College admissions offices aren't perfect. Every year, students get admitted who end up dropping out, never coming, or getting grades that put them on the "Dean's List" nobody likes to talk about. On top of that, students get denied by colleges where they would have been great students, active leaders, and wealthy alumni donors. Either way, colleges hate to make mistakes, and they do the best they can--but the system isn't perfect.

Take admissions essays. Many colleges don't require essays; these colleges rely heavily on how you did on one test you took in your junior year of high school, which to me is just begging for trouble--but more on that later. Colleges that do ask for essays usually leave the topic up to you, because they want to hear about your life and what you think is important--as long as you don't use more than 500 or 600 words.

That's a bad vibe right off the jump. It seems like the colleges are convinced nothing could be so important in your life as to take up more than 500 words, and if you DARE use 501 words to talk about it--well, you're toast. It seems like they might as well say "Tell us why you love your life, but be quick about it."

Not a perfect approach to building a meaningful relationship, right?

The thing is, there's another way to look at this. To begin with, admissions officers care about you very much. I have yet to meet a more compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful group of people.

Second, a 500 word essay doesn't always have a 500 word limit. We'll talk more about this later, but if you're telling a great story, many admissions officers would gladly read 550 words or so. I wouldn't push it much past 550, but I think you get the idea, which is this. Much of what you think about getting into college isn't quite right. Admissions officers aren't robots, essay limits aren't always absolute, test scores may not matter that much, college rankings are--hey, I'd better slow down. It's hard to say where all of these myths came from, but they're doing a lot of damage to students and families; I wrote this book to help turn that around.

Just a heads up before we get started. Just like college admissions, this book isn't perfect. I've tried to give you some general advice on the most important topics in selecting a college that's right for you, but putting the right blend of ideas together for individual needs and interests in one book is impossible. That's why there's an e-mail address at the end of the book; read one chapter every day for 31 days, go away and really *think* about what the ideas mean to you. Once you're done with the whole book, e-mail me your questions about your individual needs, and we'll see what we can do--for free.

See? You just got yourself a personal college counselor.

Ready?

PS That part about the 500 word essay really being a 550 word essay? That won't work at Yale. There, if you get to 501, you really are toast.

In case you thought you were out of the woods, your parents aren't the only adults you have to help stay organized. Another one is your counselor.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

"Dog, not only do I have my own mess to keep straight, but now I have to put my parents and my counselor on my back? I don't even know who my counselor is, and they sure don't know me."

Right--and that's the problem. If you look at most college applications, there's a part your counselor has to fill out, about the classes you've taken, your grades, and your class rank. There's also a spot where your counselor can make comments about you--the space may be small, but it's still there. One of three things will happen with this space: It stays blank; your counselor scribbles something in it that could describe anybody; your counselor has so many helpful things to say about you, they have to write "continued on attached sheet."

Two questions here. First, if you gave your counselor that form today, which option would they choose? Second, which one are you rooting for?

Sounds like you have work to do.

This isn't hard. For the first two years of high school, see your counselor only when you need to--to change a schedule, discuss a personal problem, apply for a summer program--whatever. Like it or not, your counselor is way overworked--schedule changes, college counseling, career plans, and personal guidance for 500 students keeps them busy--so odds are the only way they'd spend heavy time with you individually in 9th or 10th grade is if you invented world peace, or if you were in really rough shape. Chances are you've done neither, so let them tend to those in need, and get the most out of the great group counseling programs they run.

The time to ramp things up is February of junior year. If your school is like most, your counselor will see you, if only for five minutes, in March to put your senior schedule together. By the end of February (right--February), you want to type up your community service work and extra curricular activities from your notebook (remember your notebook?), along with awards and recognitions you've received. You also want to have your senior year schedule together before you have your scheduling meeting--read that again--and you want to put everything in an inexpensive pocket folder that has your name on it.

I hope you see where this is going. When it's time for your scheduling meeting, you hand over the folder, and start talking first.

"Hi Mrs. Jones. I know you're really busy, so I got a copy of my transcript from your secretary and planned out my schedule already. I also wanted you to know I'm registered for the April SAT and ACT, and I'm visiting three colleges over Spring Break. I don't know if I'll see you before it's time to apply for colleges, so I've enclosed a list of my extra curriculars and community service projects, and I've highlighted the ones I'm most proud of. I've also put my cell phone number at the top of the page, so you can call me when you're filling out my applications if you have any questions. Thanks for helping me with this--if I have any questions, what's the best way to contact you?"

I promise you--if you do this, your counselor will remember you, and look for excuses to see you from now on.

Counselor on track, counselor off back.

Nice work, dog.

There are other great ways to scope out college possibilities without leaving home. Most of them are easy, all of them are helpful, and one popular one should be avoided--read on.

A great way to find out more about a college is to let the college come to you. Many colleges send admission representatives to your high school in the fall to tell you about their college. A list of these colleges is posted in the counseling center or the main office; every Thursday, write down the colleges that will be coming next week, look them up in your college guide (more on that soon), then get a pass from counseling to visit with the rep. In some high schools, reps are only allowed to come before or after school, or during lunch, and some will only let reps talk to students during lunch in the lunchroom (whoa--talk about leaving an impression!) If your school has these rules, give up the free time and go anyway--not many students will do this, which is (everybody sing along now) exactly why you should.

The same goes for hotel visits. Sometimes reps have such tight schedules they can only hold visits for lots of students at a hotel ballroom, in the evening or on weekends. The same rules apply here--do your homework, and go if it sounds good, bringing along your compadres and family for fun, along with dinner before or ice cream after. Whether it's in a hotel or the school's lunchroom, take along your college fair questions, fill out a card (even if you've talked to this rep or visited the campus before), introduce yourself to the rep (nothing like face time), ask a great question, and write down what you think once you're home.

If at any point you're not sure you're heading in the right direction, a college search might be helpful. Collegeboard.com lets you sort out colleges a million ways, from majors to location to activities to you name it. Princetonreview.com has the Counselor-O-Matic, which asks you questions to point you in the right direction. These sites and others can give you some general direction and lots of schools to consider.

Another great source is college guides--books or magazines that describe colleges and what they have to offer. Guides give you a solid look at all parts of a college; a good guide will tell you about classes, the campus, social life, and atmosphere, and a great guide will include interviews with students, who will give you the straight scoop. There are a lot of these around--try your counseling office or local public library--but while you're there, avoid books or magazines with college rankings. College rankings are designed to tell you what the "best" colleges are, based on the opinion of someone who doesn't even know what you're looking for. Unfortunately, parents love this stuff, especially if the rankings include the opinions of university presidents. Now, university presidents are nice people, but asking them to rank the 300 best colleges in the country is like asking your high school principal to rank the 300 best high schools in the country--after about 20 or so, they're relying more on what they've heard than what they know, and either way, they don't know you. You don't need to read a magazine to find out Southwestern Michigan State is a great college; you need to find out if SMS is a great college for you. Guides will help you with that, and rankings won't--so save your time and money, and skip them.