Moving from high school to college is generally regarded as your shift into adulthood and is supposed to be your mark of maturity. For most students, however, this is only a theoretical proposition until they’re actually physically in college.

Many do not make it to their preferred colleges, not because they lack the necessary credentials, but because they end up making some critical mistakes on their applications.

There are a few college application blunders that are very common, particularly because students don’t always realize how important certain elements of the application are, don’t pay enough attention, or think they can somehow circumvent admissions requirements. However, such mistakes can be easily rectified and actually substantially boost your chances of getting into your desired college.

Dishonesty: To start with, one of the most widespread and unethical practices that some applicants tend to resort to is dishonesty. A number of students believe it is okay to make up or otherwise exaggerate details that don’t actually reflect them. Some overemphasize grades, some embellish their extracurricular activities, while others plagiarize or lie on their essays and personal statements.

The point to remember here is that you need to come across as an honest and unique individual. While dealing with the essay portion, just be yourself and write about something that is personal to you. This is exactly what will make you stand out amongst the rest because colleges receive thousands of applications each year and so many are rejected because they have nothing unique to offer.

Also, don’t forget that admissions officers are getting streams and streams of applications and are presumably experienced enough and good enough at their jobs to pick out an application that doesn’t sound genuine.

Unanswered questions: The second error generally arises from a lack of awareness. Most students have a subject that they are not good at. Hence, even the brightest of students sometimes have to explain a bad grade on their transcripts. Students generally tend to overlook such issues. However, it is important that you address such a result instead of ignoring it. Owning up to it and explaining it will make you come across as a mature and responsible individual.

The key here is to understand that you shouldn’t risk leaving anything to chance or that whoever reads your application will just know what you mean if you don’t do your best to explain it. Also, don’t write anything that you cannot follow up with a proper explanation. In such cases, it is better to leave out the information.

Laziness: The third major error is slacking off while filling out the application forms. It can lead to a number of disastrous outcomes. For instance, students who don’t study the application forms carefully tend to overlook the fact that all applications are not the same. Hence, they tend to either omit important details or give unnecessary or incorrect information.

The biggest blunder occurs when students forget to change names and specific details for different colleges. This can cost you all the hard work that you otherwise put in to the application. Other errors include overlooking important and relevant information as required by the admissions department. In fact, it is advised to contact the relevant college department and inquire about your application and ascertain that they received all the necessary details.

The way to avoid such errors is to take the application process seriously and fill them out actively. The most important rule however is to proofread your applications a number of times before submission. In fact, get a friend or instructor to do it for you as well. This will ensure that your application is free of any careless mistakes.

Applying to college will likely be the most important thing you’ve done so far, so be careful not to try and use any shortcuts. Every last application deserves your full attention.

Students tend to make a number of other errors as well, however those are generally case specific and if you can attend to these major ones, you are very likely to produce a near flawless application.