Blog posts on college admissions by Arjun Seth
How to fill the Activities Page on the Common App
The activities section is one of the most important parts of your application, particularly if you are applying to very selective colleges. Many students who apply to these schools have top GPAs and test scores, so extracurricular activities are one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicant pool and make yourself stand out as an exceptional candidate.
Colleges want to know what your life is like outside of the classroom. Have you developed strong interests over time? Are you a leader? They are looking for students who are potential pioneers in their future fields. While college is certainly a place to explore new interests, admissions committees want to see that you have an idea of the kinds of activities about which you are curious and at which might excel, so that college will nurture these talents and push you to succeed further.
You should spend some time considering what to include in the activities section of the Common Application. There are certain limits, so it is essential to be selective and concise. Unlike your education and testing, you have control over what to include and how to describe your activities, so you should put some thought into it.
The Common Application offers a drop-down menu with the following activities from which to select:
For each activity you include on your application, choose the appropriate category. If you find that a particular extracurricular activity fits into multiple categories, choose the more specific one (e.g. “Math Club” would go into “Science/Math as opposed to Academic”). If the activity fits into two equally specific categories, choose the more relevant one. You will have the opportunity to expand in the description if you need to do so.
Since the list is fairly broad, you will probably find that your activity fits into at least one of the sections available. If not, select “Other Club/Activity” and identify it in the “Position/Leadership” description and organization name section. In this case, unless the position and organization names are fairly self-explanatory or very recognizable, you will need to be a bit more specific in your description.
Colleges do want to see that you are specialized, but you probably don’t want to choose the same category for every activity. If it seems like you are choosing one category for everything, try to diversify a bit and think about how activities can be related without being exactly the same thing.
For example, if you are the secretary in student government and participated in a leadership program over the summer, select “Student Government/Politics” for the secretary position, and “Career-Oriented” for the leadership program. Both categories indicate that you are a driven leader, but they present different facets of your personality. Things like Model UN would be considered “Debate/ Speech” and if you hold a position on the executive board, also select the “other” option and list it as a position of leadership.
This is it for this edition of filling out the common app activities. Keep a lot out on other entries on selecting what activities to include and how to write the description for each activity! Can’t wait for the blogs? Come meet us for coffee!
How Many College Apps are Enough?
Once you have a college list and are ready toembark on the applications process, stop and think: how many colleges do you plan to apply to? Its an important question that we sometimes forget to answer in the rush to write essays and finish making college lists. There is no straight answer to this, but one that needs qualitative reasoning. Can you afford all the colleges you are applying to; does your list have a dream, reach, safety names; do you have the time to apply to all the college (most have supplemental essays and requirements other than the common app); and lastly, do you see yourself in the colleges on your list?
The last one is an important point to focus on. Apply to schools that you actually want to attend, or that you have some reason for wanting to attend. Have you visited the school? Does it have an atmosphere or programs that interest you and suit your needs? Is there something about the curriculum - the courses required of you to graduate - that is either hugely appealing - or might be a real turn-off? Do you even know what’s offered and required at these many schools to which you’re applying?
How will you know any of these things? Each website is a place to start, but websites are sources of information as well as advertisements. They will not give you the low-down on what it’s really like to be a student in these places. These three resources will give you another perspective: 1. College Prowler - tons of statistics and up-to-date student comments about every aspect of the institution. 2. The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, edited by the Yale Daily News - a sassy, student’s-eye view of some 350 colleges and universities, arranged by state. 3. The Best 378 Colleges, full of great stats and quotes from students and administrations about what each school offers. It’s not up to applicants to make the college admissions officers’ lives easier, but it is important for applicants, and their families, to understand the big picture. And it might make sense for high school counseling offices to set limits on how many applications a student can send in. The high schools, after all, have to send transcripts and letters to every college, and teachers are enlisted to write letters of recommendation. There are already limits at some schools.
The mania to apply to more and more and more colleges will either continue and skew the process even more than it’s already skewed, or enough families and administrators will put the brakes on at different points in the process. Here’s hoping that its the latter.
