college admissions

College Admissions

GPA & SAT: Colleges look at many things when they consider prospective students, but the two most used criteria for college admissions are GPA and ACT/SAT I test scores. GPAs not only show students’ scholastic abilities, but they also demonstrate students’ efforts and work ethics. Higher GPAs show the college admissions personnel students’ academic successes as well as their determination to succeed. This is the reason why colleges prefer students with high school diplomas to students with GED certificates.
One major problem with GPA, however, is that schools tend to inflate grades. With an average of 60 % of students getting A’s in a given class, the grades have lost credibility. A’s do not mean the same in different schools, and this is where standardized tests come in. The standardized tests (i.e., SAT & ACT) are the tests that every student takes and offers some leverage that fickle GPA’s do not offer (after all, they are standardized, and 2.1 million students take the same test.) Though some controversies exist with these tests (some colleges don’t think they are credible), SATs are still the most important standardized test for college admissions.
Activities: Other things are also considered: extracurricular activities, sports, clubs, achievements, recommendations, and student essays. As far as extracurricular activities are concerned, students should go for the quality, rather than quantity. It’s usually better for you to join one particular club and excel in it than join several clubs and do mediocre in them. The same advice goes with the sports activities. Of club activities, students should strive to join activities that focus on writing and leadership. Colleges just simply love student councils and newspaper organizations.
Students should run for offices and have some campaigning and leadership experiences (not just being elected, but actually initiating a project and implementing a change at schools or communities.) It’s not enough to say, “I was a president”; instead, you should be able to say, “I took the initiative to ….” Moreover, it is a great idea to join Youth Congress. I have two students who went to Harvard, and both of them were Youth Congress members. Colleges look for students who have leadership qualities, and in my opinion Youth Congress is the best way to show it.
College Essays: There is another blog about how to write a college essay, so I will keep it short here. The most important concept to remember is sincerity. Colleges know that teachers and others help with students’ essays, and they are also aware that you can have your personal essays “written” or “edited” by professionals on line. Colleges are not looking super-essays; what they want are authentic essays that characterize students. Students shouldn’t dramatize, emotionalize, or fantasize. And, yeah, no spelling errors.
Recommendations: Some schools ask for them, and some schools don’t. Recommendation letters are usually “exaggerated” letters about students by the teachers who are “forced” to write them, and colleges know this. Students should ask their favorite teachers (or teachers who seem to like them) who are willing to write something about them. Recommendations are not about academics but personal merits, so choose teachers who know you outside of classroom setting if possible. Anyone who can vouch for your creativity, dedication, leadership qualities, and other personal traits will work as well.