Sarbeth Fleming, Westminister
What makes a college admission rep want to admit a student? Great test scores, yes. Great gpa and rigor, yes......what else? That is the million dollar question students, parents, and counselors want to know.
The presenters of this session did a great job of conveying what admission counselors are looking for in their applicants.
Passion:
An application should read like a book. There should be a theme that overrides the application. If a student is interested in computer science that should be demonstrated in their course selection, community service, extra curricular activities, etc. A student can/should venture outside the area for well roundedness, but the admissions rep should not be unclear on what the "theme" is for the application. If everything is a priority in your application, then nothing is.
The Essay:
-The one thing that a student can control in the application process is the essay.
- It should be representative of who you are. If you lost your essay in the hall and one of your teachers or friends picked it up, would they know it was yours?
- Davidson has an opportunity for students to review essays from the previous years accepted students on their website (www.davidson.edu/connect).
- If the essay question asks why Davidson? How do you answer that question?
If you went on a college visit, quote your tour guide, research professors you might have, students that you have spoken with that attend that institution, etc. DO NOT reword what they have on their website- they will know that was a superficial glance at their admissions materials. They should not be able to take Davidson out of the essay and submit another schools name. Example: Small class size, beautiful campus, and other generic statements are not what they want to read. Make it specific to their institution.
- Stay away from cliche topics- every essay question has a cliche answer.
List one thing that has had the largest impact on your life- mission trip
Where do you feel comfort? Your bedroom
Discuss an obstacle that you have overcome? Athletic injury
All cliche answers. College admissions rep read those answers over and over again. Stay away from the normal answer. Think deeper, think outside the box. Don't focus on the cliche, focus on the after -what are you doing differently as a result of that event. The result is what they want to know.
A great exercise for students is to list out the following:
Honors/AP
GPA
Test scores
Activities/interest
Honors/recognition
Then look at them all together and ask why? Why did you select those courses? Why did you pick those clubs? What is your theme? If you had to develop a tag line for yourself what would it be?
Now is a great time to start working on those essays for college. Have multiple people read and critique them. For highly selective schools you need to spend much time and thought on your essays. This is an area where you can shine among a sea of thousands of applicants. Use this area of the application to help you, not hurt you.
