A college application process has multiple components and each college has a different requirement when it comes to selecting a student. However, despite the differing requirements, there are certain overarching elements common to all application processes for colleges abroad.
To understand the components of a college application process, we need to visualise a whole pie and not just a slice. The coursework and grades constitute the lion’s share of the pie, almost half of it; and the remainder is made up of other aspects – SATs, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, essays, and various evidence supporting what you have represented your interests and yourself to be. All these slices are put together to present a full picture of you as a student and as a person to the admissions committee. Each part is important in showing you as a person who can be a potential student at the college you have applied to.
Here are five things you need to know about the college application process:
#1. How crucial are your high school grades
A strong grade point average is the most crucial component of your application. Your high school grades carry the maximum weight. Colleges are looking for students who have shown stellar academic performance consistently during their school years. A strong GPA is evidence of your having been good at academics. It would be ideal to have an impressive GPA throughout your high school career, but if that’s not the case, there’s no need to panic. It is the performance during your Grades XII and XII that matters the most and what colleges would be primarily looking at to determine your academic.
When looking at grades, the college admissions committee is also considering the stream that the student has opted for. But this is not to say that they are biased towards any stream; in fact, your record or choice of subjects will be evaluated in the context of what your high school had to offer. In case of a lack of familiarity with the school you are from, the admissions committee will review the school’s profile. The school’s profile is part of the high school transcript that is submitted to every college that you apply to.
What is a Transcript?
Your transcript includes information on which high school(s) you’ve attended, what stream you took during your XIth and XIIth, your CGPA during these years, SAT, SAT subject tests and ACT scores, and school attendance. All this information is needed by the college to ensure that you meet the admissions and eligibility requirements. Also, it is evidence of whether you met high school graduation requirements.
It works to your benefit to attach your high school profile to your transcript. Your guidance counsellor will be able to tell you if your high school has a school profile. The school profile offers the admissions advisers a full picture of your school’s environment and puts your academic profile in a fuller perspective vis-à-vis what the school has to offer.
#2. How critical are SAT scores as part of the overall application
Students aspiring for colleges in US and Canada were required to take the SAT exam but now SAT Subjects have been discontinued by the College Board from June 2021. And even though nearly 2,000 colleges and universities have publicly announced that they will not require the SAT or ACT for admission in the fall of 2022, Rob Franek, the editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review, which surveys the top colleges across the U.S. annually says, “Test optional does not mean test prohibitive. What many of those schools are saying is that the SAT or ACT are of great value if you decide to take them, and if you exercise your right to submit them or not submit them.”
SAT being optional is a direct outcome of Covid. But one needs to distinguish between test-optional and test-blind. As per The Denver Channel, test-blind schools will not consider standardized test scores at all but test-optional schools will consider the scores.
“They would still consider your SAT and ACT scores if you submitted them,” Franek said. “But those schools cannot penalize a student if they don’t submit their SAT or ACT scores.”
He recommends that students take the test and submit any scores that put them in a favourable light.
#3. How important is the essay
A traditional college essay expects students to write on topics with a word limit of over 650 words. This can be used for the Common App essay or for an institute-specific application. If you are applying through Common App, most selective colleges will expect you to fill out a “supplement”. The supplement contains additional questions and at times multiple essays prompts.
The essay topic you choose to write on and how well you write your essay are both equally important.
Admissions experts encourage students to choose topics that are not run-of-the-mill. What this means is that if you are writing your essay on something that is already been told in other parts of the application, you have lost out on the opportunity to represent something more alluring and promising about yourself.
Counsellors advise that the essay topic the students choose should serve as the means for sharing something different that not many people know about the students.
And should they choose nonetheless to write about something already represented about an activity or accomplishment, it would work to their advantage to take a very different approach to a predictable topic.
Pro Tip: Write an original well-crafted essay
In a blog on Best Colleges, Sasha Chada, founder and CEO of Ivy Scholars, a Texas-based educational consulting firm, says, “Every year, I explain to students that Penn undergraduate admissions knows Cornell undergraduate admissions very well, and can tell when students adapt their Penn supplemental essay from Cornell’s prompt about long-term plans (or vice versa).”
“This demonstrates an obvious lack of care and is one of the easiest ways for universities to weed out students,” explains Chada.
To write a unique essay, research on how the university’s academic program and culture finds a commonality with your goals and what is it that makes the college and university unique. the school differs from other institutions. It is important you find as many connections between you as a student and the specific features of the school.
#4. Where does LoRs figure in the application process?
LORs or Letters of Recommendation provide the admission officers a comprehensive insight into your abilities – academic, social, professional and ethical among others. They present a case for suitable candidature for your admission into the specific University. Their main purpose is to show you in a positive light with tangible examples from the recommenders of your achievements, contributions, and skills.
LORs are crucial in that they serve as proof of your accomplishments which you have highlighted in your resume. Academic LORs will talk about your academic performance and your overall student record while professional LORs will expound on the role and responsibilities you had in an organization as an intern.
What’s important here is to choose your recommenders prudently. Colleges have seen all sorts of LORs, and while an illuminated letter will surely make a favourable impact, what one needs to be wary of is a subtly negative or— more likely—a lukewarm recommendation. Experts advise you to play it safe and ask only those teachers and employers who really seem to have taken an interest in you. The aloof recommender who has a reputation for writing flowery letters will do your LOR no good.
Besides teachers, there will be other credible people associated with you as mentors or superiors, who can comment favourably and insightfully on your skills, maturity, integrity and personality. Make sure you give forms/links for LORs well in advance of the application deadlines to these individuals.
#5. Extracurricular activities – what serves your cause better – quality or quantity?
The Common App provides ten spaces for a student’s activities, but that is not to say that more is better. A few activities pursued consistently and diligently usually impress a college more than ten activities done with little depth or continuity.
Extracurricular activities would include almost anything productive that you do with your time outside of school. Your school clubs – be it theatre, debate or sports; community service, part-time jobs or internships; summer training, volunteering, and even independent hobbies – all come within the ambit of extracurriculars.
What’s important to note is that the significant thing here is not the number of things you’ve done but how much impact you’ve made on the activity or people around you.
A Clear Spike or Passion
The search for a ‘well-rounded’ student is old-school ethos. Colleges today aren’t seeing if you’ve done a little bit of everything but looking at a “spike” on your application — a term that used by admissions committees for something that makes a student stand out.
Your spike is what would present you as unique, something that you’ve followed with a zeal to employ your talents in a tangible project or goal.
Best Colleges again mentions Sasha Chada saying, “Some examples [of spikes] include students participating in medical research at the Mayo Clinic, partnering with a regional non-profit to create apps that help children with neurological differences, patenting safety technology for high-rise construction projects … and that’s just scratching the surface.
“If you can show that you fill a significant campus role — social organizer, athlete, journalist — better than other applicants, universities will want to lock you in early to ensure their campus remains vibrant and well-rounded,” stresses Chada
Conclusion
There are several elements of your application that need to be written by others, but it is you who has to ensure that everything arrives to you in time. Make sure your recommenders have enough time to fill in and send in your LORs. For your extracurriculars, highlight activities where you have demonstrated commitment and delivered an impact. Keep the focus on academics high as it is the most important determinant of your application being accepted by any college. More than anything else, start well in time and ensure that your application is submitted well before the last date.