Making a College List
Let’s start by breaking one misconception. A college list cannot be made in a day. It takes time, research, and most importantly conversation. Unlike how you choose a burger off a menu item at a restaurant, choosing a college has a lot of variables that once analyzed leads to more confusion and why wouldn't it? A burger lasts for thirty minutes, an education lasts for your lifetime. So then how do you begin ideating on a college list? Well, you start with the generic search: find the countries that fascinate you, look at top colleges, and start reading. Reading and research gets you a long way into understanding the kind of education an institution offers and where you might fit in. Reading also allows you to understand your likes or dislikes. You may love the major but hate the location, or love the weather but the political situation in the area might be in conflict with your beliefs. These are all things that make decisions and no one opinion is small. Remember, that even the smartest kids choose not to go to Harvard because its not made for everyone. A college is an acquired taste and research can help you understand what might be the closest to what you want.
Willard Cox, a well known admissions counsellor describes college search like finding the perfect house. You begin with an image of what you would like and then go out shopping. You see what the market has to offer and while there may not be the exact perfect house, you find that you can make accommodations with what the market has to offer, or better yet find things in a house (like a fireplace or a sunroom) that you absolutely love and didn't even account for. I love this analogy because of how close it is to the college search process. Once you are versed with what a college can/ should have (i.e. understand the basic structure of a “house") you can create a list of must have expectations and go out shopping.
This is how we work with our students. We give them the basic building blocks through links and books, and then take them on a virtual sale by talking to them, sexting up interviews, and most importantly by having the experience of seeing more than 200 colleges, a majority of which we take notes about and blog as we go along. Conversations about college expectations can change the colleges and even complete career goals. We have had many students who just wanted to apply to the top US News ranked schools but through ideating realized that their wants and desires were a complete mismatch and that perhaps a smaller liberal arts school was the way forward for them.
Students that are just starting out on their college list, here are three things that you should do:
- Research so that you can come up with a set of expectations what you need in a college
- Talk to as many people as possible. Don't be swayed by only one opinion and try to construct of your own
- Be open to change. The list you start with will not be the one you will end with.
Of course, if you still have questions, have a chat with us. We are always happy to help!
How do you Demonstrate Interest to Colleges?
Some aspects of the college admissions process are fairly straightforward, such as grades and standardized tests scores. Others may be a little less clear, like demonstrating interest in specific colleges. So how do you navigate around expressing interest to a college? Here are some tips:
- Find the colleges you want to focus: Finding colleges that you want give more attention to is important. You cannot focus on all your colleges but giving the ones you feel you really see yourself going to will help a lot.
- Meet Admissions Representatives and go to college fairs: These are places where colleges are really exposed and want to hear you out. Go talk to admissions reps, show them your face, a resume, and ask meaningful questions so that they remember you while reading your apps. Admissions reps divide regions and countries amongst themselves which means that the ones coming to you might be the ones that read your applications first. Making an impression with them will be important!
- Email lists: Once you have met a college rep, you are entered into a college database as students that are interested in the institution. Signing up on email lists demonstrates interest as well as gives you great fodder for interviews and supplemental applications. In fact, colleges can track how much time you spend on their website, another metric to track your engagement which is important to know about.
- Campus Visits: This might be hard for most people applying from outside of the US but visiting the actual campus is one of the best ways of figuring out if you will fit in. While reading about the school and speaking with representatives can give you a general idea of what the college is like, you might not really be able to tell until you actually see the physical space. How does the campus make you feel? Do the students seem similar to you? How will you fit in? Does the campus meet or even exceed your expectations? Visiting college not only gives you a sense of how well you might fit in, but also shows the colleges that you are invested enough in their school to make the effort to see it firsthand
- Setting up an interview: As mentioned above, if you do get the opportunity to visit a college, be sure to request an on-campus interview if the college offers this option. Some colleges may offer them at specific times or (e.g. once you’ve applied, junior spring, senior fall, etc.) so be sure to request it when the timing is right. While some colleges may tell you that the interview is non-evaluative, the fact is, it is still part of your application—and another way for them to gauge your interest in the school. If a college does offer on-campus interviews and is in a location that is reasonably accessible to you, it may look like you don’t care enough to make the effort if you don’t request one. If the school is not within driving distance, you may be able to request an off-campus interview with a parent or alum or when they fly down to your city.
Contact us and find out about more ways to interact with colleges, upcoming college coming to Delhi, as well tips for interviewing, and creating your brand!
Canada: The New Institutional Heaven?
