If your son or daughter is busy filling out college applications, here are some tips to pass along.

1. Before you make your final choices of colleges, review your personal reasons for considering these schools. After size, distance, expense, and program quality, were you also looking forward to being on your own, exploring different majors, meeting new friends? How do these expectations fit with how you ranked private or state schools far away or community schools near home?

2. You could be too pessimistic about yourself and your chances for your dream school or too optimistic about the middle-range schools. So keep your top schools on the list but don't eliminate all the back-ups on the lower end either.

3. As you work on the applications, show your answers to parents and teachers. Internet applications and the word processor may tempt you to keep your whole creation to yourself, but a college application is too important to be protected from the critical eyes of others. Mistakes can be embarrassing.

4. Use the word processor not only to craft and polish your responses but also to tailor them for each college. Target your answers and convince the reviewers you really are familiar with their school and excited about their programs.

5. Before you press "send," ask one more person to read your final version. Stay close and if you feel the need to explain what you've written, your application needs more work. You won't be there to do any explaining in the Admissions Office.

6. Your grades, SAT scores, and class rank will place your application in a stack with similar applications. Now what activities, interests, and hobbies will put your application at the top of that group? Along with letters of recommendation, this list may be the most distinguishing area of the application when compared with others.