, colleges are use student's financial needs to attract the best applicants.

it is simply said, if you are good enough and wanted by the colleges, you will be considered to receive merit scholoarship. the standards is all relatively speaking from college to college depending on the applicant pool.

when you apply financial aid as part of your application process, you should get scholarships without delay.

if you spend too much time and seek scholarships outside, your will receive deduction from your aid by the school you enrolled.

the changes of getting decent amount of scholarships outside the school is low and time consume.

most highly selective colleges offer needs based scholarships which the student's parent must file for financial aid to obtain qualification. merit based scholarships are considered normally with SAT test scores and GPA etc.,and normally offered by colleges with the intention to attract best students. it may or may not requrie financial aid application. the governement also offer scholarships if you are qualified as low income family.

most highly selective colleges offer needs based scholarships which the student's parent must file for financial aid to obtain qualification. merit based scholarships are considered normally with SAT test scores and GPA etc.,and normally offered by colleges with the intention to attract best students. it may or may not requrie financial aid application. the governement also offer scholarships if you are qualified as low income family.

it all depends on the amount of budget that the student have, with minimu budget there is nothing there to manage.

it is suggested that students with moderate budget should maitain a range of expenese to manage.

there are fixed expenses and variable expenses. the key is to manage the variable expenese wisely.

most student do take work study very seriously but no enough to secure such position as early as possible. it is the best way of earning in college.

on the other hand, if you have time to work online you may need certifications and licenses to do so.

work at local stores is also not too bad especially the ones that can provide your meals.

if you have no paid internships and need to spend money on technology tools or equipments, you need to consider extra budget for such costs.

it also depends on your major requirements, you have different costs to participant in school activities.

students shall consider the best online management system for college students. in many cases, the student loan carriers are banks with online banking system for students.

students shall consider part time or full time job during the summer before freshman year. asking for cash deposit for birthday or holidays are also good strategy for saving college funds.

for low income families, students can ask the school counselor to wavier application fees which can easily save you hundreds.

college search process normally invloved college visit and interviews. that's time and money you may saved.

you may buy used books from students directly or the college's bookstore.

or you can share one book with someone else.

apply credit cards are very serious responsibilities for college students. you don't want to damage your credit score before you need the chance to pay back your student loans.

have no more than two credit cards under your parents account is wise becuase you are being supervised by someone.

save money by taking AP credits

consider double degree or joint programs

the classroom approach for test prep works for some students but not for all of them. personal tutor is the best way to prep if financially possible. self study also works for some of my students becuase they are gifted with the highest discipline.

it really matters what type of schools you are applying, in general, selective colleges are very much focus on standardized test scores. it is the second most important evidences for the college to determine the successful rate of college graduation. other pieces of application such as transcript is the number fact in most cases.

most colleges accept SAT and ACT, but I personally believe most students prefer SAT instead of ACT. it is better if the student can test first and pick the right test to prep.

no one should take it more than three times.

if you allow yourself with enough time to take it test three times, the best time frame is over two years period.

have a goal in mind and find out the requirements about different type of schools in terms of the standarized tests.

ACT and SAT are both good for selective schools.

try not to take it more than three times.

Take SATII as early as possible between 3 to 5 subjects for highly selective admissions.

SAT is used alone with other accomplishments subjected to different applicant pools. SAT is also normally used for scholarships. the studen'ts GPA is the single most important evidence alone with the curriculum selection and challenges of the courses.

SAT is used alone with other accomplishments subjected to different applicant pools. SAT is also normally used for scholarships. the studen'ts GPA is the single most important evidence alone with the curriculum selection and challenges of the courses.

other than a lot of practice exams, you should consider to work with a experienced tutor one on one to improve test score within a short period of time.

when admissions season started, it is not easy to read hundreds of essay during a short period of time. you can loss your focus easily. in the mean time, between 5-10 min is actually reasonable for a good read. there are different stages for the admissions process. normally essay does not read more than one person unless the vote must proceed and admission counselors decided to work hard for the students they like the most.

