<p>If I could go back in time one year, and once more be a rising senior applying to colleges, this is what I would do differently:</p>
<li><p>Apply to less colleges. I applied to eleven colleges in all, which ended up being way too many. I was accepted at nine. I took time away from perfecting applications to colleges I really liked by working on applications to colleges which I applied to just for the sake of it. When it came time to decide on a college, I had to choose among many colleges which was a stressful process. Why did I apply to so many colleges? I was afraid I would be rejected at most of my colleges, which was ignorant on my part because my stats matched most of these colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Study for the SAT. My mom bought me tons of SAT books, yet I never truly studied for the SAT. Instead, I crammed at the last minute before each SAT exam I took. After getting back scores, I kept signing up for the next SAT session under the belief I would actually study for it this time around, but alas, that never happened. All of this in light of the fact that I had neither a job nor responsibility during the summer; I was just too lazy to study. I got waitlisted and ultimately rejected at my first choice college, if I would have truly studied for the SAT, I think I would have scored substantially better and gained admittance to this college.</p></li>
<li><p>Research colleges. Embarassingly enough, I chose many of the colleges I applied to by random. In fact, that’s precisely how I chose the college I am enrolling at in the fall. This is not a good idea for obvious reasons. After the fact, there are some colleges that I wish I would have applied to, after learning about them and how they meet my needs for college. In my situation, I wanted to go to college in Chicago, yet only applied to one university in Chicago – UChicago --which I was unfortunately waitlisted at. I wish I would have applied to Northwestern. Why didn’t I apply there? A blatent lack of research.</p></li>
<li><p>Start essays at least a month in advance to deadline. Do not wait until the last minute to write your essays. Just don’t. They’re as important as SAT scores at most colleges. Sometimes, even more important.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Last words:
-VISIT! This is something I actually did do right.</p>
<p>I would have visited as many schools as possible before applying. I had a list of colleges that I really liked on paper, and I applied having only visited two of them (one was my favorite and the other was my dad and grandpa's alma mater that I didn't really like). After I got my letters in April, I was waitlisted at my favorite, but I got into a lot of other ones. When I started visiting, I was extremely turned off by all of them for various reasons. When decision time rolled around I had no choice but to send my deposit to my dad's alma mater which was the opposite of everything I wanted (I wanted urban, liberal, not religiously affiliated, and didn't care about sports, and he went to Notre Dame). I ended up getting in off the waitlist, but I came very close to going to a school that would have been all wrong for me. Visit as many schools as possible before applying.</p>
<p>I will be a senior next year and your advices are really good Blaze991. Thanks you. Just a quick question though. How many colleges is the "enough" number that I should apply to?</p>
<p>I don't think there is one number that is right for everyone, as each person approaches college admissions with a different strategy. In my case, I wish I would have researched colleges more and thought more about my inner wants before applying to my eleven colleges. Had I done that, I would have ended up applying to maybe five colleges, which is a more manageable number. The key is finding exactly what you want in a college, and then applying to colleges accordingly. If there are 15 colleges that you really think are a fit, then by all means, apply to all 15 colleges. But, do so with the understanding that GREAT applications can take a lot of time and effort and that you will have to choose only one college in the end. </p>
<p>Apply to colleges you really like, regardless if your stats are below average, but also make sure you have safeties where your stats are well above average. I have a friend who applied to Virgina, Duke, USC, and Michigan, for a total of four colleges, which is not in itself bad, but made the critical mistake of not applying to a safety. This person was rejected at three of these colleges but luckily for him was accepted at Michigan. What if he was rejected at Michigan? Moral of the story -- choose safety(s), and make sure you are comfortable with it/them.</p>