What Looks Good on College Applications: Anything and Everything Colleges Look Out For
Last year 56,937 students applied to Harvard, yet only 3.4% of these students got in. Getting accepted into a top-rated university is becoming more difficult than ever. If you want to stand a chance, read on to find out what looks good on college applications.
Good Academics Look Good on College Applications
Good grades are an easy way to make an impact on the admission officers. Colleges value applicants who take the most challenging courses available to them. Typically, you should aim to take as many honours and AP courses as you can. Another bonus is that you can reduce the number of courses you have to take in college this way as you can transfer credits.
Furthermore, it is highly recommended that you take either the SAT or the ACT(it’s even better if you do both!) as these are internationally recognized tests. Despite many American colleges going ‘test-optional’, submitting a standardised test score gives you an edge over those who don’t. If you are an international applicant you should also look into TOEFL tests and IELTS.
Confused about what a good score to apply with is? Fortunately, colleges often provide statistics regarding the average scores on their websites. It is advisable to submit scores that are above the average to make an impact on the admissions officer.
Being a Candidate with a Spike Looks Good on College Applications
A ‘spike’ is a term used to describe someone with an extremely high impact in any particular aspect of their school life. This ranges from academics to beyond academics, sports to extracurriculars, competitions to research. In other words, this means to be among the top scorers at national or international levels.
Colleges look for both all-rounders and applicants with a spike. However, if you want to go to an Ivy League school or any other prestigious university it is important to have a spike. Admissions officers look out for spikes as these are students who will improve their teams, research and overall prestige. These students are the ones who stand out among their peers.
Creating a spike can be done in various things that you are interested in. For example, a student interested in robotics can win international competitions or make a club that impacts many people.
Beyond Academics Look Good on College Applications
Leaders, changemakers and pioneers. Colleges look out for these people who are constantly striving to better society and bring about change in their environment. These can be showcased by holding important positions in clubs or by starting a school newspaper, anything that shows your ability to innovate and invent. Engaging in community service, volunteering, and social initiatives are great ways to show that you are committed to transforming the world around you. It is divisible to join the student council to demonstrate leadership qualities throughout high school.
Positive disruptors are people who are ready to shake up the world with their new and innovative ideas. These are the people who challenge beliefs and fix problems. According to TEDx, ‘A positive disruptor is someone who seeks to uproot, re-plant and grow the way we think, behave, conduct business, learn, understand and live our daily lives.’ You can showcase being a positive disruptor by opening NGOs, startups or podcasts that impact a large number of people.
Starbucks is a great example of being a positive disruptor. In a world where there were 2 spaces, one acting as a home space and the other as a workspace, Starbucks created the concept of a third place acting as a space to hang out, conduct informal meetings and meet people.
Essays
The essay section is the section where you let the officer know who you are as a person. It shows who you are behind the numbers. Unique students with different perspectives on the world around them are the ones who become real-life changemakers.
Personal statements should let officers find out about your personality and background. You can try and illustrate how your background, be it cultural or family, affected your beliefs and your traits. Try to avoid cliche topics that everyone writes about like the ‘sports injury’ essay or the ‘helping underprivileged kids’ essay as these tend to blend in with other applications. Instead, you can try to use interesting anecdotes that reveal many things about you. Make sure to include a storytelling writing style that hooks the reader as admissions officers only read your application for around 15 minutes each.
Demonstrating Interests Looks Good on College Applications
Colleges look out for applicants who demonstrate their interest in their chosen field. Interning at a firm to gain experience is a great way to demonstrate interest. It's a clear indicator that you are interested in your chosen field. This is also a great way to get a recommendation letter. Recommendation letters reveal important character traits and strengths of yours to an admission officer. This is also a way for them to get an idea of what others think of you.
Research is one thing that can be considered a spike. It is a great way to combine your interests with beyond academics. However, research can be extremely tough to do alone.
Inspirit AIs 1:1 AI+X research module is the perfect place to help create award-winning research projects. They have mentors from the top universities who can guide you towards getting into the college of your dreams with research. Its impressive projects often get published in credible research journals as well. Regardless of your chosen field, having AI knowledge will go a long way as well and show admission officers that you are constantly aiming to learn more and adapt to the environment
Tailor Making Applications
Each and every college is different. Making a generic application that doesn’t target what the college has to offer will reduce your chances of getting into your dream college. All the top schools encourage different activities and specialize in different areas. For example, if you are a creative person you can target a school like Brown which fosters creative endeavours, whereas if you are an aspiring mathematician you can target Princeton. Here is a mini list to help you find a path(though all of these colleges are amazing despite your major):
Harvard: Most popular for government, engineering and philosophy
Princeton: Great for mathematicians and physicists
UPenn: Some of the best business and finance courses
Dartmouth: Known for Liberal Arts
MIT: STEM innovations and research
Stanford: Technology and STEM
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it’s important to be realistic and consider your chances of getting into a college. You should always have safety schools, target schools and reach schools. Don’t be over-ambitious and always apply to colleges with higher acceptance rates(in case things don’t go as planned.) Remember to listen to your college counsellors to help find your perfect match. It’s not only important where you apply, but also when you apply as early admissions take up a huge chunk of seats. Ultimately, to stand out to colleges you should have good academics, beyond academics and extracurriculars. Colleges look out for students with a spike and who are positive disruptors. Insure to write authentic essays, demonstrate interest and tailor-make your responses.
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
