Gaining admission to top colleges and universities has never been easy for many U.S. high school students. And for the most elite colleges, it’s been even tougher. Up to 95 percent of top students are turned away from the most prestigious schools.
So when a friend recently told me his daughter wanted to attend a top 20 university, I asked the question, “Does your daughter know how to beat out 40,000 other strong applicants to get into her dream college?” After a short conversation, it became clear his daughter understood how to become a well-qualified applicant, but didn’t know how to gain the competitive edge against others like her. Without that edge, was she wasting her time, energy and family’s money?
When it comes to selectivity, Harvard has traditionally been the toughest college to which to be admitted, but the most recent data shows Stanford University now wears the crown. In fact, this year’s class of incoming Stanford freshmen represents only 5 percent of total applications received: A total of 2,138 students were selected over 40,029 other highly qualified students.
With those odds, how are today’s teenagers preparing to be in that 5 percent? Many are preparing the same way students did 20 years ago: 1) take Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses; 2) get the highest possible GPA, class rank and test scores; and 3) participate and hold leadership positions in extracurricular activities. And for the best and brightest students, they’ve taken that approach up a notch with GPAs higher than 4.0, multiple AP courses every quarter or semester, and enough extra-curricular activities to fill a page.
These students are engaged in an academic “arms race” to demonstrate they are “more qualified” and deserving of admission. But the truth is, that strategy doesn’t work when you have a very large pool of highly qualified applicants.
The University of Pennsylvania’s admission website provides the best explanation why: “While we could easily fill the class with valedictorians and students with perfect test scores, our goal is to build the ideal incubator for tomorrow’s leaders. As such, we look beyond mere numbers to intangible qualities. It is therefore essential that you help us discover what separates you from those with the same, or similar, GPA and test scores.”
Penn makes it clear: It’s not just numbers, but the intangible qualities that are important. And Penn is not alone; 14 of the top 20 national universities state on their admission websites that they look for and desire certain student qualities and characteristics.
A review of those websites produced a list of seven student qualities most frequently cited: Curiosity, ambition, persistence, intelligence, creativity, enthusiasm and focus (in an area of interest).
Admission officers often find evidence of these intangible quantities in the way students respond to and take advantage of opportunities and resources. These qualities can also be used to evaluate a student’s “fit” and prospective contribution to the institution.
These intangibles must be showcased in a student’s course selections, work experiences and extra-curricular activities, and should be a focus for students as they make choices during their high school years.
Here are five ways to help students’ better position themselves for success in a competitive admission process.
· Inform students about the role of intangible qualities in college admissions, and the most frequently cited intangibles.
· Help students discover and reflect on the intangible qualities that make them unique and stand out.
· Ask students to write five reasons their top-choice college should select them over 100 other applicants that have the same or similar grades, test scores and extra-curricular activities.
· Show students how academic, extracurricular and personal decisions can provide unique opportunities to build their intangible qualities.
· Challenge students to reveal their intangibles more specifically on their college application(s).
In a few short weeks, a new crop of students will begin their senior year, and the college application process will be on the horizon. Those students deserve a real chance at gaining admission to their top-choice institution. And by real chance, I mean being equipped with the knowledge of what really matters in the admission process.
If they can figure out how to use their intangible qualities to be selected over 20,000 or 40,000 other applicants, competing for their first job after college will be a piece of cake.
