Parents around the country are hard at work this time of year helping their children through the final phases of the college applications process. Parents will find this SmartBean article to be useful to get a glimpse of what the top schools in the country look for in their applicants. The videos below will also help provide some additional perspective on what admissions committees look for in their prospective students. They may help your children as they put final touches on their essays, and their academic and extra-curricular portfolios.

Here’s an interview with the Dean of Admissions at Duke University on Ustream.

Also check out this video on how applicants’ Facebook and MySpace profiles may adversely affect admissions decisions-

Youtube has a bunch of videos on the official channels of several colleges and universities. We’ve linked some here for your convenience -

Interview with Dean of Admissions, Harvard University

UC Berkeley Undergraduate Admissions

Getting Into College: An Insider’s Guide from Vanderbilt University

William and Mary Application Prompt (College Admissions)