Many high school students fill their days with extracurricular activities and work tireless hours to achieve a perfect GPA in hopes of getting into their top-choice college.
While academic performance and extracurricular activities are important in the admissions process, colleges also consider other factors, including whether a student will be a positive addition to the campus community, experts say.
“Students are going to come into a community that already has an established set of cultural norms, traditions and values. But there’s the cultural add,” says Cezar Mesquita, director of admissions at Western Washington University. “Is there something about their own personal values, their own outlook on the world, their own skill sets and abilities to engage with that community that would add something? Like aspects of student governance or perhaps establish a new tradition or a new norm in that community. That’s something colleges are going to look for.”
The road to an acceptance letter begins with standing out on the college application — which requires students to submit their high school transcripts, essays, letters of recommendation and in some cases, SAT or ACT scores. A student’s internet presence may also be taken into account.
Here are six tips from admissions staff on ways to set yourself apart from other college applicants:
— Have a diverse list of extracurricular activities.
— Challenge yourself.
— Go beyond the norm in a college essay.
— Show grades trending up.
— Demonstrate interest in the college.
— Schedule an interview if possible.
Have a Diverse List of Extracurricular Activities
Every student has something they are passionate about, whether that’s music, theater, writing, sports, community engagement, politics or activism. But to stand out from their peers, applicants need to diversify their resume.
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A student on a sports team, for instance, can get involved in community service or another club to showcase various interests.
“Being in a lot of sports is great,” says Natalie Wagoner, director of admissions at Frostburg State University in Maryland. “We absolutely don’t want to take away from that because we know student-athletes do see success in the classroom when they’re balancing both class and their athletic requirements. But also, what can we add on top of that to look at that diversity?”
The choice of extracurricular activities should be authentic, says Melissa Rousseau, director of undergraduate admissions at Calvin University in Michigan.
“You can usually tell when a student is just adding things to add things,” she says. “So it’s nice when you can see they have really dived deep into an interest or gotten engaged in something that stretches their horizons a little bit.”
Challenge Yourself
Experts advise college applicants to challenge themselves in high school. But that doesn’t mean a student’s schedule needs to be filled with all honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses. Students can take an additional course subject outside of the standard requirements, for instance.
“Instead of just taking the 10th grade biology course, they might sign up for anatomy, physiology, environmental science or something else that just shows they wanted to go a little bit deeper,” Rousseau says. “I’d rather see challenging courses with not-perfect grades than easy courses with perfect grades.”
Another option is to enroll in a dual enrollment class or program, which allows high school students to earn college credit. These programs vary by high school or district. Some dual enrollment programs send high school students directly to a college campus, while in other cases the college-level courses are taught at the high school by teachers or college professors.
Go Beyond the Norm in a College Essay
Colleges are looking for adaptability and resilience in an applicant, and that can be showcased in the application essay, Mesquita says.
Current college applicants, for instance, may write about how coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions affected their early high school experiences. “As true, honest and genuine as each one of those narratives are, at some point, they are going to start sounding and feeling the same,” Mesquita says.
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He suggests speaking generally about your experiences and then going beyond, such as describing how you stepped up to help your family or community members during the height of the pandemic.
But it’s not just about finding the “perfect” subject to write about. Admissions officers also pay attention to the writing, so take the time to review before submission to avoid grammar or spelling mistakes.
“Make sure the essay doesn’t name a different school. It’s a little bit like applying for jobs. You have to update your cover letter every time,” Rousseau says. “If there’s something specific about the school that appeals to students, they should showcase that in their application.”
Show Grades Trending Up
Academic performance is one of many factors considered in the college application process. But grade slips can happen, whether due to a death in the family, struggles with mental health, difficulty adjusting to high school or other personal reasons. That’s OK, experts say, but it’s important to show upward progression.
“Even if it’s not perfect, we want to see that continued improvement and continued dedication to getting good grades,” Rousseau says.
Demonstrate Interest in the College
It varies per institution whether demonstrated interest is going to be quantified in some way in the application process, Mesquita says. But it might be something applicants should consider if they have a top-choice college.
Students can express interest in a school in several ways, such as taking a college tour either in person or virtually; visiting with an admissions representative who comes to their high school; or engaging in an email exchange with an admissions staff member to seek out more information about the school.
Schedule an Interview if Possible
An admissions interview is not required or even conducted at every college, but it can provide more insight into who you are as an applicant.
“I do know that more selective institutions use them in different ways,” Wagoner says. “But from my perspective, and based on who Frostburg is, it helps us better understand the why. And that comes across better in a conversation than an essay. You’re able to dig a little bit deeper. For us, usually interviews are for students who are borderline. Maybe admissions isn’t the right thing, but let’s have a conversation to see maybe it is and there’s something we are missing.”
Students aren’t the only ones getting interviewed — the colleges are, too, she adds. Use the opportunity to ask questions.
“I think it’s a two-way street, but students don’t always know how to navigate that,” Wagoner says. “Sometimes they just need a little bit more coaching before they go into that interview to be able to get what they need out of it to make an informed decision if they’re offered (acceptance).”
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What Colleges Look for: 6 Ways to Stand Out originally appeared on usnews.com
