Question from Riki Gross, senior at Boulder High in Colorado. She asks: “How can a university really understand or get to know a student based on a few personal essays, his or her GPA and extracurricular activities?”
Answer: Since the admissions process involves so many different components, when you are completing your application, you are creating a multifaceted academic and personal profile. This profile, in its parts and as a whole, serves as your “sales pitch” to an admissions officer. Admissions officers know what they are looking for. To them, each part means something. Yet more important is how your admissions profile works as a whole. Are the parts complementary? Does each facet reflect something new about you? Does the whole present a dynamic and unique personality? If you can answer these questions affirmatively, then an admissions officer will surely get to know you.
Here is an explanation of the significance of each part of your admissions profile.
Standardized Test Scores: Your standardized test scores usually serve as a baseline indication of your competitiveness. Each school works with a mean SAT/ACT score particular to that school. If your score meets or exceeds the mean, you will be considered for admission. If your score is well below the mean, your application will probably be discounted. If it is just under the mean, your application will be considered. SAT II subject tests reveal more about you. Schools will look at the subjects you’ve chosen in relation to your chosen course of study, and they will be especially impressed if you’ve taken subject tests in areas where you have not had a class. Doing so demonstrates initiative and intellectual intensity. The same goes for AP exams.
GPA: Your GPA is extremely important. A strong GPA reveals diligence and an ability to handle a variety of subjects. If you do well in math and science but not in English, your application will reveal a weakness in critical thinking, an indication that you do not think reflectively. Even if you are aiming to be an engineer, strong critical thinking and writing skills are considered essential and will make a difference in your chances for acceptance. Alternatively, if you are strong in the humanities but weak in math and science, your application may be compromised in this digitally-driven world.
Classes: The classes you chose to take throughout high school also say something about you. If your school offers many honors and AP courses but you have not taken that many, it will look like you did not take advantage of the many opportunities available. On the other hand, if you attend a school that does not provide many advanced classes and have pursued them on your own at a local college or through self-study for an AP or SAT II exam, your choices and achievements will impress your reader. It is also important to know that admissions officers assess your formal academic profile in relation to the school you have attended. In other words, they will look at the larger context of your academic performance.
Extracurricular Activities: Being engaged in activities outside of the classroom has become an extremely important indicator of an applicant’s character. The most successful list of extracurriculars includes demonstrated commitment to activities or causes through steady, multi-year participation. If you joined ten clubs but have not stuck with them, you will present yourself as someone without direction. But if you have soared through a club or sport over a significant period of time, you will show yourself to be someone who uses your free time wisely and deliberately. Better yet would be an activity that you conceived, established and executed. Admissions officers love students who show initiative and leadership. And even better would be an activity initiated by you that has social value. The dream student is one who possesses creative and strategic vision, leadership qualities, and a commitment to the social good.
Essays: It is in your essays that you can most powerfully communicate who you are to a university and shine as an individual. Admissions officers rely on your essays to find a distinguishing mark. The essay is your big chance to display your thoughtfulness, strength, value, character and your unique voice. It allow for great strategic and creative leeway. Be clever or sensitive or funny, share insights or lessons learned, show your reader what you’ve got to offer to a world much larger than your high school. If the rest of your profile is excellent but your essays are drab, you might very well be rejected by a school you are competitive for. This kind of admissions profile may present you as someone who does everything right but cannot think creatively or deeply. On the other hand, the essay can compensate for shortcomings in other parts of your profile. If you received a “C” in physics but can tell a hilarious and insightful story about it, you will be imparting a great deal of information to your reader. Wow your reader and write something that sticks, and university doors will open.
For more tips on writing the personal essay, see my September post. Learn more about what colleges look for and how to stay organized during the application process.
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Dr. Amy Morgenstern, Blue Stars Admissions Consulting, is a former university professor and administrator. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in contemporary art from San Francisco Art Institute.
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