By Paula Steers Brown, August 2007

• Introduction
• Meet your match
• What do they have to offer you and what can you offer them?
• Standardized test savvy
• The application: narrow the focus
• Your essay: extract the unique
• Show your passion
• Finding funding
• Download the full article as a

What do they have to offer you and what can you offer them?

Set aside time during your junior year for college visits. Go when the regular students are there so you will get a true picture of campus life.

Prepare questions and talk with admissions representatives or university guides. Tour the buildings and grounds. Are they old, new, renovated, wired or WiFi capable? See a dorm room. Visit the library, the part of campus that will be your major concentration (if you know that already), the recreational facilities, and any other areas you might frequent. Read a copy of the student newspaper. Check out bulletin boards. Eat the food. Allow plenty of time to stroll through the bookstore, looking also at the student textbook section to get excited about the courses being taught. Sit in on a class.
Breeze-through visits will not give you the true flavor. Look carefully at the school’s academic programs. It’s fine to be “undecided,” but if you can research a certain major, do so.

Colleges want to see that you have taken the most challenging courses you are capable of handling and that your course of study is beyond the state’s minimum requirements for graduation. If you have a particular talent that supports your personal passion, devote time to it in your school schedule. The most competitive schools would prefer to see an elective, rather than a study hall. Colleges look for consistency in grades. Improvement from 9th grade to 12th grade reflects maturity.

Consider taking AP (advanced placement) classes in your areas of greatest interest or expertise where your performance is likely to be highest. AP classes can provide a wonderful opportunity to get a jump start on college. There is a fee (about $80) to take each AP exam, although more and more schools are covering that fee for the student. Having AP credit upon matriculation can allow you crucial advantages: early registration, exemptions from certain requirements, and accumulation of college credit (which can help you save on tuition).

Colleges want to see how you have spent your time on extracurricular activities, school events, employment, community service. On your home computer, devise a simple chart to designate categories for your various activities and the approximate time spent on them throughout your high school career. Expand upon any positions held or honors won and the criteria by which they were awarded.