For the longest time, the United States was the most popular country for international students. However, there is a rising trend in the number of students choosing Canada over the US. According to a recent report from RBC Economics, the number of international students enrolled in post-secondary education in Canada surged from 180,000 in 2007 to 415,000 in 2016 — that’s a 130 percent increase in nine years. Where are the students coming from? China and India.
Chinese and Indian citizens are increasingly choosing to study in Canada, and they in fact dominate the international student population in many Canadian universities. The 132,000 Chinese students studying in Canada make up one-third of all foreign students in Canada — a three-fold increase from a decade ago. The number of students from India grew ten times over the last decade, reaching 80,000 in 2016.
There are many reasons why Canada is becoming so big:
According to the OECD’s “Programme for International Student Assessment”, Canada ranked 7th globally for education performance, above Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.
International student tuition fees in Canada are substantially lower than that of our southern neighbour — it costs an average of $22,000/year to study in Canada, as opposed to $33,000/year to study in America.
Canada has open borders and wants to keep it that way. They are trying to keep international graduates in the country by giving them employment and permanent residency
The open borders are making it easier for students to think about Canada as an alternative education society, especially for students who want to actually live in the country because at the end of the day the name and level of education would be much higher with a degree from the US but yes, immigration after education in the United States is still a little tricky.
Don't Let Your Grades Define You
The last two years of high school are challenging. There are social pressures, boards, internal exams, extracurriculars, projects, research, and if that wasn't enough: Standardized testing, Common App essays, and supplemental essays. These years are challenging just to go through but the added pressure of getting amazing grades can be immensely stressful. Even though your parents may say that grades don't matter; admissions officers, teachers, and even friends may be creating this hype that scores are the only thing that will get you into school. You could also chalk it up to a fear of failure. A fear that your first major decision may not hold up to whatever idea your parents, friends, or family have of you; or worse yet, what you thought of yourself.
There needs to be a balance. You cannot just be chasing numbers. Don't get me wrong, grades do matter, just not as much as you think. Grades give you a great goal to work towards, especially in the case of university admission cut-offs. They offer a great way to gauge your improvement in each subject, but that’s about it. What grades don’t show, though, is the time you spend volunteering, learning to play the guitar, or simply learning to love yourself. They can’t gauge how much you grow as person.
Here are some things to do if you are truly struggling:
Ask for help: The sooner you reach out, the sooner you’ll understand the content, and the sooner you can move on to more exciting things.
Listen to your body: Understand how much you can study one and take constructive breaks that actually recharge you. Go for a run, hang with your friends, spend too much time on a couch watching Netflix. Your call.
Lastly, remember you will get through this!
The Rise in SAT/ACT Optional Schools
There was a time when one of the most important things that students had to do in order to be eligible to just apply to college was take the SAT standardized test. It became the benchmark in the American education system. A number that ranked students in the country and acted like a key to colleges based on their scores. Even though the US is largely holistic, the numbers played an important part in the overall prestige of the college as well. According to the U.S. News Rankings 22.5% of the scores that a college is weighted on is Academic Reputation which is derived from the median SAT scores that students achieve. Soon the ACT crept in and challenged the SAT by providing a science section and engaging a students intellect in a differ and now almost favored way.
However, there is a rise in the number of test-optional schools in the country. There are a few reasons why this is gaining traction:
- George Washington University in 2015 chose to be test option because it wanted to increase the number of students who didn't score well but have great academic profiles to apply
- Wake Forest realized that standardized testing was reducing the number of minorities that were applying and chose to go test optional to increase overall diversity. Pitzer college said a similar thing. According to reports Pitzer’s diversity has gone up by 58% since the policy change.
- Other colleges such as Bates claim that standardized testing is taking away time from students to apply themselves in their school studies and extra curriculars which admissions couselors prioritize a lot more.
This policy helps colleges as well. If students choose to send their SAT scores, they only do so if they have done exceptionally well which increases the overall score median for the school thereby beefing up their academic reputation in the US News Rankings. Standardized tests are not for everyone. If they stress you or take a lot of your time, consider applying to the over 500 colleges that are test optional.
Studying Medicine Abroad
While the world is your oyster in terms of what and where you want to study, as an Indian citizen studying medicine outside of India is next to impossible. In the United States, most med schools are funded in part by the government which means that a strong majority of the seats would be open to only US citizens and permanent residents. In 2013, about 1,088 non-US citizens/residents applied, 115 of which did get in. The average admit rate into med school was as low as 1% This means that competition is hard and the that you have to complete a four year undergrad degree before going to med school makes both financially and temporally draining as well.
