by Blind Ambition

Created on: July 01, 2007

College admissions are getting more and more competitive every year as the business world expects to employ people with degrees and higher numbers of students are attending some form of higher education every year. Here are a few tips for helping make sure that your application process goes smoothly.

1) Don't start realizing you have to get your grades up senior year. Pay attention to your grades especially junior year. Most schools want to see that you have a consistent performance, they will be turned off by very low grades and then a sudden peak at the start of senior year.

2) Recommendations - many schools ask for teacher recommendations. Start thinking about past teachers you've had that have liked you and whose classes you have succeeded in. Do not ask a teacher to write your recommendation if they gave you many detentions during the year or if you never completed your assignments for them on time. Ask your teacher politely for their recommendation, and do it plenty ahead of time from the due date. Make sure you thank them after!

3) Get to know your guidance counselor. The more they know you, the smoother the process can go. Make sure they are on top of things like writing their recommendation for you and sending out your transcripts to the schools you want.

4) The college application - Make sure you complete it fully and on time! Most of it is repetitive, so start early. Many schools have started using the common application, so you may be able to get away with just filling out one form once for each school, and then submitting a supplemental form to them if they require it.

5) The essay - The essay is very important. It is one of the ways you get to bring you and your personality into the process. Make sure that it says something about who you are, do not write a sob sorry which will make the reader feel as if you are trying to get into the school on pity. Say something about who you are and what you are interested in. Tell them a story. Do not bore your reader.

6) Short answer - It is a little known tidbit that many schools look equally, if not more, at the students' answers to short answer questions. These are other important ways of letting admissions people know who you are. Make sure you stand out. Do not gloss over these questions.

7) Interviewing - If the school you want to go to has either on campus or alumni interviews - DO ONE. This shows the school that you are genuinely interested in them. When you go to an interview, come dressed nicely and be polite. You should know something about the school, as you will probably be expected to ask questions like, "Why do you want to go here?". Also, ask the interviewer questions. Engage with them, ask them about why they chose that school, why they decided to be an interviewer, what they liked most (and dislike most) about the school. Interviews do not make or break the decision, but they can help tip the scales if admission comes down to the wire.

8) Be smart about your choices to apply. Have a good range of reach, match, and safety schools that you would all be perfectly happy attending. While it may be tempting, do not only apply to a few reach schools, because admissions are competitive and there is no guarantee that you will be accepted.

9) Early decision/early acceptance - If you know for sure what your number one school is early, I highly recommend these options. This helps show them from the get-go that you want to go their, and schools love to be flattered. Furthermore, the applicant pools are much smaller at this time, and acceptance rates slightly higher than during the normal application time. Not to mention, finding out that you got in early takes a lot of pressure of not having to do all those other applications!

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