High School Education

• Colleges require their freshmen to have a high school diploma or general equivalency degree (GED). When reviewing an admission application, colleges generally look at the types of courses a student took in high school and his grade point average (GPA). High schools may use varying scales for reporting grades; traditionally, the 4.0 scale is used. To stay competitive and meet eligibility requirements for the top colleges, applicants should take college-prep classes and earn high grades. Many selective colleges accept only applicants with at least a 3.0 GPA.
  
  

SAT or ACT Scores

• Most colleges require applicants to submit scores from either the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT). The choice of which test to take generally breaks down geographically, with students on the East and West coasts preferring the SAT, and students in the Midwest preferring the ACT. As with high school grades, the better an applicant scores on the ACT or SAT, the better her chances of getting into a good college. Average scores for the SAT are around 1500, and most students score between 20 and 21 on the ACT, according to The Princeton Review.
  
  

Personal Statements

• Highly selective colleges --- such as Harvard and Princeton --- require personal essays or statements. If a student has the grades and the test scores needed to be eligible for a selective college (and, in some cases, the financial resources to afford the tuition), a personal essay might seal an admission offer. Often, colleges review personal statements to get a broader idea about an applicant's personal background or history and learn something more about him than just his grades and other academic achievements.
  
  

Community College

• Sometimes attending college directly from high school is either not feasible or desirable. Students with poor grades or low test scores, or those seeking to save money, may choose to go to a community college. Community colleges look at many of the same factors as universities, but the admission standards are generally lower. Students can take community college courses and try to transfer into a university after a year or two, often with the possibility of converting their community college credits into university credits.