What do colleges want? It sounds like a simple question with a simple answer: smart, hard-working, qualified applicants. Unfortunately, this answer isn't exactly right. Even more unfortunately, countless parents and students send in applications every year based on this faulty assumption. As a result, tens of thousands of otherwise qualified applicants get rejected every year, simply because they're not aware of what colleges are ACTUALLY looking for. In this comprehensive, fast-paced book, renowned SAT & ACT tutor and college expert Anthony-James Green will show you how to craft a winning application by teaching you what colleges REALLY want, how the college application process ACTUALLY works, and what you can do to make it past the chopping block and into the "accept pile." Based on 15,000+ hours of hands-on experience with the most qualified applicants in the world, this book breaks down the various myths and rumors surrounding the application process, corrects your course, and leaves you with a step-by-step, bulletproof process that you can use to make your application more competitive. Better yet, you'll learn how to avoid wasting time and effort becoming "better rounded" by cutting the activities that work against your application, leaving you with more time to craft the specialties that colleges actually desire. You don't get into college - you avoid getting rejected. The difference might seem subtle, but understanding the nature of this process is half the battle. Using the lessons in this book, you'll be able to avoid the mistakes plaguing thousands of applications each year, find the right schools for YOU, and end up at a college that'll expand your opportunities and let you shine.