With today's fast-paced job market, it seems that now you need education beyond high school to secure a good job. The key to success is definitely getting into a good college. It could lead you to a rewarding career doing cutting edge research on anxiety treatment Hamilton-based, working on Wall Street as a top investment specialist, or teaching young minds as a teacher. But what are colleges looking for in potential students? How can you guarantee that you'll be accepted to the right institution for you? Here are some tips on preparing for the college experience.

Get good grades. This is the most obvious step to getting accepted into college. Try to do your best in all of your high school classes. But, what many people don't realize is that good grades going in can make a whole lot of difference to your college experience. Grades are the main criteria for many university and college scholarships. That means that you might be able to afford a better room on campus and might not have to spend your summer's slaving away working with an electric tubing cutter in a factory back home. Some high school over-achievers are offered so much money to attend a certain institution that they are actually paid to go to school!

Take AP classes. Not only will these classes look great on your college application but they are also a great chance to earn college credits without paying tuition fees for those classes. You could bypass your first year math or science requirements and instead get to take something interesting like a language course or class on world culture. If you know in advanced that you're going to want to major in something that involves a big workload, like engineering so that you can create new designed metal connections than AP classes can help lighten that load in your freshman year.

Get a good score on your SATs. This is another element that many scholarship committees concentrate on. Plus, most people know that the combination of top grades and a killer SAT score almost guarantee acceptance to at least some schools. And that means that you won't be spending the next year working for your uncle as a material handling equipment manufacturer!

Get some volunteer and extra-curricular experience. Take part in organizing school functions or work at an event for a local charity. Not only does this look great on your school application but it can also be very rewarding and fun. Most colleges are looking for well-rounded students who don't just spend all day in the classroom. So start experiencing as much as you can while you're still in high school. You could design an online brochure template to help out the school paper or volunteer on your spring break to build houses in another country.