How You are Evaluated
What exactly are colleges looking at when evaluating you as a potential student?
THE HOLISTIC REVIEW PROCESS
If grades and test scores were all it took to make an admissions decision, most colleges would just plug students’ information into a computer and admissions officers would be out of jobs. Most importantly, colleges and universities wouldn’t take the time to get to know you and understand if you’d be a good fit for their campus.
Thankfully, this isn’t the case. Most school admissions offices operate on what’s known as a holistic review process, meaning they look at different pieces of the application to get a sense of the applicant as a “whole”. Colleges with holistic admissions are looking for more than just students with good grades, but instead, want to get a sense of what you can offer to their campus and community outside of just academics. While GPA, SAT, and ACT scores are all still important, holistic admissions seeks out the value in each student’s talents, interests, passions, and personality.
Academic Record
While GPA and test scores are certainly important for gauging an applicant’s academic strength, colleges use transcripts to learn other things about you as well. Admissions officers typically look for transcripts that tell a story: are you challenging yourself? Are you making use of the academic programs available to you (AP/IB, honors, dual-enrollment)? Even in cases where your grades might have taken a hit or seen a rough patch, is there notable improvement and an upward trajectory? All of these things come together to demonstrate an applicant’s ability to succeed at the higher-education level.
Essay
Your application essays are a college’s first chance to measure your writing ability, but most importantly,
gives an opportunity to get to know you in your own voice. A strong essay should convey your background in an engaging way while expressing a sense of personality through your tone and voice. A compelling essay can make or break a student’s application, especially if admissions officers are on the fence about it. Take the time to tailor your narrative and craft your essay effectively.
gives an opportunity to get to know you in your own voice. A strong essay should convey your background in an engaging way while expressing a sense of personality through your tone and voice. A compelling essay can make or break a student’s application, especially if admissions officers are on the fence about it. Take the time to tailor your narrative and craft your essay effectively.
Extracurriculars
When it comes to extracurriculars, most admissions officers agree that quality is worth more than quantity. While 500+ volunteer hours is certainly impressive, colleges are looking for passion and commitment to interests outside of the classroom. Whatever you’re passionate about, take initiative and take it to the next level. This will give admissions officers a taste of what you have to offer on their campus.
Recommendations
Aside from how a you present yourself in your essay, admissions officers can gain a lot of insight from the way your teachers and counselors describe you. Often, these recommendations can shine a light on meaningful traits and qualities that don’t always come through in your application alone. Do you demonstrate an avid work ethic and consistently help your peers? What do others see as your defining characteristics?
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
“Extracurricular” is made up of two pieces:
Extra: “on the outside” & Curricular: “relating to the subjects comprising a course of study in a school”
Extracurricular activities are anything you take part in outside of school! While some items may not be worth listing as an extracurricular activity for college (like your weekly pickup basketball game), it is important to remember that extracurriculars don’t have to be academic.
Some types include:
Extra: “on the outside” & Curricular: “relating to the subjects comprising a course of study in a school”
Extracurricular activities are anything you take part in outside of school! While some items may not be worth listing as an extracurricular activity for college (like your weekly pickup basketball game), it is important to remember that extracurriculars don’t have to be academic.
Some types include:
HOW DO EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES MATTER TO...
- ME
- COLLEGES
Academic Performance: Students who participate in extracurricular activities tend to have higher grades and a better attitude toward school.
Explore Interests: Students often find that their high school extracurricular activities help them discover their passions, and eventual major and career.
Socializing: Finding an activity you enjoy inevitably brings you into contact with other people who are passionate about the same thing.
Life Skills: Extracurricular activities help you learn non-classroom skills like organization, teamwork, public speaking and time management.
Take a Break: Giving yourself something to regularly look forward to that is not school can help break up daily monotony.
Recommendation Letters: Participating in extracurricular activities brings you into contact with a variety of coaches and bosses who can write letters of recommendation down the road.
Explore Interests: Students often find that their high school extracurricular activities help them discover their passions, and eventual major and career.
Socializing: Finding an activity you enjoy inevitably brings you into contact with other people who are passionate about the same thing.