Students may ask their parents for editing the essay, however, they better off asking their English teacher for such task. of course, some parents are in the position to do a good job, in many cases, they are not suitable for the job.

essay is the only way for you to express yourself without numbers and stamps from other people. you should consider this opportunity serioulsy to sell youself to the admissions office. there are many different ways of promoting yourself with honesty.

Most Chinese students actually never write the essay themselves, they trust the agencies to do the job and they never see the submission afterwards.

you should determine the core message for the college essay first and support it with evidences.

the common mistakes are self centered essay and lack of personality.

admissions counselor only has a few min to read your essay and his or her attention is the key here. most college essay are very much the same so if you can make your essay stand out, you must delivery a great college essay that the counselor will remember and share with other counselors.

a great college essay must use personal experiences to delivery a big message focused on passion of learning, motivation for excellences, and personal value in contributing to community as a whole.

each college has career placement center, some department has internship posting services.

parents can also be the best resources for internship.

students can seek complany website for internship opportunity.

it should be the best way for students to land employement contracts after college.

if you can start from minimum and show responsiblity regardless the job title, you will learn more from your colleagues than the text books all together.

text books can only help so far unless you use them to gain perspectives and knowledge of the workplaces.

internships can help students to interact with colleagues and management team.

some students will consider graduate schools, internship can help with the focus or directions for such consideration.

interviews are required by many selective colleges as part of admisisons process. however, if it is conducted on campus, the admisisons counselor will ask the questions and provide the notes for the student's file. if it is conducted outside the campuse in most cases, someone else appointed will ask the question, that's the tricky part.

Interview has little impact on college admissions in my view, however, students should prepare for the interview with resume and practice.

if you are planning to be interviewed on campuse during the visit or tour, you will be interviewed by the admisisons counselor.

if you are notified by letter after you submitted your application, you will be interviewed most likely by the selected graduates from the school.

do your home work is the key. let the interviewer know exactly why you are there. prepare to ask a few educated questions about the school. keep your answer short and sweet, keep your eye contact with the interviewer. do not wait for questions and time laps in between.

it is commonly used as tool and access to admissions. Yes, it counts especially in a close competition such as limited seats for the same high school with many applicants.

most selective colleges require interviews so you need to get ready and consider mock interviews as the best way to practice. Counselors are the best ones to work with. Be prepared to ask the right questions such as rention rate and career placement services etc.,

have a list of subjects to discuss. Be short and precise. Practice mock interview with counselor or someone else. Show positive attitude and always bring your resume with you.

if you consider yourself inexperienced with interviews, you should consider mock interview practice with counselor or someone else. a theme song may not help you at all if you need the skills to be competitive.

it is very important for seniors to seek contact and visit as early as possible to secure seats for being part of the team.

when you have someone from the athletic department to recommend you to the admisisons office, your application will be serioulsy considered ahead of the rest applicants.

if you believe you are serious about being part of the team during the college period, you should invite the perspective colleges to visit your games.

you also should consider to have someone promote your position to the coach directly.

some counselors are specialzied in recommending students for the athletic department.

in many cases, parents are contacting the colleges directly with successful experiences.

you may consider early visits to colleges and meet the coach in person. it is alwasy considered to invite the coach directly to your game.

in order to have reasonable perspective about the art program, you should visit a few schools first to find out more about the program details. search can only get you so far without really meet faculties and students face to face to shape your views about your choice.

when we visited Boston Consevatory as a group of counselors, we had the opportunity to talk to students and ask them many questions about how competitive it was as applicants.

the difference in my view is that size and specialization of the programs.

for example, students at Boston Conservatory can take classes from many nearby colleges and universities where students can enjoy varies of classes and activities.

one of my students in the past had years of training in ballet from Princeton Ballet School, She also has excellent academic records from one of the strong NJ public schools. She is now enrolled at BU with minor in Ballet becuase she decided not to select ballet as her major.

