Tips for College Admissions

These are some tips that you should consider when looking for the right college for you and to help you to be more successful in being admitted to the college of your choice. When colleges make admission decisions, they usually evaluate three areas: 1) academic achievement, 2) standardized test scores and 3) a personal profile.

1) Academic Achievements:

The academic section is generally the most important. It includes the quality of your courses, grades, rank in class and, in some cases, teacher recommendations. The quality of courses is determined by academic level, some examples being general, honors, and college preparatory.

2) Test Scores

The second component is test scores, either SAT I or ACT's. At most of the highly selective colleges these tests are used in conjunction with the College Board SAT II: Subject Tests. Specific information about different tests appears in another section of this guide. Many Universities in Canada do not require that you take certain tests to be admitted into their programs.

3) Personal Profile

The third component, the personal profile, measures what the candidate does outside the classroom. This profile includes jobs, athletics, community service, religious activities, art, student government, and much more. Displaying leadership in these endeavors is of great importance. Unlike scores and academic achievement, which are relatively easy to measure, the personal profile is far more difficult to evaluate. The interview, the application and recommendations are three ways that colleges gather information in this area.

The impact of these three components in the colleges' decision-making varies greatly. Large public universities are less likely to use the personal profile and more apt to use formulas and cutoffs than are smaller and private colleges. In most cases, weakness in one area can be offset by strength in another. Remember, the more selective a college, the more that college can demand in academic achievement, scores and personal profile.