Life Skills: Extracurricular activities help you learn non-classroom skills like organization, teamwork, public speaking and time management.
Take a Break: Giving yourself something to regularly look forward to that is not school can help break up daily monotony.
Recommendation Letters: Participating in extracurricular activities brings you into contact with a variety of coaches and bosses who can write letters of recommendation down the road.
Colleges don’t want their students to be school-attending robots! They want you to bring new ideas and perspectives to campus, and they also want you to excel when you are no longer a student and need real-life skills.
Here’s some of what colleges can see when they look at your extracurricular activities:
- Extracurriculars that match with the classes you excel in (such as participating in the chemistry olympiad while getting a 5 on the AP Chemistry Exam) show your passion.
- Sports teams, part-time jobs and other time-intensive extracurricular activities show time-management skills.
- School activities like student government show leadership skills.
- Volunteering and community service show that you will be a positive presence on campus.
Here’s some of what colleges can see when they look at your extracurricular activities:
- Extracurriculars that match with the classes you excel in (such as participating in the chemistry olympiad while getting a 5 on the AP Chemistry Exam) show your passion.
- Sports teams, part-time jobs and other time-intensive extracurricular activities show time-management skills.
- School activities like student government show leadership skills.
- Volunteering and community service show that you will be a positive presence on campus.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Sending letters of recommendation to colleges should be one of the least-stressful parts of the college process. All you have to do is pick the people who will write them, then sit back as they do all the writing! You’ve already done the hard work of doing well in classes and extracurricular activities, now it is up to your mentors and teachers to write a great letter. While it might seem to be a completely hands-off process for you, here are a few things you can do to make sure you get as great a letter as possible.
Choosing Who to Ask
One thing you want to do is cast a wide net. Teachers in courses in which you’ve excelled are of course a great place to start, but if you have a wide array of mentors in your life, consider asking them as well. If you have had the same boss at work for four years, or have worked with the same supervisor at a charity for all of high school, consider asking them to write a letter. Consider the relationship you have with the people you ask to write letters. If you did great in algebra II but your teacher had 175 students and you rarely participated in class, that teacher may not be able to write as good of a letter as a mentor or teacher with whom you regularly talked outside of class.
ASKING
Asking for a letter of recommendation usually easy. Teachers and mentors know you’re applying to colleges, and if you want a letter from them, they probably want to write you one. There are just two things to keep in mind: ask early, and ask personally. Teachers often get dozens of requests every year, and bosses and mentors may have myriad other responsibilities, so you want to give them as much time as possible. Asking personally just makes it clear to the person you are asking that you value the time and energy they will put into the recommendation letter. Remember that they are doing you a favor.
Writing a letter of recommendation can be difficult without knowing particular details of a students life. For example, your physics teacher may be able to speak to your work ethic and incredibly astute observations in class, but unless you tell them that you’re interested in becoming an engineer, they can’t tie that together. Likewise, it would be awkward if they wrote about your potential as an engineer if in your application you talk about wanting to become a doctor or activist. A counselor or mentor may not know how you have had to navigate family circumstances every morning just to get to work or school on time, yet could speak to your resilience and timeliness if they knew. For this reason, we’ve included a “brag sheet” in this module so you can fill in teachers, counselors and mentors on anything they may not know, or refresh their memory if you know they will be writing letters for many students.
Waiving Your Rights
Federal law grants you the right to read your letter of recommendation. That said, it is highly recommended that you waive this right. The knowledge that a letter is confidential often ensures that the writer can be entirely candid in their letter. Likewise, colleges look much more favorably on confidential letters, whereas they grant them much less weight if a student has looked at them. If waiving your right to read makes you nervous that a writer will craft a negative letter without your knowledge, consider asking someone else to write the letter.
Sending Thank-You Notes
Finally, send a thank-you note to those you’ve asked to write letters. Do this within a week or two of the letter being sent out, regardless of whether or not you have heard from the college. While this will not directly impact your admissions decision, it is important to thank the folks who have taken time and energy to do you a favor. This is, after all, an important part of the college admissions process, as it is the college’s only opportunity to learn about you from someone else’s point of view.