Is your journey for college preparation about to begin? You may be excited that you are embarking on a new phase in your life. You may also be nervous about the changes that will occur. Before you can even think about these life changes, you probably know you have to apply and get accepted into a college first.

There is no magic potion that guarantees admission to a particular university. However, you can take steps to make sure that your application is complete and you have a fighting chance against your competition. You can begin by starting early.

If you have your sights set on getting into a very competitive school, than the work you have to do will come a long way before the college application process even begins. Most of these competitive universities look for students who have taken advanced courses throughout their high school career. Not only is it enough to take these courses, but you need to have excelled in them as well.

If you are spending a lot of time in your twin sleigh bed studying away for career related courses this may have little impact on your admissions decision. People who are in charge of making decisions on admission understand that as a young person, you may not know exactly what you want to do with your life. You can, however, spend time advancing your critical reading and writing skills. You will definitely benefit from these skills in college.

Now, if you spend you entire high school years sitting in your corner workstation reading, writing and excelling in all of your advanced courses, does not guarantee admission to your top choice schools. Selective universities have more applications from qualified and overqualified students than they can handle. You can however, increase your chances by having a few extracurricular activities on your record.

This is where extracurricular activities come in. You have to prove to the admissions department that you can study hard and you can also get out of your comfy loft bed and take part in the real world. This will help prove that you have time management skills as well as dedicated leadership skills.

If you are studying for standardized tests, these may actually be putting you through a lot of stress. Keep in mind that while they are important, they are usually not the deciding factor of whether you will be accepted or denied admission. Remember, admissions committees keep your entire high school package in mind. This means that your grades, extracurricular activities, entrance essay as well as your standardized test scores are taken into account before a decision is made on your application.