Five guaranteed college admissions strategies

There are no magic formulas that will guarantee your admission to the school of your choice.  But there are things you can do that will always make you more competitive.  Here are five college admissions strategies that will make you a stronger, savvier applicant regardless of where you apply.

1. Seek information and advice from people who know what they’re talking about.
High school counselors, admissions officers, and good private counselors know more about how to get into college than any of your friends or neighbors do.  Who you ignore is just as important as who you listen to.

2. Take challenging classes and do your best. 
Before anything else, college is school.  Prepare for it by taking challenging courses and working hard without sacrificing sleep or sanity.  It’s OK to have an occasional late night, but if you’re up until 2 a.m. regularly just struggling to keep up, scale back.

3. Find activities you love, and make an impact while you do them.   
There is no magic list of activities that look “good” to colleges.  Whether it’s marching in the band, learning karate, collecting stamps or quarterbacking the football team, do it because you enjoy it.  Bring the kind of effort and attitude with you that will make people notice that you’re there contributing. 

4. Be a good kid.
Some of the highest-achieving and successful students get mediocre letters of recommendation because they’re arrogant, difficult, or just not all that nice to people.  The golden rule applies here.  Be the kind of student, son/daughter and friend that you’d like to have.  Remember that just being a nice, respectful, polite, responsible kid never goes out of style, even when you apply to college.

5.  Apply to the right colleges.
Don’t apply to colleges just because they’re famous or because they landed a good spot on the rankings list this year.  Think about why you’re going to college in the first place and what you hope or expect to gain from your time there.  Then pick schools that fit you where you think you can make those visions happen.