How to make my college applications more impressive?

May I have everyone's attention, I have some college admissions advice to offer you guys?

• Okay so I am starting a blog on this but I feel like you guys should see some of the info I put up. This is advice coming from a student who was accepted into Cornell, Columbia, Harvard and MIT right out of high school (of course my ethnicity might have had a say in that). Anyways I want to offer you guys some advice about college admissions and getting into the top colleges. 1. Make the most of your summer vacations, the sooner the better. The difference between a good applicant and a great applicant is that a great applicant does some volunteer work, internship and community service in his/her summer vacations. If you are applying for an Ivy, this is important because you never know who you will meet. When I was doing my internship at a law firm, I met a Harvard alumni who wrote me a letter of recommendation to attend Harvard, this plays a huge role in acceptance. If possible, try to start your own community service, if you see a local lake which is dirty, set up a clean up service and get your friends involved. Message is, DO SOMETHING other than playing videogames and going on myspace your summer vacation. 2. "My GPA is not that highest and it is not a 3.75 can I still attend an Ivy?" Yes you can. Now if you are a senior it may be too late but if you are a sophomore or junior, a lower GPA can be overturned. Here is how. A. During your junior and senior years, try to take as many AP classes as possible. If you are currently a junior then ask your teacher if you can enroll in an AP Class. B. Go for Joint Enrollment at a local college, take college classes during the summer or during the school year (night school), that will look good on your resume. C. Stock up on as many APs as possible the first semester of your senior year, take at least 5. D. Spend your summer vacation studying for the SATs, a score of 2200 or above puts you in range for Harvard, Princeton and Yale, 2100 and above puts you in range for Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth and UPenn. E. On Essays, mention your GPA and WHAT you have learned from your mistakes, not all Ivy League students made A's throughout high school, some even made Bs and Cs. 3. SAT Scores matter, sure at a state university a high GPA can overcome a Low SAT score but for the Ivies, you MUST have a 1350 or above (math and reading) to stay competitive. Spend 5 hours every day if you have to but make sure that you get your SAT scores up. Math and reading matter the most. Take the SAT twice your junior year and once your senior year, take it the first semester of your junior year, the second semester of your junior year and the first semester of your senior year for best results. 4. Get ready for the SAT subject tests, try to get them over with the summer before your senior year so you can focus on the college applications your senior year. 5. Play a sport if you can, it is not mandatory but it helps a lot. Even if you sit on the bench for 4 years (you shouldn't, all seniors in most schools get playing time) it shows commitment to the colleges and makes your application look good. 6. A friend of mines (currently applying to Princeton) asked me, "what is the difference between someone going to an Ivy League school and someone not going?". I simply told him, "someone going to an Ivy League school actually applied". Get my point? Do not let anyone tell you that you are wasting your time applying. A lot of the students in Ivy League colleges right now (other than the legacies) did not believe that they could get in but they got in because they applied. Every year there is a miracle, no matter what school there is always going to be the one kid who WOWS the college admission committee and gets into a top college while the "top" students are left dropping their jaws. You can be that kid! **Word of advice: Stay away from College Confidential. I have seen many people on here recommend everyone that site but I will tell you that whole site is a waste of time. It is full of people who make outrageous claims and inflate their grades to make themselves look admirable. It is full of people with low self esteem and "parents" who feel the need to discourage others from applying to the top schools. The whole site is a waste of time and a waste of energy and it is completely based off numbers. If you do not believe me, look that site up on urban dictionary. TOP STUDENTS do not waste their time on garbage sites like College Confidential. You shouldn't either.

• Answer:

  I think you give very sound and articulate advice. Congrats on getting accepted by not one, but *four* Ivy League Schools! You didn't mention which one you're going for (just curious). Your points about community service are spot on. Indeed, many students wonder (and complain) why they have to fulfill community service requirements for high school graduation. I've answered that I think helping others and receiving credit for it should be incentive enough. My goal is helping students engage in "global project based learning" (I've put a couple links in sources). Whether they're sending textbooks to a village in Uganda or just about anything else, *everyone benefits*. If students can truly think a little selflessly and actively participate in helping others (whether by themselves or in a group), then they will reap not only psychic rewards, but as you point out, a real WOW factor on their application. Your points about taking AP are also very important. AP classes top out at 5 on GPA scales so even an A- in an AP class will get you something like a 4.5 for that class. A minor difference I have is that students as young as *freshmen* may now take AP classes. My eldest son is a sophomore and he took AP Geography last year and is taking AP American History this year. Frankly I was a bit concerned about that sort of rigor in 9th grade but it's what he wants to do. You don't have to go "high end classes" all four years but as the original author states, you definitely want to show a strong pattern of academics. My son is also editor of the school paper and on the city's Arts Commission. OK... enough of my bragging! I think the one question everyone needs to ask is "why and where do i want to go to *any* college?" All the Ivy League colleges have tremendous reputations and stellar departments. I don't know one from the other in terms of where I'd want to study Philosophy or Chemical Engineering. I went to Cal Berkeley and was admitted when I was in high school through the Accelerated High School Student Program. I'm not sure if any of the Ivy League schools have ways for high school students to take classes concurrently; my guess and hope is that there should be at least online classes for high school students to take. Indeed, MIT is open source with its courseware; if you're interested in MIT you could/should look at and take a number of MIT classes during your junior/senior year. I think it's great you'll start a blog about this, please let me know when you get it started and where it is.