Together with my sister at Harvard and my friends here at Yale, we made a quick guide for those of you applying to elite colleges and wanting to stand out from the pool:
Show a clear passion or focus through your coursework: top US colleges place high value on those individuals who have demonstrated drive and passion because these self-driven, self-motivated students are the ones who will go on to become world and industry leaders. This is NOT the same as being a top student!! Taking every AP or IB course and doing a bunch of clubs will NOT make you stand out.
Excel on your standardized tests (even if your dream school doesn’t require them!!). YES, your standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, AP, IB) still matter A LOT! Test optional is a way to make it less intimidating to APPLY to top schools, but does NOT change the school’s admissions standards! For the class of 2027, about 70% of Stanford admits were still submitting test scores!
Write a personal statement that ties together your background and purpose: Your personal statement is the CENTERPIECE of your application that gives your admissions officers the best idea of who you are and who you will become. Your personal statement should reflect well on one or a select few experiences in your life that shaped you into the person you are and the person you want to be. Use vivid imagery and emotion in your writing, and get feedback MULTIPLE times during the writing process.
Focus on leadership and high achievement in activities that relate to your passion/purpose: it doesn’t matter much to top schools’ admissions officers if you’ve been a member of 5 or 6 clubs actively all throughout high school, and also do volunteering and build a nonprofit. What matters is that what you do outside of school reflects your passion—that it all connects together. Your admissions officer wants to see as much evidence as possible that you have a personal passion, and what you do outside of school needs to be reflective of that.
Know the game: Be familiar with how the admissions process works at elite schools, from screening to scoring to the committee. Most people consider the admissions office to be a sort of black box—most applicants don’t know what really goes on after their application gets submitted. First, your application will likely go through a screening round before it ever reaches the admissions officer, who will do the more in-depth consideration of your application. If your application doesn’t stand out and you don’t convince someone through a quick glance at your application that you’re special, you probably won’t make it to the real review. Second, at most of these top schools, each aspect of your application is GRADED on a scale. For example, they’ll grade your education, your extracurriculars, your recommendation letters, and (most importantly) your “personal character”. Then, each admissions officer will bring their stack of applications to a committee meeting where they present a profile to a group of admissions officers, and a group vote decides who is admitted and who’s not.
Get strong letters of recommendation from titans in the field you’re interested in: admissions officers at the end of the day are individuals with a single person’s knowledge. They most likely won’t be experts in the field you’re passionate about. One of the best ways to get them to believe that you’re bound for great things is to get a strong letter of recommendation from someone who already has a big name and has already done great things. If this established person can speak and vouch for you, then the admissions office is going to believe that you will carry out your passion and become an influential individual.
Get your interview right: your interview is another thing that’s highly influential in making your case to admissions. The office values the opinions and comments of a school alum who has actually seen and talked to you and gotten a sense for who you are, as an outsider. For example, my interviewer for Yale wrote, “I have interviewed for 30 years, and Josh is definitely in the top 4 students I’ve talked to, to date”, to which my admissions officer wrote, “WOW” on my file.
If you want help with your college application preparation, from writing your essays to getting rec letters and preparing for interviews, our group Avenues will help you nail down each and every point. You can schedule a FREE consultation to learn more at youravenues.com and also follow our Instagram and TikTok @youravenues for college application content!
Wishing you all the best of luck this cycle!