The UK has good medical programs and according to reports the government will fund up to 1,500 additional student places through medical school each year. The number of medical training places available to students each year will be expanded to ensure the National Health Society- the country’s public run healthcare program has enough doctors to continue to provide care in the future. While number of opportunities to study are increasing, the UK provides no guarantee for an internship, residency, or any employment opportunity since healthcare is largely state run and there aren't many private players are allowed to be in the sector. This makes the return on investment difficult to digest. Europe does have some medical colleges that run on a foreign student model where students get their medical degrees and then apply for a license to practice in India. Nothumbria University (UK) has a 2+4 program with St. Andrew’s University in Jamaica. Another popular option is Charles University in Prague which is very liberal on Indian students and is recognized by the Indian Medical Board.
If you are serious about medicine (specifically, in being a doctor) and have no other citizenship other than Indian, working through the Indian education system would be the best. Contact us and we could help you plan your Medical career plan.
The Increasing problem with Legacies
"The system is biased." This is a phrase synonymous with college admissions in India. Because of the ever increasing quotas, the number of vacancies for regular admission is steadily reducing. Affirmative action in India is definitely driving the more affluent students to opportunities abroad simply because of a supply and demand mismatch. In the United States, a similar wave of discontent is being observed. The most affluent (white, upper middle class) are complaining that opportunities for their children is ever reducing-- even though almost 50% (if not more) of any tier-1 college is white. In comparison only 30% of the seats in Delhi University are actually open to non minorities. Essentially there isn't much of a disparity, however the new government is finding ways to revoke Obama era affirmative action plans.
This focus on affirmative action is taking from another quota in the American system-- Legacy Students. Legacy students (or legacies) are candidates who are given bonus points because their parents went to the same college. According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) said colleges shouldn’t consider an applicant’s race. Yet they were more evenly divided over legacies. While 52 percent said colleges shouldn’t consider whether an applicant’s parents are alumni, 46 percent said that should be a factor. There are definitely both sides to the coin. A sustained partnership with a school should be rewarded but should it be prized over a student who might be a better fit to the college? While some larger public universities such as Georgia State understand this issue and have reduced the number of legacy admissions, some of the more prestigious private colleges still run on the legacy membership model.
No matter where you stand on this debate, I find there to be some optimism here. At the end of the day, if you do get rejected from a college, it may not be that you were qualified for the college, it could just be that you didn't fit exactly what they were looking for and that's fine. Not every Harvard alum becomes a millionaire but a great education will always get you to your dreams.
How to Interview like a Pro
These couple of months are when a majority of college admissions representatives would be visiting India and meeting with interested students which means that preparing a solid interview strategy would be very helpful.
Here are some things that you should know about the nature of these interviews:
- These interviews are built to add a face to the application which helps greatly. Additionally, there is a high chance that the person interviewing you would also be the one reading your admissions application
- This is as much as an interview for you as it is a sales pitch for the institution: Colleges take this as an opportunity to really sell their college and would try to weave a narrative based on the your responses to their questions
- A bad interview (for the most part) does not jeopardize your chances of getting into the college, but a great interview can leave a lasting impression on an admissions counsellor
What questions to expect at such an interview:
- What classes are you taking?
- What are the things you do outside the classroom?
- If asked, what would your school teachers tell me about you?
- What is it that you would like to do in college?
- Why this college?
- Are there any questions for me? (most important question)
Things to do before the interview:
- Research: Know as much as you can about the college. Read up reviews and come into the interview with at least 6 questions
- Dress well: Most students choose to dress casually but be business casual at the least. It shows that you are serious and have come here with a plan
During the interview:
- Meet interviewers with a smile and introduce yourself well
- Enunciate and talk like you are passionate about the things that you are doing (think of this like a first date. You cannot unravel all your flaws but this doesn't mean that you lie)
- Each interview is allotted 30 minutes but if you just answer all the questions, the interview will only last for 10. Get comfortable as quickly as possible and be conversant. Again, remember: A bad interview does not jeopardize your chances of getting into the college, but a great interview can leave a lasting impression on an admissions counsellor
We hope this was helpful. Contact us if you would like to schedule mock interviews or if you would just like to know more Ed Brand!