adMISSION POSSIBLE

"Introduction GETTING READY FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS 1. Courses, Grades, and Intellectual Pursuits: What Colleges Look For in Academic Preparation • Academic preparation in high school • Required and recommended courses • Honors, AP, and IB courses • Academic preparation outside your high school • Individual pursuits • Organized offerings (academic competitions; regional and state talent search summer programs; internships; online courses and tutorials; early college enrollment academies during the school year; preenrichment programs for low income, first generation, or underrepresented students; semester, year-long, and summer programs abroad; attendance at a local college during the regular school year; summer college programs for high school students) 2. Extracurricular Activities: What You Do with Your Time When You Are Not in Class • Doing what you love, or at least what you're interested in • Finding extracurricular activities you enjoy, if not love • Guidelines for choosing activities • Maximizing a skill, talent, or interest • Some extracurricular options (in-school versus out-of-school activities; sports; community service; work experiences; summer experiences; special talents, offbeat hobbies, and interests) • Activities if you want to go to one of the Ivies 3. Teacher and Counselor Relationships: They're More Important Than You Might Think • What teachers look for in students • Admissions officers pay close attention to counselor recommendations • Independent counselors offer a number of services 4. Tests and Test Preparation: Which Tests to Take, Why, and When • Overview of the college admissions tests • PSAT • SAT • To get or not to get test preparation • Good enough test scores to get into colleges • Comparing your test scores with successful applicants • Good enough test scores for fifteen major colleges • PLAN • ACT • A comparison of the SAT and ACT tests • How ACT scores compare to SAT scores • Subject Tests • AP Courses and tests • How AP courses are different from regular courses • AP Scholar awards • Testing and international students FINDING COLLEGES YOU LOVE 5. Your College List: Finding and Choosing Colleges That You're Going to Love • Identifying what you need and want in a college • The seven steps of researching colleges and developing a good college list (begin your college list with a brainstorming session, confer with trusted people to add more colleges to your list, make use of Internet college searches to identify other colleges, research the colleges, determine your chances for acceptance, organize your list into categories, refine and settle on a final college list) • Sample college lists 6. College Visits: The Best Way of Finding Out What You Want in a College • When and how much time to spend at colleges • Things to see and do when visiting a college (visit the college admissions office, take a campus tour, sit in on a class, meet a professor in your field of interest, talk with current students, look into extracurricular/athletic interests or special student services, check out housing arrangements, read the campus newspaper, walk or drive through the adjacent town, go back to the ""blink"" concept) 7. Relationships with Colleges: How to Make College Contacts a ""Tip Factor"" in Your College Admissions • Contact with colleges (aka demonstrated interest) • The deal about admissions yield rates • Who your high school's college admissions reps are and why you should care • What to say and do when you stop by an admissions office • College Fairs GATHERING APPLICATION AMMUNITION 8. Your Activities Résumé: Helping Colleges ""Get"" Who You Are • Advice about the choice of activities • Why and how to use an Activities Résumé • Making the most of your résumé • Sample résumés 9. Collecting Personal Stories and Anecdotes: Secret Weapons in Writing Application Essays • Brainstorming ideas • Real examples of stories and anecdotes and how students used them WOWING ADMISSIONS PEOPLE 10. To Do or Not to Do the Earlies: Early Action, Restricted Early Action, And Early Decision • Why colleges offer early admission • Useful information about early programs • Advantages and disadvantages of early applications • Whether to apply early • The outcome of early applications • What to do if you get deferred 11. Completing Undergraduate Applications: How to Make Your Best Case to Colleges • The two major types of applications (the Common Application, a college's own application) • Organizing a system for dealing with admissions materials from 9th through 12th grades • Insider advice, common sense, and what matters regarding applications • Summary of college application steps • Section by section advice about filling out applications • Follow up on your applications 12. Writing Admissions Essays: How to Be More Than Your GPA and Test Scores • Sample essay questions • The taboo subjects for essays • Author's tips on writing • Examples of successful essay titles • Eight steps to writing a great admissions essay • Sample essay • How to recycle an essay • Essay Dos and Don'ts 13. Letters of Recommendation: Getting Others to Sing Your Praises • High school counselor, secondary school report form, and school profile • What to provide the school counselor • Dos and Don'ts in working with the school counselor • High school teacher evaluation and instructor recommendation forms • What to provide teachers • What to provide other recommenders • Keeping track of forms and letters 14. Admissions Interviews: Knowing Exactly What to Say and Do • The point of an interview for you • The point of an interview for the admissions office • Setting up an interview • Preparing for an interview • Practicing for an on-campus interview • What to bring to an interview • What happens at an interview • Creating a friendly, conversational atmosphere at an interview • What if you are shy • Dos and Don'ts about college interviews • Interview follow-up • College Interview Cheat Sheet MAKING YOUR FINAL CHOICE 15. The End of the Admissions Road: A. Dealing with Deferred Admissions, Wait lists, and Denials B. Choosing Your College • The end of the admissions road • Curves and roadblocks • Dealing with a wait list • Appealing admissions denials • Final destination • Information needed for decision-making • The actual decision-making process Recommended Resources Acknowledgments About the Author Index"