Critical Elements of a College Application
Dear Parents:
Standing out to colleges is a multi-tied task for high school students. One of the items colleges receive from the high school counselor along with the transcript is the high school profile when students apply to college. Students do not have much control over their high school’s profile that is sent with their transcript when they submit their college applications. But, students and parents can definitely ask to review the high school profile, preferably during their junior year, not their senior year when it may be too late to request any changes to the profile before it goes to the student’s colleges. When reading the high school profile, make sure it is an accurate reflection of your high school with correct data about AP classes offered and average test scores as well as a good description of the school.
Another important element of a student’s college application is their resume. All the different activities, clubs, athletics and interesting experiences the student has done during their high school career are important. Interesting projects and activities students do outside of the classroom that are not required can add to a student’s competitive strength to a college.
For instance, students who select challenging, less common senior year projects will get more attention when their application is being reviewed for acceptance to a college. Students who do independent research and even have the opportunity to publish are significantly more interesting and demonstrate more “depth” than students who only do what is required of them in high school. The term “Intellectual Vitality” is used by some more elite college admission professionals to describe students who have gone beyond the norm and demonstrated this by the impressive activities they did during their first three years of high school (senior year activities are not seen when students apply to college).
The second article about senior projects is good to share with underclassmen so they have time to plan for their senior year.
Thank you for taking the time to read these articles. Parents of high school students need to encourage their students to do more than just academics during their time in high school. It is so important that students become interesting young people that colleges will want on their campuses to contribute to their campus community.
Sincerely,
Catherine L. Marrs, CEP
How a 'High School Profile' Makes or Breaks a College Application
Since the Common Application made significant changes in membership policies a number of years ago, many colleges moved to streamline admissions requirements and eliminated elements of what was once considered essential to a complete application for admission.
Source: Nancy Griesemer - College Explorations
5 Resume-Worthy High School Senior Project Ideas
Whether you’re looking to go straight to college, travel, take a gap year or find a job straight out of high school, it is so vital to choose a senior project that will make you stand out in whatever you do. [...]
Here are five senior project ideas that will get those creative juices flowing and surely make you stand out.
Source: Lynn O'Shaughnessy - The College Solution