The most important advice I would give students and families embarking on the pre-college preparation is to be true to yourself - to focus on areas of interest and not do things or take classes because “it would look good in the application”. This mantra will help you succeed both in and out of the school as you put your energy on areas you are passionate about. In addition, I would recommend you “do the best you can” in school and in activities, keeping a healthy balance in your day-to-day life.
The truth of the matter is that academics rule in college admissions and that your transcript would be the most important piece of the application. Studies (Clinedisnt, Hurley & Hawkins, 2012) show that grades in college-prep courses, strength of the curriculum and test scores are the most important factors in the admissions decision. I recommend that if students can handle the workload and succeed, they should plan to complete college-prep classes based on their high school’s curriculum and student’s performance. AP, IB and Honors classes would be expected at elite colleges (some say +7 for the most selective). In the end, colleges want to see students taking the hardest classes they can take in their respective high schools. Colleges based their decisions on research that shows that performing well in rigorous high school curriculum is a good predictor of academic college success.
Importantly, timing is of essence so that starting in 8th and 9th grade, students should start planning and mapping out their curriculum. Also, they should pay attention to grades, not so much because these would be part of the college admissions GPA but because they lead the foundation to an academic track in their high schools. In fact, some colleges may re-calculate the student’s GPA, and may choose to not even count 9th grade classes as well as Art, PE or other electives. So the student’s focus should be on performing well and taking college level classes in the 5 core areas (English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language). It would be ideal to take advanced classes in the areas of interest - if for instance the student in interested in STEM majors s(he) should target to take AP Calculus senior year and lab based science classes including a few AP/Honors science classes junior and senior year.
Despite the growth of Test Optional schools, SAT/ACT test scores continue to be an important admissions factor - a screening factor in many instances - for a majority of colleges. Noteworthy, a few schools - eg. CUNY, McGill, others - place a lot of weight on test scores for admissions. This is a great source of stress to students and care should be taken to not lose perspective and balance in their lives. I would recommend a common sense testing plan - spreading out the testing and not overdoing it.
Last but not least, it is important to stay on top of the soft aspects of the application. All “best fit” items -- extracurricular / leadership activities, recommendations, college essay and special talent / background -- will provide the ammunition to complete the colleges holistic evaluation. When students ask which extracurricular activities to engage in, I would steer them to the areas of interest or that they want to explore. This an area where “depth versus breadth” is what colleges are looking for, thus it would be best for students to to get deeply involved in a few areas - in a consistent manner throughout their high school years. The colleges are not only looking for the contribution the student would bring into campus, but also a general level of commitment and involvement toward the community. In the end, colleges want to populate their campus with students that will help the meet the college’s mission (ie cultural, diversity, etc.).
In sum, balance is one of the hardest things for students and families to keep in check during high school and the college application process. Understanding the process and requirement helps students and families organize themselves and put this in a framework so that it doesn’t take over their lives.
