How can your child stand out?

Colleges receive an increasing number of applications each year from accomplished students for roughly the same number of spots.  How can your child stand out? 

Most college applicants participate in a variety of extracurricular activities.  They’ve earned leadership positions, volunteered, taken summer courses at universities and participated in theater and athletics.  With so many candidates having similar applications, it can be difficult for admissions officers to differentiate students. This does not remove the heartbreak when many qualified applicants get rejected.

When I was in high school, we were told to participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible to appear well rounded. The game has changed!  So what are colleges looking for?

When admissions readers come across students with a list of “well-rounded” extracurricular activities, it’s difficult to pinpoint what makes them different from their peers. What makes Charlie memorable? He did well in his classes and on his SATs, joined multiple clubs, and played saxophone in the school band. Does he stand out?  On the other hand, Michele also played saxophone in the school band, raised money to purchase band equipment for children in local, underfunded elementary schools, and organized a band competition in her community for charity that was covered by multiple media outlets, including the local newspaper. Michele has an “it factor” that she could leverage for successful admissions.  If we knew nothing else about Charlie or Michele, we would likely find Michele to be the more interesting student, as well as the student who has demonstrated greater initiative, impact, and leadership.

College admissions reps often discuss how they’re looking to admit diverse applicants. Most people misunderstand this to mean that colleges simply want to accept individuals from diverse backgrounds. While these factors are important, colleges are also looking for diversity when it comes to students’ abilities, interests, and achievements. 

There is no single path to achieving extracurricular success. It is important to identify the right opportunities for your child rather than jump into clubs out of anxiety or because you heard an activity “looks good” on college applications. One of the biggest mistakes is becoming a “chronic joiner.”  By participating in too many extracurricular activities, students can spend so much time doing busy work for various committees, sitting in meetings, and attending mandatory rehearsals that having fun and being a kid, along with completing homework, feels impossible. Often, this kind of resume demonstrate little initiative and creativity to admissions committees. I want to help your child develop discernibly unique skills.