Not all elite colleges observe if applicants take additional action besides applying to show that they are already interested in becoming students of a given college. However, there are several, such as Dartmouth, Duke & Northwestern, that supposedly pay some degree of attention. While applying early is the strongest sign that an applicant really wants to join the student body, there are a few other ways to demonstrate interest:
The quest for admission into any elite college carries a low chance of success for most applicants, while demanding a significant investment of time and emotion. So, it is natural to ask if it is worthwhile. The answer is as varied as the person answering it and is still much debated. Because our journey did come to a successful conclusion, we believe the following reasons is why it could be worth it to some:
College admission essays are crucial because that is how admission staff gets to know applicants without ever meeting them. Bear in mind that admission essays are fundamentally different from essays that applicants normally write in high school. Here are several pointers to help craft a memorable essay:
In our opinion, no. As it is, getting admitted is going from difficult to very, very difficult. Perversely, the test optional movement may have contributed to that phenomenon, by significantly increasing the number of applications. In turn, acceptance rates plummet since the number of available spots did not increase accordingly (if at all). Low acceptance rates make elite colleges look more exclusive and it is easy to see how the cycle of increasing difficulty keeps going. One could argue that the elite colleges are the big winners. We believe that applicants should take the ACT (skip the essay) and the SAT, especially now that all testing centers are back in operation. Otherwise, a very compelling substitute narrative would be required.
In order for an applicant’s extracurricular activities to impress admissions committees, he/she should show spike(s), activities where the achievement level is undoubtedly excellent. Such level shows not only passion but also discipline. A spike that carries national/international recognition or in some cases regional/state recognition (e.g. ranked in national competitions or state champion) would boost the applicant. In the absence of very distinctive spikes, the next best thing would be to combine spikes of lesser significance. For admissions purposes, activities are not created equal. The following are our observations:
