What Colleges Look For

What Colleges Look For

Questions colleges ask and how to answer them in your application

The Whole Student

You are not your SAT score and colleges know that. They piece together pieces of information about you to try to make a whole picture. Some pieces of this puzzle you don’t have much control of, but in others you are the one painting what they see.

Remember “College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won” (Frank Sachs, former president of the NACAC) and the choosing goes both ways.

Colleges look at your overall application first.

 

Questions Colleges Ask:

Will they be able to do college-Level work?
Are they passionate about their activities?
Do they have goals?
Do they actually want to come here?

 

 

Where Colleges Look in Your Application:

Will they be able to do college-level work?
  • Grades
  • Kinds of classes taken (AP, Honors)
  • G.P.A.
  • ACT or SAT scores
  • SAT II and AP scores
  • Teacher recommendation letters
  • balance between core classes grades and other activities
Are they passionate about their activities?
  • Activity list
    • How long you have done the activity
    • Leadership positions
  • Portfolio
  • Resume (gives organized view of activities)
  • Essays (especially  supplemental essays)
  • Teacher recommendations
Do they have goals?
  • Personal Essay
  • Supplemental Essays
  • Teacher recommendations
  • Activity list
  • Portfolio
  • Resume (statement, internships, experience)
Do they actually want to come here?
  • Essays (can demonstrate a knowledge and interest about the school in particular
  • College interview
  • Teacher recommendations
  • List of other colleges you apply to

 

The College Application Dissected

Essays

Your personal essay and supplemental essays are the part of your application that you have the most control over. It is the space for you to tell your story instead of asking colleges to piece it together from your test scores

Tell your story in your essay.

  • Tie up loose ends. Tie it all together. Why did you get a C- in algebra? How did you change your study habits to do well in pre-calc?
  • Write, Revise, Re-Write, Repeat. Ask adults to read your essay. Write lots of essays and pick one later.
  • Your college essay is all about you. One of the best ways to show, not tell, is to write about how you have grown in some way during high school.
  • Write the right college name. Don’t write Harvard when you’re sending to West Conn and Vice Versa.

 

Grades

One of the most important parts of your application colleges look at are your grades. They give a snap shot of your High School career.

“Most Improved” is as important as “MVP”.
Your grades and test scores should make sense together. If you ace the SAT but are failing your classes, schools will see this as a sign that you know the material but don’t apply yourself in the classroom.

Grade Point Average

G.P.A. is on a scale out of 4.00. To calculate your G.P.A., convert your grades from each class to the scale below and take the average.

A+ = 4.00    A = 4.00    A- = 3.70
B+ = 3.33    B = 3.00    B- = 2.70
C+ = 2.30    C = 2.00    C- = 1.70
D+ = 1.30    D = 1.00    D- = 0.70
F = 0.00

Most schools give more weight to Honors and Advanced Placement classes, this is called a weighted G.P.A. Pay attention to whether a college requests your weighted or unweighted grade point average.

Class Ranking

Not all High Schools rank their students. Not all colleges will ask for your class rank. If they do it is based off of your GPA in relation to those of the other students in your school.

Ask your guidance counselor to help you find your class rank.
The Valedictorian and Salutatorian are the two top ranked students and usually get to speak at graduation.

Advanced Placement Classes

AP classes have universal syllabi, so colleges know exactly what you have learned in the class. AP classes are considered to be at college level.

  • AP’s end with a test that graded out of 5 points.
  • If you score a 4 or 5 on an AP test, you can count these classes as college credits in most colleges.
  • If you have a solid knowledge of a subject, and feel comfortable studying on your own, you can request to take an AP test without taking the class.

Activities

This is the section on an application where you list your extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, and volunteer causes.

  • Order your activities either in order of importance to you or from those that you have participated in for the longest.
  • Only include activities from High School unless you began an activity earlier and still participate in it.
  • Include any leadership positions (President, Treasurer, Secretary, Captain,…)

 

 Work Experience

This is where your resumé comes into play.

  • List paid work, volunteer work, internships, research projects, etc.
  • Explain how your experience relates to what you would like to do at your future college.

 

Portfolio

A portfolio is a series of samples of your work. If you are a visual artist, musician, writer, film maker, or on your way to becoming one, think about including a portfolio in your applications.

  • Pick the best examples of your work.
  • Photograph your pieces as professionally as you can. Ask your teachers for help.
  • Organize your works.
  • Make an online portfolio.
  • Send to the appropriate person. Sometimes your portfolio should go to the head of the art department  not the admissions office. Find out before you send it.

 

Awards and Honors

Awards can be from a wide variety of activities.

  • Honor Role, High Honor Role
  • M.V.P., Coaches’ Award, Most Improved
  • Service Awards
  • Leadership Awards
  • Standardized Test Awards (e.g. National Hispanic Scholar)

 

Which Other Colleges are You Applying To?

This can be a tricky question. You don’t have to answer this one, but it can help you to answer it strategically.

Categorize the colleges you are applying to into Reach, Match, or Safety.

  • If a reach school asks this, give them your other reach schools and you matches.
  • If your safety school asks, give them your other safetys and some of your matches.
  • If your match school asks, tell them your matches, one reach, and perhaps one safety.

 

Recommendation Letters

How to ask for a recommendation letter:

  • Pick teachers, coaches, or employers that know you the best. You can also pick teachers who taught a class in which you have overcome challenges, or a club that you care about.
  • Ask early
  • Make it easy for them to write the letter. Send them an e-mail with a list of your accomplishments that they have witnessed. This helps your busy teachers’ remember all the wonderful things they know about you.

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