By ERICA HARBATKIN
Staff Writer

Michael Shmulevich decided last summer that his first-choice school was Princeton University.

But the Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies senior had been preparing for Princeton long before he decided he wanted to go there.

As the number of high school students applying to college balloons to record numbers, college admissions are more competitive than ever. And that means students need to begin preparing for the application process years before the senior year application deadlines, guidance counselors and admissions experts say.

“When we meet with the parents of the eighth-grade students who are applying here, we tell them that too early is never early enough,” said Glenn Methner, principal of Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, a public school for engineering-oriented students in Edison. “When you start your high school career you have to be focused on what you’re gonna be doing after postsecondary.”

KEY FACTORS:

Grades and strength of schedule are the two most important factors in most colleges’ admissions decisions, which means students should enroll in challenging courses beginning in ninth grade. Test scores are the next-most-important consideration at most schools, guidance counselors say.

“The academic record is, without a doubt, the single most important factor in admission to college,” said John Mammon, the counseling department chairman at Piscataway High School. “The standardized test definitely has its place, but it’s secondary to the academic record of the student.”

At both Piscataway High School and the Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering, students take the PSAT in ninth, 10th and 11th grades to prepare for the SAT. They should take their first SAT in 11th grade, admissions experts say, and can repeat the test in 12th grade, if necessary.

Meanwhile, the ACT has become a practical alternative in recent years, said Dan Coggshall, executive director of the Princeton Review of Central Jersey.

“One of the new realities is the SAT and ACT are equally accepted by colleges. There’s not a college out there that doesn’t accept the ACT if they accept the SAT,” Coggshall said. “Students should really be looking at both tests because there are significant differences between the two tests and some students do better on one than the other.”

Students can take both tests and only report the higher score, he said.

Shmulevich, an Edison resident, has a 2,190 SAT score on a scale of 2,400 and a 5.175 grade point average — the highest possible on the school’s grading scale.

SOMETHING EXTRA:

But Princeton is looking for more. In 2008, Princeton had 21,370 applicants and admitted 2,122 of those — less than 10 percent. And the admission rate for applicants with perfect GPAs wasn’t much higher — the university turned away five out of six applicants with perfect GPAs.

“Putting it real simply, they have to have something else of distinction about themselves,” Mammon said. “That could be the outstanding athlete, the gifted musician, another kid may be a tremendous leader.”

Beginning in ninth grade, students should participate in extracurricular activities that they enjoy enough to stick with through four years.

For Shmulevich, 17, that meant science and math league, debate club, model United Nations, tae kwon do and the student newspaper. He also volunteers with a group that refurbishes old computers and donates them to homeless shelters and church groups.

“Anything I had time for, I tried to be involved in,” Shmulevich said, adding that his interest in those activities made it easy to commit to them. “I wouldn’t suggest joining a club or anything that the person doesn’t find fun — but something they wouldn’t mind devoting a lot of their time to.”

The quality of the commitments is more important than the quantity, admissions experts say.

“What students should really be focused on is not a laundry list of activities, but really choosing two or three different activities that they’re truly passionate about and really focusing their time,” Coggshall said. “Colleges are looking for a significant commitment — not just showing up to one French club meeting your sophomore year.”

MORE COMPETITION:

Meanwhile, as the economy continues its slide, state schools are becoming more competitive. Rutgers University received a record 32,816 applications from first-year students in 2008 and accepted just under 60 percent of them. In 1999, the university accepted 67 percent of 26,593 first-year applicants. And the applicant pool is getting stronger, university officials said.

“We are seeing the academic profile of our applicants rising,” said Sandra Lanman, a university spokeswoman.

At Franklin High School in Somerset County, guidance counselor Ammon Barksdale tells students that beginning the application process early is paramount.

“A major fear (among students) is they think it’s a hassle or it’s highly stressful, but it’s only stressful with the points you can’t control — and that’s the getting-in part,” said Barksdale, the chair of the guidance department. “I tell students if you can master . . . time management and organization, the process is really quite simple.”

He recommends applying to seven to nine schools, including a “reach” school, “high-confidence” schools that students have an 80 percent chance of getting into, and a “safety” school.

“That way they’re covering all the bases,” Barksdale said. “We’re always reaching for the stars but preparing for the worst-case scenario so there will be a school to accept them once they graduate.”