Academics: Continue to take the most challenging classes you can do well in (AP, IB or honors classes if possible). Many selective colleges prefer to see a strong “B” or “B+” in an honors class as opposed to an “A” in an easier course. Your grades from all four years count for college admission, but your grades as an upperclassman may be given more consideration – you certainly don’t want your grades to get worse as you go along. Don’t let visiting schools or taking standardized tests become more important than your school work.

High School Counselor: Your guidance counselor will write letters of recommendation when you apply to college, so make sure that he or she knows you as well as possible. Stay in close contact and meet at least twice during this important year. Remember, there are many other students assigned to your counselor – it’s your responsibility to stay on the radar. Take the initiative for making appointments and scheduling meetings.

Extracurricular Activities: Continue with your sports, club and community service activities. Staying with the same activities, especially if you achieve a leadership position, has more value to colleges than participating in many different clubs or activities. Work to achieve state, regional and national recognition in the area that is your passion, and seek a leadership role for your senior year.

Scholastic Tests: Take an SAT or ACT course, or study on your own. You may also want to consider private tutoring – it’s more expensive but it’s tailored to your needs, so you’re not wasting time and money focusing on topics other students need help with. Take these tests in the spring. If you’re applying to schools ranked as “Most Selective” or higher, register to take two or three SAT II subject tests in June.

Visiting Colleges: Attend college fairs in your area, and plan to visit several schools during your winter and spring breaks. If you want to interview at a top-choice school, consider scheduling a visit for the spring – during the winter, admissions offices are focused on applications from high school seniors.

Applying to College: Keep a file of every major test and paper where you received a high grade or positive comments. Later on, when you’re asking teachers for recommendations, you can use these grades and comments to remind them of your work in their classes. In the spring you should make a preliminary list of colleges that interest you. Fill out a college application as a practice exercise.
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Junior year has a not entirely undeserved bad reputation – heavy course work, intense college application pressures and learning to drive generally converge at roughly the same time during this challenging year. It won’t be easy, but try to build time into your schedule for relaxation, exercise and friends. And try to keep your sense of humor and perspective: luckily you won’t be a high school junior forever!

Being deferred can be a frustrating outcome: you’ve demonstrated a significant interest in a school, hustled to make the earlier deadline, and still have nothing concrete to show for it. But the thing to remember if you get this news is that you haven’t been rejected, which probably means your application is in the ballpark of what the school is looking for.

If you do get deferred from your first choice school, here’s what you should be doing right now:

• Understand that excellent first semester grades will do more than anything else to enhance your chances of acceptance. This is not the time to sulk or embrace defeat – step up your studying efforts and do extra-credit work if possible.
• Tell your guidance counselor you’ve been deferred, since he or she won’t be informed by the college until well after you are.
• Read the deferral letter from the college thoroughly. The letter will often give you suggestions about how to improve your chances. Follow the school’s instructions very carefully – if they say not to submit additional recommendations, don’t do it!
You may also find this information on the school’s website.
• If the college encourages you to submit additional information, you should write a letter reaffirming your strong interest in the school. This is also your chance to update the admissions committee on anything that might be relevant to your application. But don’t waste the committee’s time by telling them what they already know – notify them only if you’ve received any awards or honors, attained a leadership position in a club or extracurricular activity, or increased your SAT or ACT scores.
• Additional letters of recommendation are usually not necessary or helpful. Again, these letters should only be sent if they provide new information that other writers have not presented.

• If you are feeling some anger toward the college, put it aside. Make sure your correspondence with the school is polite and respectful. Writing “I can’t believe I didn’t get accepted” will be perceived as whiny and arrogant. And don’t try to convince the college they made a mistake by deferring you – just explain as best you can why the school is a great fit for you.

• All the contact you have with the college should be between you and the admissions committee – do not let your parents call or write to the school!

Remember that there is still time to apply elsewhere and there are other colleges out there that will be a good fit for you. Meet with your guidance counselor and review your options. And try to stay positive – a deferral may not be the best news, but it’s also not the worst!

Luckily, there’s no need to draw things out: the length of an interview is not generally an indication of how well it has gone. The most important part of your interview takes place in the first few minutes. Showing up early, greeting your interviewer with a firm handshake, and being confident and friendly right from the start – these are the foundations of a successful interview.

The average on-campus college interview lasts for 30-45 minutes (alumni interviews are a bit longer) and that is generally enough time to make a good first impression, answer the interviewer’s questions and ask some of your own. Coming well-prepared with questions and a general idea of how you might respond to common questions, will help prevent valuable time from being wasted.

It’s a good idea to ask your most important questions first, in case you run out of time. If you do run out of time and still have questions you didn’t get to, ask the interviewer if you can communicate further in writing. It’s always a good idea to send a thank-you note following an interview – this is a good time to ask more questions.

When the interviewer indicates that your time is up, it’s important to take the hint and not try to keep things going. Remember, a longer interview is not necessarily a more successful one!

Colleges like to accept students who show a strong interest in attending their school, so one of your main goals in an interview is to make your interest clear. The best way to do this is by having questions ready that show you’ve given this thought and have put in the time to prepare.

Don’t waste the interviewer’s time by asking questions you could easily find answers to on the website (like how many students attend the school.) Instead, ask about things that really demonstrate your desire to learn more about this college or university. You might ask if many classes are taught by graduate students, or if the school sponsors lots of activities on weekends. Whatever you ask, listen carefully to the answer and don’t interrupt the interviewer; make sure the answer is complete before you ask your next question.

The key is being prepared, so make sure to come up with your questions in advance. Once you’ve accomplished this, you can give your full attention to picking out an outfit. In case you’re wondering, there are no hard and fast rules about interview attire, but you may want to give some serious thought to leaving your eyebrow ring at home.

Adding an interview to a campus visit shows a high level of interest and usually works in the applicant’s favor. Admissions officers understand that interviews are stressful and they tend to forgive students who are nervous or not particularly outgoing. At a workshop I attended recently, the head of admissions at a small, selective college said that students “would almost have to try to make an interview work against them.” What is the one thing she said interviewers would not forgive? Attitude!

Apparently, what you say during a college interview may be less important than how you say it. You should certainly come prepared with an idea of how you’ll respond to certain questions, and it’s important to have questions of your own ready to ask. But be aware that interviewers will also be judging your manners, body language and overall attitude.

It’s important to show up on time and greet your interviewer with a firm handshake. Your attitude should send the message that you are friendly, polite and confident.

Don’t argue with the interviewer, complain, or correct anything that he or she may say. Your body posture should be relaxed, but not excessively so (don’t slouch!) Try to get comfortable speaking about yourself by practicing in front of a mirror or another person.

A good college interview can improve your chances of being accepted – and if you approach it correctly, it will almost certainly be more pleasant than a day at the dentist.

What do you think? Do you have an interview experience you’d like to share?