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[quote=Anonymous]Know what your HS provides in terms of college counseling.  Our (private) HS does an amazing job with college counseling.  Friends in different schools had different experiences - some were good and some were really bad.

Be realistic.  Our daughter is high stats.  Absolutely could have had her head turned and been an Ivy or bust type of kid, but we saw how that attitude really hamstrung kids in the season before ours.  We looked at a couple of Ivies and she loved Penn so we put it on her list to apply to if she did not get in to her in state ED choice.

There are prep companies that allow you to take a free SAT and ACT - take one of each and assess which test they feel most comfortable with.  If you are going to do prep, prep one test.  There is zero need to take both.  Focus on one.  Don’t take SAT subject tests unless an institution requires it - or if your kid got a low grade in a course, they could do a subject test to demonstrate capability and explain the low grade.

Spend time on the essay.  Our school handles the common app essay in English during 4th quarter and in designated work days during 1st quarter senior year.   Multiple rounds of teacher editing and peer editing make for a pretty tight essay.

The importance of class selection and good grades go without saying.  Extra curriculars are important too.  The kid should do stuff they like and they should be deeply involved progressively through HS.  Sports, music, theater. clubs, religious involvement, scouts, etc.  Use middle school to try out new stuff and then whittle it down to what the kid loves to do.

Do not think that pay to play academic or service programs in the summer have any advantage in admissions.  They can be great for other reasons.

Pay attention to whether or not your school measures interest.  UVA does not - don’t waste time interacting with them.  If you know your school does, interact with them.

Follow college SM accounts - it can give you an overview of what is happening.  We followed a bunch of SM accounts and found it really helpful

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