What should I do to get the attention of a college?

Answered

Do things that you are interested in or are curious about. Colleges want applicants that take the initiative to do that. If you're not sure what you are interested in or are curious about, what do you like to do in your free time? That might give a few ideas. Take those interests and curiosities and try to take them to the next level. And if you can, take them to the next level and keep pursuing them as long as you are interested in them and having fun. Don't limit yourself to what is at your school. You can do anything. If you are interested in a specific academic subject (or rather your most favorite one), maybe reach out to professors at local universities and see if you can help with their research or help develop their curriculum. If you are interested in writing, try to do more writing like in either an internship for a newspaper, writing OP-Eds for local papers, a blog, or even maybe write a book (and self-publish it)! If you are into video games, maybe organize a competition/hackathon with peers to see who can create/design the best video game or maybe organize a program to teach others how to play a game you're really good at. All in all, just do things you are interested in or are curious about and take them to the next level and you'll go really far. Good luck!