What Colleges are Really Looking for in the Admissions Process
The Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), a professional organization for independent college consultants, released its ranking of What Colleges Look for in High School Students, based on an annual survey of nearly 2,000 independent educational consultants. While grades and standardized test scores are near the top of these annual rankings, a number of significant changes and surprises are challenging the assumptions about college admissions. Number one on the list: A challenging curriculum. New to the list: The family’s ability to pay tuition. The much-discussed social media presence of students? Not so much.
Students applying to college often fret over every detail of the application. However, the rankings from IECA should be a reminder to students that not all aspects of the application are treated equally. IECA advises students not to worry about things that don’t matter all that much in the colleges’ decision-making.
Many students and parents are surprised to hear that the leading criteria universities want to see isn’t grades (#2) or standardized test scores (#3), but rather evidence that a student took as rigorous a high school curriculum as they could. “Colleges want to know that future students don’t shy away from a challenge,” said IECA’s CEO, Mark Sklarow. “Grades and scores are important, but it is far better to accept a challenge, show some grit, and earn a slightly lower grade if necessary than to breeze through high school with easy courses and straight A’s.”
Item #4 in the ranking—the essay—is also the most misunderstood, according to IECA. The essay tends to be more important at smaller and independent colleges. But too many students think the essay is about construction, grammar and format. IECA warns that while these matter (typos and bad grammar should never happen), the essay must show insight into a student’s unique personality or life-shaping experiences. An essay that worked in an English class is unlikely to be one that is appropriate for the college application. “This essay should help the reader—that all-important admission counselor—better appreciate who you are, what shaped you, and what makes you tick,” says Sklarow. “That doesn’t mean a student needs some life altering trip; rather a simple ongoing volunteer commitment or personal interaction may be worth sharing.”
Two new items ranked on the list from IECA. Debuting at #7 is the family’s ability to pay. While some schools are “need blind” in their admissions decisions, many are not. Increasingly, according to IECA, colleges take into consideration who can contribute to the school’s bottom line. Another increasingly important factor was a student’s character and values (#12). Colleges increasingly contemplate what campus life will be like and how a particular applicant will add—or detract—from the campus. Colleges want to see leaders, students with special skills or talents, and those who have been active in campus activities, as well as those whose values fit a college’s view of itself. Colleges also seek diversity, striving for a campus made up of those from varied cultural, social, economic, geographic, religious, and occupational backgrounds (#9).
Much has been written in recent years about social media (what a student’s online life reveals). The IECA rankings showed this area to be of less importance than other items. As a matter of fact, it didn’t even make the list. Demonstrated interest however (how an applicant demonstrates a genuine desire to attend) continues to be a variable at most colleges. Sklarow cautioned that “Every college is unique, so each emphasizes something different in its process of reviewing applications. One of the great benefits of hiring an independent educational consultant is their knowledge of such differences, and their ability to share this information with students as they guide them through the application process.”
Are you looking for expert guidance with the college admissions process? At North Shore College Consulting we are here to help you with every step of the college admissions process. Send us an email at info@nscollegeconsulting.net.