1. 5 Keys to Winning College Admission Acceptances
Thousands of qualified students lose out in the college admissions of their preferred schools,
and for much the same reasons year after year.
Reason # 1- students don’t recognize there’s an application process for which they should engage
Reason # 2- students remain unknown to the admission office and get buried by the competition
Reason # 3- students don’t put enough emphasis or effort on the writing pieces of the application
All three make for common mistakes of students and families each and every year. But you can
know better and win admission acceptances into your preferred colleges.
Here are our 5 keys to winning college admission acceptances.
1. Build your full student-package: while students pay more attention to their academic
record, know that college’s value the human element of the applicant. Sure they value
academic record including SAT/ ACT scores, SAT II’s, courses of rigor, and improving
trends, but they also value leadership achievement, community involvement, volunteer
service, diverse talents and special interests, and overseas experience. Building a full
student package of value is key to winning admission acceptances.
2. Qualify colleges for good fit: interest will only come from colleges for which you show
qualifications for admissions. Most people prefer to evaluate colleges first, rather, the key is
to evaluate yourself first and build a list of colleges from there. Evaluate your academic
qualifications and identify colleges within a range of admission standards matching your
academic record and personal interests. Matching colleges to your qualifications, interests
and needs is key to winning admission acceptances.
3. Visit colleges early and build relationships with admissions counselors: interest from
colleges increases the better and longer they get to know you. It’s important to notify the
college of your interest once you have identified them as a potential fit. This includes
sending admissions an email, calling the admissions office, planning a college visit, and
scheduling a campus tour. It all serves to allow the college to know you better than what
they will see on your application. Visiting college early and building relationships in the
college admissions office is key to winning admission acceptances.

2. 4. Have a plan for submitting applications along with a strategy for winning acceptances:
the plan is to submit 8-12 applications by mid-October; the strategy is to submit applications
that will result in acceptances and quality options. To stay on-time with the plan, schedule
college visits and admissions interviews in July, August and September; register and
complete your “Common App” by Labor Day; complete your essay by Labor Day, and
submit applications during the first two weeks of October. “The early bird gets the worm.”
The highest percentage of acceptances come from October applications. Having a strategic
plan for submitting applications is key to winning admission acceptances.
5. Vision recruiting: every time you enter a college-related environment, be it on a campus, at a
college fair, or in an interview with an area-rep, you will get asked the question- “What do
you plan to study?” The standard responses range from “I don’t know”; “I think…business,
maybe science or engineering”; or single word responses like “Economics (psychology,
math, science, medicine, engineering, technology).” From the college perspective, that of
the Admissions Office and their staff, these responses add no value to the prospective
applicant and often times serve to reflect negatively. In order to create value in you to the
college and separate yourself from the masses of applicants otherwise, it’s necessary to be
able to express yourself when asked to do so, demonstrating substance and thoughtfulness.
This means that you are able to express your vision for what you want out of college; how
certain majors of the college will help you qualify for good jobs in your field of study; how this
college will prepare you for adult life thereafter. Colleges and their admissions staff value
this greatly. We call it Vision Recruiting.
Vision recruiting provides preferential treatment for admissions acceptance and scholarship
awards based on a student’s ability to express a vision for their success, concerns and
issues of the times, challenges and opportunities of the future; what role they might want to
have and how the right college experience enhance their opportunity for success. The
ability to express yourself in an intelligent, focused, and clear manner is key to winning
admission acceptances.
“Being proactive means you choose to act, rather than being acted upon. Choosing
to act upon things you control is key to winning admission acceptances.”