Everyone tells you that you should go on campus visits to get a feel for the atmosphere of the school. But showing up is the easy part.

Getting prepared is a lot tougher.  If you are visiting more than one college and heading out of town, you may have to book flights, hotels, rent cars and actually find the college.

It could be a serious juggling act. You don’t want to end up driving around in circles looking for the campus with no map or even worse, no place to stay!

The college visit is your place to make a good impression on the admissions officers too, so you don’t want to forget something important like writing thank-you notes to the administrators that you met.

So here’s your campus visits checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything.

http://www.campuscompare.com/college-resources/files/CampusCompare_CollegeVisitChecklist.pdf

Q: Are “B”s in honors or Advanced Placement classes better than “A”s in less demanding ones?
A: “B”s in first-string classes are more impressive than “A”s in easier ones. While the most competitive colleges do prefer the most competitive courses, there is room for fluctuation, and a second-level class in one or two weaker areas may be a smart strategy.

When computing class ranks, most high schools now use a weighted system where extra points are allotted for higher level classes, so the “B+” student in honors courses is likely to be ranked above the straight “A” student in the second tier.
Admission professionals know that many high schools don’t have Advanced Placement or IB programs and that some don’t even have advanced or accelerated classes. You will be evaluated in light of what opportunities were available.

Q: I want to take part in a dual enrolment program at a local community college. How do admission officers view this?
A: Dual enrollment programs allow students to take some courses on a college campus for credit while they remain enroled in high school classes. Admission officials are always pleased when students take advantage of challenging opportunities. However, while they will credit you with making this choice, their institution may not necessarily award college credit for your work.

Q: How important is my GPA?
A: Although the overall GPA is important, colleges realize that it is calculated on the basis of all four high school years. Class ranks are typically cumulative (based on three- or four year records). Admission officials tend to be believers in what they dub the “rising record,” and may be willing to forgive freshman (and even sophomore) foibles when a student has shown impressive improvement as a junior and senior—the two years that get scrutinized most closely. They may be likewise willing to overlook one awful grade (or an entire catastrophic semester) if followed by a strong rebound (and remember, this is also where an explanatory letter or essay can help).

Q: Don’t admission officers from highly selective colleges prefer private school applicants?
A: Colleges, even the choosiest ones, do not prefer either private school or public school candidates. Since most students attend public high schools, the vast majority at all colleges are public school graduates. Diversity is now the buzz word, and that means drawing students from all sorts of backgrounds.

Q: I switched high schools, and the move has meant some transcript irregularities. Will admission officials figure it all out?
A: Be certain that each college will receive a transcript (or several) that covers your entire high school career. This may be the perfect time to add an extra statement explaining why moves were made, and what impact they had on course choices.

Q: We’ve heard that some colleges admit students largely (or even entirely) based on an admission formula. Is this true and, if so, how often does it happen and how does it work? Who benefits most—or least—from this approach?
A: Many large public universities get inundated with applications every year, and so class rank, GPA, and standardized test scores determine a student’s fate, not character, extracurricular commitments, writing skills, etc. ” An important exception, are the more competitive honors programs within a large university, where broader factors are considered.  Go-getters with the right statistics clearly benefit most from a formulaic approach, he maintains. Underachievers, late-bloomers, or even good students with unbalanced strengths may lose out.

Smaller schools, rarely go on numbers alone and tend to be more willing to take risks on those whose potential seems to surpass past performance, and some large institutions frown on formulas as well.

If a college application doesn’t require an essay (or at least ask for some shorter open-ended responses), students can probably expect to be competing with a numbers-oriented applicant database. The best way to find out whether an institution uses admission formulas is, of course, to ask.

Once you’ve handed in your college applications—your transcripts, your admission test scores and your admissions essay, how does the admission committee wade through all this information and come to a decision regarding college admission.

What matters most? What gets glossed over?  What are these committee members really looking for?

Today we are going to give you more of an inside look into the admissions decision process. So that you know when to make it count.

Transcripts: Your high school transcript is often the most important component of your application.  The exception is schools that specialize in areas like art, music and drama, which might be more interested in your portfolio. 

Admissions officers are trained to know the discrepancies among different schools(like that at some, it’s easy to land an A, while at others an A is a huge accomplishment). They also look at what types of courses you fulfilled, if you took honors classes, advanced placement classes, sciences and math or English and drama.

Test Scores: SAT and ACTs are being de-emphasized in many colleges, but they still looked at along with transcripts. They help the admissions officers compare students from different high schools across the board.

Admissions Essay: The admissions essay is a way to make you pop off the page. Now, instead of being a series of numbers and grades, you become an individual, unique person. This is therefore an increasingly important factor in the admissions decision process. The only thing to watch out for is that essay reading is subjective. One member of your committee might love it, while another might disagree with what you wrote.

Letters of Recommendation: A really good letter of recommendation can really make a difference but colleges don’t really penalize students when the letter is not written well or only offers superficial info. Here’s some of the stuff that admission officers are looking for:

• Comparisons to others in the class; to those whom the teacher or counselor has worked with in past years; or with students who have enrolled at the college in question.
•  Information about grading and/or competition.
•  Illustrative examples or anecdotes.
•  Personal information
• Other personal traits or study habits (e.g., maturity, response to criticism, acceptance by peers, timely completion of assignments, willingness to go beyond what is expected, participation in class discussions)

The law entitles students to see completed recommendations. However, reference forms include a clause that most students sign to waive this right. This enables counselors and teachers to be candid, which is what admission officials prefer. (Recommendations normally do become part of a student’s permanent file.)

Extracurricular Activities: Colleges don’t really care what it is you do, as long as you are doing something meaningful. But with so many high school students doing so much and with so many programs and organizations, teams and clubs and causes, it’s hard to predict what admissions officers will favor. They are really looking for what the activities teach you—qualities like commitment, accomplishment, initiative and leadership and well-roundedness.

Here are some areas they look at:

• How much time does this student devote to an activity? How significant is the contribution? Admission professionals often favor depth over breadth.
• “Evidence of leadership” is a key factor that can tip the scales in your favour.  There’s a difference between the student who joined the Geography Club and the one who founded it.
• Some balance is best. The student who participates in the Science Club, the Drama Club, and is also on the tennis team usually stands out more than the one who only chooses athletics as extras. Similarly, a balance of school related activities (clubs, teams, choirs, etc.) and those which take place elsewhere (volunteering, scouting, church groups, community theater, etc.) shows your horizon exists beyond the schoolyard.
• Volunteering is very important, and the key here is real hands on involvement. Admission people are usually able to differentiate between the candidate who spends every Saturday tutoring and one who volunteered a couple of times so they can add it to their application.
•  A few collegiate candidates will up their stock in admission officers’ eyes by being extraordinarily talented in some area or with a truly off-the-wall interest or experience.

So now you know what happens behind the closed doors of the admissions decision.  Still, with so many factors go into college admissions decisions that the results can sometimes seem unpredictable and off-the-mark. But don’t try to be someone you’re not—it’s all about being yourself. That’s what’s going to really make you stand out in your college application. 

Check back tomorrow for frequently asked questions about the college admission decision.