For many of us, planning for college can be a frightening thought. Each choice we make seems to add another sharp turn on the road to our future. However, we always wonder if we are headed in the right direction.

Take Barbara and Walter, two fictitious high school juniors. Barbara wants to be a registered nurse but isn't sure if her grades are high enough for the college of her choice. Walter wants to teach American history in high school but is afraid his SAT scores will limit his choices.

In hopes of gaining a better understanding of what colleges look for in students and what teen-agers can do to plan for college, Children's Express spoke to admissions officers from a variety of colleges.

They include O'Neal Turner from Butler University in Indianapolis; Peter Smith from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.; Richetta D. Johnson from Howard University in Washington, D.C.; Don Fry from Purdue University in West Lafayette; and Mary Ellen Anderson from Indiana University in Bloomington.

These admissions officers agree that colleges' first priority is an applicant's high school record. Class ranking, grade point average, course selection and extracurricular activities play the most important role in being accepted to the college of your choice.

"The key thing here is that a student needs to determine their abilities and their interests and to really perform in the classroom, and to really put their mind to focusing their energies and attention on doing well in school," Butler's Turner said.

You should take the most challenging courses available in your high school, according to Yale's Smith.

"Yale will be looking back at students' entire high school record, so when you start high school you want to be involved in as many things as you can," he explained. "Yale looks for students who are actively involved outside the classroom in any number of activities, but committed to what he or she does."

Anderson, from IU, emphasized that students need a strong math background, which should have begun in elementary school.

"It's important to get a good solid foundation in math, because then, when you get in high school, you need to focus on academic courses, what we consider college prep courses: English, math, science, social science and foreign language," she said.

IU requires a student to have taken four years of English, a minimum of three years of academic math, one year of chemistry, physics, or biology, and two years of social sciences, such as sociology and government. It also likes students to have had at least two years of foreign language in high school.

Purdue has similar requirements. "We make sure they've taken the right levels of math, science and English - for the most part from ninth through 12th grade," Fry said. "We see what kind of grades you've made, and look and see where you rank in your class. We also look and see your standardized test score, either SAT or ACT, results."

The colleges agree that while they look at a student's ACT and SAT scores, they do not play the most important role in deciding whom is accepted.

"The SAT and . . . the ACT, those are what make students competitive applicants, but students don't get admitted to Yale purely on the basis of their academic record," Smith explained.

Johnson said Howard understands that some qualified students do not test well. "A lot of minority kids do not test well on standardized tests. We take that into consideration," she said.

Yale and other colleges also take into consideration an applicant's personal essays and recommendations by teachers.

Yale requires two essays: Students write about an activity that is important to them and also what they think Yale should know about them.

A student's community service is important to Howard. "We look at the overall person; we don't just look at your academic abilities. We look at you as a leader, your community service and the knowledge that you have," Johnson explained.

"A lot of our students have worked in a volunteer capacity in a tutor situation, in a hospital."

The colleges we spoke to suggested that students get started as early as possible. Johnson suggested that as a junior you should contact as many colleges as possible - for brochures and applications.

Many universities emphasize that students should get their applications in early. According to Johnson, "You should submit your application before the first of December along with test scores and high school transcripts."

Purdue stressed that preparations for college start even earlier - in middle school. Fry said that in seventh and eighth grades, you want to take as challenging a curriculum as you possibly can.

"Seventh- and eighth-graders need to be learning good study skills, study habits. And it's important at the junior high level to do that so you can carry it on into high school," he encouraged.

Turner agreed with Fry, adding that it is never too early to go with your family to visit colleges and just take a tour.

"I think it's a balance between thinking about it, start gathering material, visiting the colleges the freshman and sophomore year, and then moving that into a higher gear during the junior and senior year," he commented.

Hopefully, Barbara and Walter will realize that they don't have to fulfill every requirement by the colleges and won't be discouraged to apply.

Even though Barbara doesn't have high grades, she may be participating in an extracurricular activity relating to medicine that could help her get into college. And Walter may not have to worry about his SAT scores if his high school record shows that he's a serious student.

Getting into college isn't easy. But if you take the advice from the admissions officers and start planning now, you improve your chances for success.

College costs

For most parents the first thing they think of when they say "college" is tuition.

We're not going to tell you that it won't cost a small fortune, but here's what it costs this year for an Indiana student.

At Howard University it costs $13,000, and that includes tuition, room and board, meals and books.

Then again at Yale University, it costs $26,000 a year, which only includes tuition and room and board. But financial aid could make it $18,000.

Moving downward is Butler University at $18,000 to $19,000 a year, and that includes tuition, room and board, books, and miscellaneous.

Purdue University is at $10,000 a year, including in-state tuition and fees, room and board, all meals, travel money, and money for books.

And last, but not least, is Indiana University at $9,300 (in-state rate), which includes tuition, room and board, books, and spending money.