For applicants applying to college this fall, there are still things you can do to improve your chances of admission. Wild swings don’t work here—creating three clubs just so you can list them on your application won’t make a difference. But here are five ways you can make yourself a stronger applicant and boost your chances. Some of these might seem obvious. But even those students who might say they already know these things often look back at the end of the process and wish they’d followed them.
1. Seek out good advice.
Too many students seek out credible advice after it’s too late to really do any good. For example, if you wait to visit your high school counselor until after you’ve been waitlisted by a college, she may be able to help you, but likely not as much as she could have back before you applied. Talk to your counselor. Ask colleges questions at college fairs and at their presentations. Seek out information and advice from people who really know what they’re talking about, not from your friends and neighbors.
2. Enroll in a challenging senior year schedule.
The senior year counts in college admissions. Most colleges will evaluate the rigor of your courses, and many will also look at your grades from your 7th semester before they make an admissions decision. So enroll in the most rigorous courses you can reasonably handle and keep working as hard as you can. College is school, and flexing your academic muscles as a senior proves that you’re training properly.
3. Consider re-taking the SAT/ACT.
I like to see students spend less time preparing for and taking standardized tests. But a big score boost can definitely improve your chances of admission. So consider taking them again if you think you can make a substantial improvement. If you need advice about whether or not to take it again, here’s a past post that might help.
4. Apply to the right colleges.
Applying to 15 reach schools is no way to set yourself up for application success. Instead, strive for a balanced list of colleges that you would be happy to attend and where you have a strong chance of admission. You can’t balance your list in retrospect when things don’t go your way. Instead, balance it at the beginning of the process.
5. Spend time on your applications and essays.
Lots of us procrastinate—I do, too. But it just doesn’t make sense to put in three years of hard work trying to get into college and still find yourself scrambling to complete your applications the night before they’re due. Don’t do that to yourself. Your college applications and essays are representing you. If you want them to represent you well, you have to put time, thought, and attention into creating them.