How To Improve Your Chances For College Admission

Even though there is a lot of noise out there about all of the highly successful executives that never completed college, most high school students and their parents still believe a 4-year degree is the best path to future life and career success. But, the world of college admissions is an increasingly cutthroat world. There are rising numbers of applications and lower admission rates at a broad range of schools, from the most selective universities to traditional "safety" schools.

This is due to the exponentially increasing number of students, the children of baby boomers, and also the increasing number of foreign students for whom acceptance to an American college or university is a prize well-worth the efforts and money.

It Used To Be

In the past, class valedictorians, A students, and those who came from elite prep schools, only needed good (but not near-perfect) SAT scores and connections to secure admittance. These days however, all schools have so many talented and deserving candidates that the schools are looking for other qualifications just to make it into the “to be considered” pile. Some of these qualifications are::

• good leadership/ good judgment - so think about how you demonstrate leadership
• well rounded character/ strength of character - think about this when looking at extracurricular activity options and also when choosing admittance essay subjects
• good recommendation letters - it is never too early to start working on relationships with key high school teachers, clergy, and members of the community
• high academic index - of course grade count- not only grades but AP courses, college level courses, and college course credits (through CLEP)

• a fairly good mix (at least more than one) of capabilities in multiple intelligence areas: verbal linguistic logical - STEM courses are of increasing importance even if your desired area of discipline and major is non-STEM related. There is a big STEM emphasis in the U.S. today because the opinion is that the U.S. has fallen behind in these areas: musical, artistic, athletic, interpersonal, naturalistic/ ecological, existential - spirituality

• intellectual imagination - this can be brought forth in a variety of ways; but usually involves creativity in one of the above disciplines
• extracurriculars - choice of extracurricular activities are evaluated as a good indication of leadership, good character, high EQ, differentiation from others, showing initiative, passion, showing well roundedness in the student with depth in some area

The Action Plan: “A Marathon, Not A Sprint”

So, with the above list, it is never too early to start planning the activities and course of study to follow to put your best foot forward on college applications. The list above is not just there for you to read, but to carefully look at each item and identify how you stack up in each area and what you can do to rise to the top. Those who succeed not only have knowledge, they take action.

The more time in advance you have, not only can you plan course of study, how and in which areas to obtain college credits, but you can also plan which additional activities and facets are important to concentrate on.

Therefore, don’t wait until the last minute; getting ready for college can start as early as the eighth grade to focus on critical reading and vocabulary, study skills, extracurricular activities, develop summer plans and win awards. According to Eva Glasrud, former Harvard interviewer and college coach, "college admissions is a marathon, not a sprint. The longer you prepare for college applications ahead of time, the better your chances of admission."

Some families hire a College Coach to assess one’s capabilities, inclinations and other considerations to come up with the perfect ‘fit’ and improve the chances of getting an acceptance to more than one of the colleges being applied for. Even if you do not do this, research on your preferred colleges years ahead of time is never a bad thing to do.

Know What You Can Control and Take Action

Much of what goes into the hard choices college admissions officers have to make is beyond students' control, such as whether institutions are prioritizing matters like diversity, legacy applicants, or athletic recruiting, in a given year. So it's crucial to know all about everything you can control and learn how to position yourself throughout the process, and take action early to excel and come out on top of the list in what you do have control over.

Top colleges are increasingly seeking well-rounded student bodies of individual specialists: the football player, the poet, the mathematician. So when it comes to extracurriculars, it's better to be involved in fewer activities wholeheartedly over a longer period of time, rather than nine or ten superficially. This will make a larger impact, in general.