You must have often heard the term ‘profile’ with respect to college admissions. What exactly does profile mean? A college profile is a list of activities that you have been pursuing both in the academic and non-academic space, which forms the basis of your selection to a college abroad.
A good academic score is imperative for selection; however, great academic scores alone are not enough to ensure admission. Your non-academic profile is what makes you stand out among the rest. It gives the college admission team an idea of who you are as an individual, what your interests are and how committed and consistent you have been in pursuing those interests. Apart from good grades, a college aspirant should have demonstrated adequate participation in other co-curricular activities such as sports, theatre, debates, social service and so on.
Let’s take a look at 5 important things that can help in profile building for college admissions.
#1. Gain Internship Experience
An internship can be a great instrument for profile building for college admissions. A solid internship experience illustrates your professional interests and shows your work ethic and determination to create opportunities for career growth. Before you start looking for an internship program, be clear on what your academic interests are and what professional fields would best serve that academic interest.
Don’t expect an internship to fit in perfectly with your academic interest but anything that comes close to having an affinity with your domain should be a good choice to take up. If computer science is your interest, interning with a software firm would work to your advantage; if you want to major in a language, you could intern with the creative department of a production house.
Integrate your internship experience with your overall profile – how it has strengthened your passion, helped you gain clarity on what a workplace involves and how it fits in with your aim of pursuing a particular stream in college.
#2. Work on research papers/projects
Projects need not necessarily be from your curriculum. It can be on anything that you feel strongly about or are greatly interested in. For example, if you really care about women’s rights, you can tie up with an NGO and work on any women’s development projects.
If sports is what you are passionate about you could work with a sports company on any research that reveals certain trends in sports in your country or region. In either case, a certificate of participation from these organizations that you do projects with would show that you have walked the extra mile to apply your education in an area in which you truly care for.
What is important to remember is that if you are doing more than one project, they should not be a random selection based on availability. Each project that you select should reflect your focus and interest in a particular field and contribute to profile building for college admissions.
#3. Build Social Media Presence
Social media has more than just a recreation value. As someone who is applying for college admissions, it is important that you be selective and mindful of what you post on your social media accounts because colleges will be screening applicants online.
You can actually use social media to work towards profile building for college admissions by posting content that is reflective of your interests, beliefs and pursuits. It would be a good idea to follow the social media accounts of the colleges you are likely to apply to and engage with their posts.
The other thing to do would be to showcase your extra-curricular activities on your social media account. You can post a picture of a competitive tennis match you played or a debate competition you won.
Be wary of putting a ‘like’ on pages whose values are not the same as your own. When a college sees your social media profile, they see what you have ‘liked’ as associated with who you are. For example, if you liked a page that says “I hate academics”, the college may think that you actually do even if that may not be the case, and this would reflect poorly on you. Be careful about ‘liking’ things which could be viewed negatively by a college.
#4. Make your essay speak for you
Colleges ask prospective students to write a personal essay to gain an insight into the student’s personalities. They want to see the examples of positive traits demonstrated by the student in the past and what qualities they bring to the campus. All applicants will be writing the same essay and the context that admission committees are seeking is what is it that makes you stand out among others. An essay can be a powerful tool for profile building for college admissions You should be able to show the following traits in your essay
- Self-reflection – Any example of your having accepted and overcome a mistake or flaw and how it made you grow as an individual – could be about becoming better at a sport despite not being a natural
- Initiative and leadership – Any example where you took action that demonstrated your initiative and leadership – it could perhaps be raising money for charity
- Show, don’t tell – Have proof for any quality that you describe; if you are saying you are tenacious, give an example of how you hung on to achieve certain results despite the roadblocks.
#5. Volunteer
An article from collegeraptor.com states that in general, most college admission counsellors look at volunteering as a way of demonstrating your time management skills — “[Volunteering] shows that you can engage in multiple activities without becoming overwhelmed or losing focus.” Volunteering is an indicator of your having used your talents and skills for a philanthropic cause as also having garnered practical experience in that field. It also shows that in your volunteering journey, you have picked up some of the most sought-after skills in today’s workforce – empathy, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, flexibility, and leadership skills. This is a great path for profile building for college admissions.
Conclusion:
When we talk about profile building for college admissions, it is important to remember that the activities you want to pursue should be in sync with the course you want to study and the college you want to study. You could be toiling away hours and hours on an activity when the college you want to apply for doesn’t consider the activity important with respect to the stream you want to pursue. Based on your college goals and career interests, participate in activities that show consistency in participation in a particular field.