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10.如果有机会，至少拜访一下你有在考虑中的大学。没有什么能让你更好的了解你所想要的理想的学习环境是怎样的。你也可以亲眼看看那些学校标签性的特征是否真实存在。
9.如果你要访问某校,不妨预约个面试，如果某大学提供个人面试机会而且她是你认真考虑的学校。但是如果没有这样的机会也不要担心，事实上面试不是申请过程中一个必须的环节，甚至她是否是一个“评估性”的指标都不好说。但面试会帮助你更多地了解学校，也让学校更了解你。当你经历了一次或两次的面试，你会发现这是个很享受的过程。
8.与他人和父母分享你对访问过的学校的印象。尽管最后的选择是自己做决定，而且如果父母介入过多，也会让自己很困扰。但因为他们在经济上将给你的大学教育予以支持，你还是很有必要与他们保持良好的沟通。
7. 认真考虑你要选择的学校，不要仅仅因为你周围的朋友都申请15-20个大学, 所以你也必须如此。如果你按照以上步骤做足功课，你应该能比较容易地把选择目标减少到6-8所有吸引力的学校，而且如果这些学校覆盖了对你而言的从高到低的不同竞争力的范围,你在春季拿到录取应该不成问题。这也会帮助你省下一些申请费。
6. 提前决定ED,除非你觉得在大学搜索过程中某学校让你感觉到自己有种被“雷电击中”的感觉,而且她是你首屈一指的选择。 太多的学生选择做ED出于一些错误的理由(例如他们会以为ED会在策略上对他们的录取有帮助)。 但是它会让你丧失对一个非常重要的决定的话语权。尤其是把财政方面考虑作为一个重要因素的人，你和你的家人可能希望能够去比较不同的财政援助或奖学金资助的选项。
5. 请意识到你的SAT/ACT分数在决定你是否能被录取上起的作用可能没你想象的那么大。大多数录取要求高的大学没有最低分数线的标准存在，通常他们录取的学生的分数有一个相当宽的分布。这是因为考试成绩仅为衡量你在大学学业上能否取得成功提供了一个最初略的评估，其实你的高中成绩可以提供更好的预测。高分当然要比低分好，但即使是最高分数也不能保证进入录取竞争激烈的大学. 对大多数你申请的大学而言,你的分数看上去与其他人差不多，也就意味着分数不可能是一个决定性因素。
4. 当要开始书写个人文书时,放松点,直抒胸臆就好。的确，许多大学认为文书是十分重要的，但是要知道, 学校很少仅仅因为文书的原因录取或拒绝一个学生。我们只是想更了解你，你的分数只反映你的部分信息。你的文书可以帮助学校更了解你，但是别忘记审阅和检查拼写。
3. 要慎重选择给你写推荐信的老师。因为那些推荐信是另一个让我们更了解你的渠道，他们也应该是来自那些了解你的老师，甚至是那些在课堂外与你有过联系的老师，例如通过社团，团队活动等等。不要忘记, 比起那些让你轻松得A的老师，那些让你接受过最大挑战的老师可能会为你写出更有意义的推荐信。
2. 如果需要提交额外的推荐信，只有当推荐人确实很了解你, 而且他提供的信息是其他人不能提供的时才是有必要的。例如，如果推荐信是来自你父母的朋友, 而他们可能正好是你即将申请学校的校友，学校通常不太会受这样的推荐信的影响。
享受大学申请过程的头条方式是：
1. 深呼吸并记住,一年后,你即将会入读一所真正优秀的大学并且得到一流的教育会让你有一段难忘的经历。美国高等教育的魅力就在于你有非常多很好的选择，几乎每个人都能有美好的大学经历。不要忘记, 你的教育经历的品质在大得多的程度上取决于你,而不是你就读的学校。
10. Visit, if possible, at least some of the colleges that you are considering. Nothing will help you more to define the ideal learning environment for you, and to help you see for yourself whether the labels and stereotypes that get attached to some colleges really are valid.
9. Feel free to schedule an interview if you are going to be visiting, if the college offers individual interviews, and if it is a college that you are seriously considering. But don't worry if you can't have or don't want one. Interviews are virtually never a required part of the process, and they may or may not even be what is considered “evaluative.” But having one could help you learn more about the institution, and it could help the college learn more about you. Once you’ve had an interview or two, you’ll find them amazingly enjoyable.
8. Share your reactions about the colleges you visit with your parents and others. Sure, it's sometimes a pain that they want to be so involved with what ultimately will be your decision, but since they are frequently the ones who are going to be helping you pay for this experience, it's important that they are on the same page with you.
7. Be thoughtful in your choices so that you don't feel as if you need to apply to 15-20 colleges just because some of your friends are. If you are diligent enough with the steps above, you ought to be able to narrow it down to 6-8 attractive options fairly easily, and if those cover a range of competitiveness for you, you will be fine next spring. It will also be nice to save money on those application fees…
6. Apply Early Decision only if you felt like “lightning struck” during your college search and it is your clear first choice. Too many students apply ED for the wrong reasons (i.e., because of whatever strategic advantage they think it may give them in being admitted), but applying early can take you out of the “driver's seat” of a very important decision. This is especially true for anyone for whom financial considerations are going to be important in their decision about where to attend. You and your family may wish to be able to compare different financial aid/scholarship awards.
5. Be aware that your SAT/ACT scores will probably play less of a role in your admissions decision than you may think. Most selective colleges do not have “cut off” scores below which applicants are not admitted, and most have a fairly wide range of scores represented among their admitted students. That's because test scores only provide colleges with the roughest possible measure of your potential for success academically in college; your high school grades are a much better predictor of that.Higher scores are better than lower scores, of course, but even the highest scores are by no means a guarantee of admission to the most selective colleges. At most colleges to which you apply, it is likely that your scores will look quite similar to those of other applicants, which means it is unlikely that they will be a deciding factor in your candidacy.
4. Relax when it comes time to writing your personal essay and let it come from your heart. Yes, the essay is important enough to be required by most colleges, but please know that very seldom is the essay reason enough by itself to admit or reject anyone. We just want to get to know you a little better, and your grades and scores only paint part of your picture. Your essay can do that, but don't forget to proofread and use your spell check...
3. Choose the teachers who write letters of recommendation for you carefully. Since those letters are another way for us to get to know you better, they should come from teachers who know you well, maybe even teachers who have had contact with you outside of their classrooms such as through clubs, teams, etc. And don't forget that some of the teachers who challenged you the most may be able to write an even more meaningful letter for us than the ones from whom you got easy "A's."
2. Submit additional letters of recommendation only if they are from people who know you really well and can add things about you that others couldn't. Letters from friends of your parents who happen to be alumni of the college to which you are applying, for example, don’t usually shed much additional light for us.
And the Number One way to enjoy the college admissions process is:
1. Breathe deeply and always remember that a year from now you will very likely be attending some truly excellent college where you will get a first-rate education and have a wonderful experience. The great thing about higher education in the United States is that there are so many terrific options that almost everyone ends up having a really positive college experience. And don't forget that the quality of your educational experience is far more up to you than it is up to the institution that you attend.
[An extract from Middlebury College's official website.]