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Featuring Lesa Loritts, the Director of Admissions at the State University of New York's Buffalo State College (Buffalo, NY).

Q: How should I prepare for the  

college admissions

  process?

A: All college admissions committees are charged with the same objective: To identify the students best suited to flourish in our respective settings. While our approaches vary widely, that objective is the common denominator that drives our recruitment and selection efforts.

College-bound students like you share an overlapping common objective: To find the place that will enhance your development and prepare you to achieve long-term goals. That process involves sorting and screening myriad options to identify a finite number of choices, and applying to them.

Your school counselors play a pivotal role in the process. They are acquainted and familiar with you, and in turn, what your realistic choices are. Because they know something about lots of colleges, they provide invaluable assistance in the sort-and-screen phase. Their knowledge enables them to lend insight that can be tremendously helpful during admissions committee deliberations.

That said, preparing for the admissions process requires thought and planning. First:

Know why you're going to college.

It's not uncommon for admissions counselors to ask why you want to attend college in general, and their college in particular. It is also not uncommon for students to respond, "to get a good job." What does that mean? Media hype notwithstanding, you can get a job without going to college.

In fact, many students have jobs when they get to college. (We are left to infer that you don't think those jobs are "good," and are enrolled in hopes of securing something better.) College is an experience, designed and intended to broaden your perspective, increase your knowledge, and expand your horizons. The experience is grounded in the liberal arts because we expect you to read, think, and write. Those expectations increase as you advance through the undergraduate curriculum. The experience is also intended to foster learning and growth beyond the classroom. College, then, is your opportunity to explore, literally and figuratively. It will force you to stretch your mind, and hopefully, make you curious. That may lead to a job or spur you to pursue graduate study. Active engagement is an inherent part of the experience.

Fit really does matter.

The "fit" factor is intangible and subjective, yet critically important. All the viewbooks, search pieces, CDs, or Web sites won't tell you whether you found the schools best suited for you. Assessing fit requires you to know who you are, where you are comfortable, and what prompts you to thrive. Take time to reflect on your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, and the kind of student you are. Knowing those attributes will help you narrow options and frame relevant questions. Fit is about the people -- the faculty member who may become a mentor; the peers with whom you'll share classes, meals, and more; the friends who will remain integral parts of your life. The best way to tell whether your options fit you is to visit, preferably when school is in session. Look, listen, use your sense and your senses, and don't be afraid to rely on what they indicate.

Have a backup plan.

Because graduating high school classes vary from year to year, applicant pools change. No one can predict with 100 percent accuracy whether you will be admitted to your top choices, especially if some or all of them are very selective. Since there are no guarantees, you would do well to plan accordingly.

You can glean quite a bit from reviewing profiles. Colleges report freshman class statistics in middle 50th percentiles to provide you with the most meaningful snapshot, as well as an indication of whether you may be a viable candidate. Look at yourself in the context of those profiles and make sure all of your options are not reaches. We all want you to have the opportunity to attend your first-choice college, but we know we can't always accommodate. Prepare for denial, just in case.

This process is challenging, insightful, unfair, exciting, daunting, and more than a bit scary - for students and colleges. Think of it as your first step toward independent adulthood.

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