in today's comptitive enviorment, students shall consider major and minor to equipe themselves for work place. the quality of the individual and the skills that needed for many jobs are the same which apply to specific jobs.

if you would like to explore minors such as computer, communication, marketing, etc you will find jobs with your skills.

students shall understand what each college has to offer and what they are looking for. many colleges will not work for students trying to find answers for four years.

rention rate and career placement are the two most important facts for many students.

you should know your learning skills and style in order to pick the right school.

in what learning enviornment you will have better chance to succeed?

community colleges normally showed the lowest rates of rentention and highly selective colleges normally produced the highest retention rates. when students decided not to return for the second year, it will directly linked to graduation rate which is also the key fact for consider as part of college selection process.

Social media allows students to visit schools without having to physically be there. Students can be easily updated and connected online through online newsletters, yours, fairs and etc.

most parents are out of schools for years and did not have the updates about currently school setting and changing enviorment.

they normally upgrade their knowledge during the college visits and improve themselves online. the best way to help the student during the application process is hire the right counselor.

Parents should get themselves ready for financial aid no matter what. they lose aid qualification if not filed on time and they must file tax return ASAP to renew each year.

dont use home equity, withdraw stocks before the deadline for college bills.

have a plan to pay for four years and know which assets to use two years ahead of the application deadline.

students feel great pressure from their parents during the application process. for those that highly involved with the school selection and test preps, I suggest the student taking steps to learn how to work with your parents the rigth way.

most parents are willing to help with good intention and normally does nothing to hurt the student for admissions.

visit departments and check out the activities. speak to student advisory, ask about rention and graduation rate, find out more information about carrer placement services, and have lunch at the student center

start early in the process, have a to do list, follow up with the check list, and try to work with the school's counselor the best possible way.

Have a plan two years before financial aid application.

find out how much is the total cost and find out your own financial aid qualification

the gap between needs and qualfication can be solved by parents plus loan

pick the right college can save money

you should send transcript or middle term report to the college

you may write letter to confirm you as the wait list student

other than that, you really has little to do unless your counselor would work for you on this one.

if you are not sure about the accepted school compare to other choices you may have, you should still take the advantage of staying over night and revisiting the campus again. The open house will be different this time and you should get the rigth feelings by seeking out the questions left on your mind.

I suggest you to consider your top five schools seriouly.

if you have options to select the best one once acceptences are offered, you should not change your list based on the top five schools.

you should have more than one top school to consider. you should have five on the list from one to five.

if you have a successful or winning admissions strategy, you shall enjoy options not limitations.

I had one Chinese family provided homeschool for three of the four children and the oldest boy went to highly selective college from the local public school.

the colleges may ask questions about the quality of education at home largely related to the parent's education level and background including moniority considerations.

many schools will not require you to disclose your special needs situation. if the school does offer programs to help students like you, the school will know what to look and how to connect students to the program. make sure you pay a visit to investigate the program first.

there is a big difference in pulic and private high schools in supporting disability. therefore, you should expect the different in private college and public institutions.

none of them are the same. it has a lot to do with funding resources, college's policy and support from the local and government agencies.

students shall be evluated and approved for disability support services. some colleges does not require such process but will review the student's background to determine the qualifications.

you should pay attention to your applications and make sure you apply the right school.

it is especially important for special learning students to visit the college campuse and interview the program as early as possible.

yes, the student and parents can learn the programs in a great deal from marketing materials. it is not the same when you can actually talking to someone in person.

so, pick up the phone and make the appointment now.

there are counselors that specialize in providing services to students who need programs in addition to academics to support and ensure college success.

getting information about special programs is not a difficult task but understanding the contents is a lot more challenge for families.

if you have your own counselor to work with you, your counselor may set up interviews with the admissions office and other people. that's the best way to go.

if you do not have a counselor, you should visit schools with other seniors or classmates to gain different perspectives.

if your parents are helpful and able to share their perspectives with you, you should consider their inputs seriouly.

if you have college friends, they can help you with their experiences as well.