I mostly agree with the original list plus the addenda people added.
I would also like to note the following, though:
- I do not think that extracurriculars should be chosen to persuade a college to admit you. I think they should provide fun and relaxation, and allow you to explore interests and find passions. Sometimes they may be related to your major, but sometimes they may not be, and that is okay. I know kids with a diverse range of unrelated activities and no formal leadership roles who were admitted to top colleges. They used the common app, their recommendations, and their interviews to help paint a portrait of themselves that was appealing to admissions officers. Do what you love. When August of senior year rolls around and the Common App opens, then you can think about how to describe yourself and your activities in a way that connects the dots for the admissions officers. Before that, do what you enjoy doing. When you start these activities, you may not know what lessons you will learn along the way or what aspects of yourself will develop through them or what they will “show” about you.You will realize those things when you look back at your activities while completing your application.
And admissions officers respect people who work jobs to help support their families. These jobs may not be related to their future careers or intended majors! That does not matter. A.O.’s have been making a point of that lately in their presentations, so that first gen and low income students are not scared away by hearing about fellow applicants with fancy extracurricular activities.
- “One and done” works just fine for SAT or ACT if you land where you want to be the first time. Unless you are applying for merit scholarships with exact cut-offs, the admissions officers will be using the SAT/ACT tests mostly to confirm your grades, since grades differ from high school to high school. Unless your scores are not in the middle or higher of the ranges for your favorite colleges, you may be better off devoting time to doing well in your coursework, and to participating in interesting extracurricular activities or jobs, than to trying to raise your score from a 1470 to a 1500 or from a 1530 to a 1550. (If your scores are bottom 25% or near that, then the test prep may be worthwhile, if you do not have a substantial hook... or you might change your college list.)
- I think it is important to apply early action or rolling admissions to a relatively safe school if you also are applying early decision somewhere or early action to a very selective college (unless you are limited by a college to single-choice or restricted options... but even those usually allow you to apply early action to a public university). That way, if you get rejected or deferred by your first choice, you do not spend months worried that you won’t be admitted anywhere!
- For students applying to top colleges, you should have both high matches and low matches (by percentage of students admitted and/or scores), so you can still go to an amazing college. Some people aim too high in their “matches” and end up at a safety, which is fine if they have chosen their safety with care, but still they might be more excited to be admitted to a more selective college. A low reach can still be a top college with top students which will provide a very similar experience to one offered at your reach or high match. (Example for a top student: reach: Williams, high match: Bates, low match: Connecticut College, safety: a smaller SUNY).
- Choose your matches and safeties with care, and try to end up with a choice of at least two colleges in the end. You may end up attending your safety, and you want to be happy and excited in April. Look for safeties that are similar to your top choices in the aspects that attract you to your top choice, or else that offer something else really exciting that maybe your top choices do not.
- There are no rules. Try to enjoy high school. You only get to go once! Then enjoy using your application to show who you are.