<p>I know these aren’t really tricks, but they might help out. Can anyone comment if they did these in the past during their admissions process, and if it made a difference.</p>
<li><p>Contacting the local admissions person for the college you are interested in. Also continuing to talk and ask them questions during the admissions process.</p></li>
<li><p>Writing a note or brief letter explaining a low grade for a semester to add along with the transcript.</p></li>
<li><p>Please post if you have any other suggestions! Thanks.</p></li>
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<li><p>Definitely do not contact them if they're just simple questions that your high school guidance counselor can answer, or that you can find the answer to on the college website, like "How many SAT Subject tests do you require? What teacher recommendations do you require?" Honestly, if I were the admissions person I would get kind of annoyed and be like, "Um, you clearly didn't do your research on the website." Only ask them stuff if you really need to, and I found that I really didn't have any questions to ask them, and that's fine.</p></li>
<li><p>You don't need to do that. On the Common App (or whatever application they have), there's a section for Additional Information, which is where you explain low grades. But don't bother if you are a straight-A student and got a B in something. There's probably no need to explain that.</p></li>
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<p>Oh come on... People tend to overestimate or underestimate the college admissions process. That's the problem. </p>
<p>Everyone asks stupid questions like: "Is this score good enough?, Will this get me rejected?, Should I contact the admissions place?, Should I retake a 2380?..."</p>
<p>Admissions is simply where a committee gets together and votes on your acceptance in a matter of minutes, and small "tricks" don't really make a difference. They always say they care about explanations, demonstrated interest, scores, but when it comes down to it, they all mean nothing. It's more based on how they would view your application as a whole, and your ability to present yourself in the best way possible.</p>
<p>Sure I agree with 1 and 2, it seems to have helped me out. The admissions officer I talked to told me to send a note explaining a low grade, but on the other hand I was also told that to do it would just bring attention to the low grade. So I would say ask the admissions officer what you should do about the low grade.</p>
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<li><p>Attend alumni events, visit the college, or go to any other college events you are invited to.</p></li>
<li><p>Sell yourself while having an overall "theme".</p></li>
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<p>Particularly with smaller colleges, demonstrating interest in the college is a big plus, so visiting the college and going to the events will help (plus it helps you get to know the college more, too).</p>
<p>You want to package yourself with a theme so that admissions officers can see that you have a sense of direction: interested in cultures, geologist, pre-med, art, future politician, etc.</p>
<p>OK...then how about the advice regarding the Common Application of not showing all the schools addresses that you are applying to (like showing your hand in poker)...I've read that advice on CC.</p>
<p>You know, the whole college admissions thing would be so much easier for everyone, admissions officers and students alike, if everyone were honest and didn't try to play games. </p>
<p>But unfortunately, not everyone is so kind.</p>
<p>Some colleges have supplements (or their own application) which ask students to name the colleges they're applying to. Just tell them. Honestly, the admissions people might just be curious. I doubt that they're really going to wonder, "Okay, this school might not be such a high priority for this student, so let's just reject him." People aren't going to reject you if they want to accept you.</p>
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how about the advice regarding the Common Application of not showing all the schools addresses that you are applying to (like showing your hand in poker)...I've read that advice on CC.
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<p>Reading the FAQ about this issue on the Common Application website will show that this is flat wrong advice. Colleges mostly don't care about this, and they don't get such information from the Common Application.</p>