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What can a junior do to stand out for collage applications?
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Doc’s Answer
Jazzy everyone applying to college wonders "What exactly are colleges looking for in applicants" While all colleges are different, of course, with some valuing certain qualities or skills more or less than other schools, all colleges generally look for smart, studious, ambitious, and passionate students. Therefore, your college application should emphasize your best, most impressive qualities. For example, if you play the piano and want to study music in college, you'll want to touch on this interest you have in different areas of your application.
MAKE YOUR APPLICATION STANDOUT
📚 CHALLENGING COURSES
Excellent Grades in Challenging Courses
The first important part of the college application is the transcript, which consists of your GPA and the names and types of classes you've taken in high school. What's truly important, though, isn't that you simply have a high GPA overall but rather that you have a GPA that's higher than the average GPA of admitted students at the college you're applying to. To find a college's average GPA, search "[School Name] PrepScholar admission requirements" on Google and then click our database link to that school. This page will show you what the school's average GPA is, in addition to other admission requirements.
📝 WELL-WRITTEN ESSAY
The personal statement is an important part of your college application as it's one of the only areas where you can really showcase your personality. So how can you ensure your essay will impress the admissions committee? Generally, colleges are looking for three main qualities in a personal essay:
• HONESTY: What you write about should have actually happened to you and should be how you actually feel. Exaggerating details and outright lying are big no-nos here!
• SPECIFICITY: Using concrete details to effectively convey your thoughts, views, and experiences will make your essay a lot more memorable, personable, and—most importantly unique.
• ELOQUENCE: Don't expect to get accepted anywhere if your essay is poorly written and full of grammar and spelling errors. A great personal statement has a sensible organization, tells a compelling story, and is completely free of technical errors.
🧩 EXTRACURRICULARS
Almost every college will want to know what kinds of extracurricular activities you do or have done in your spare time. The trick here is to provide not a list of all the random activities you've done but rather a detailed overview of one to two of your most passionate interests and any big achievements you've made in them.
In other words, you need to figure out what your "spike" is. As an example, say you plan to major in biology. You'll stand out as an applicant if you have tons of biology- or science-related experiences under your belt. Maybe you're part of your school's biology club, or maybe you volunteered at a local research lab, which taught you the basics of handling lab equipment. In addition to having a variety of experiences and sufficient background knowledge in the field, you want to highlight any relevant major accomplishments you have. For instance, maybe you won a science fair your sophomore year of high school; most recently, you submitted an award-winning invention idea to a national science contest. All of these accomplishments illustrate your deep accomplishment and knowledge in the field of science.
✉️ LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Most colleges require at least one letter of recommendation from either your high school counselor or a high school teacher. If you're asking for a letter from a teacher, make sure to choose someone whose class you got a high grade in (ideally an A) and who is familiar with your abilities, ambitions, and interests. Typically, you'll need to submit at least one letter from a teacher who taught a core class (so math, English, science, or social studies). It's a good idea to also get a letter from a teacher who works in the field you plan to major in. So if you got an A in AP English and plan to major in English, asking that teacher for a recommendation letter would give a great boost to your application.
👥 MEASURABLE VOLUNTEERING
Colleges love it when an applicant has not simply volunteered but has also made a measurable impact with their volunteering efforts. What does this mean exactly If you have volunteered somewhere or for an organization, your assistance should have resulted in a noticeable, positive change to the group, community, or area you were aiming to help. For instance, say you volunteered at a local library. Maybe the library was struggling to get funds to continue operating, and you came up with the idea to hold a 24-hour reading marathon in order to raise money. The fundraiser ended up making more than $5,000, a figure that would be a concrete indicator of the positive impact your service had on the library. With your college application, then, you could specifically mention how your initiative allowed the library to remain open.
Hope this is helpful Jazzy
MAKE YOUR APPLICATION STANDOUT
📚 CHALLENGING COURSES
Excellent Grades in Challenging Courses
The first important part of the college application is the transcript, which consists of your GPA and the names and types of classes you've taken in high school. What's truly important, though, isn't that you simply have a high GPA overall but rather that you have a GPA that's higher than the average GPA of admitted students at the college you're applying to. To find a college's average GPA, search "[School Name] PrepScholar admission requirements" on Google and then click our database link to that school. This page will show you what the school's average GPA is, in addition to other admission requirements.
📝 WELL-WRITTEN ESSAY
The personal statement is an important part of your college application as it's one of the only areas where you can really showcase your personality. So how can you ensure your essay will impress the admissions committee? Generally, colleges are looking for three main qualities in a personal essay:
• HONESTY: What you write about should have actually happened to you and should be how you actually feel. Exaggerating details and outright lying are big no-nos here!
• SPECIFICITY: Using concrete details to effectively convey your thoughts, views, and experiences will make your essay a lot more memorable, personable, and—most importantly unique.
• ELOQUENCE: Don't expect to get accepted anywhere if your essay is poorly written and full of grammar and spelling errors. A great personal statement has a sensible organization, tells a compelling story, and is completely free of technical errors.
🧩 EXTRACURRICULARS
Almost every college will want to know what kinds of extracurricular activities you do or have done in your spare time. The trick here is to provide not a list of all the random activities you've done but rather a detailed overview of one to two of your most passionate interests and any big achievements you've made in them.
In other words, you need to figure out what your "spike" is. As an example, say you plan to major in biology. You'll stand out as an applicant if you have tons of biology- or science-related experiences under your belt. Maybe you're part of your school's biology club, or maybe you volunteered at a local research lab, which taught you the basics of handling lab equipment. In addition to having a variety of experiences and sufficient background knowledge in the field, you want to highlight any relevant major accomplishments you have. For instance, maybe you won a science fair your sophomore year of high school; most recently, you submitted an award-winning invention idea to a national science contest. All of these accomplishments illustrate your deep accomplishment and knowledge in the field of science.
✉️ LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Most colleges require at least one letter of recommendation from either your high school counselor or a high school teacher. If you're asking for a letter from a teacher, make sure to choose someone whose class you got a high grade in (ideally an A) and who is familiar with your abilities, ambitions, and interests. Typically, you'll need to submit at least one letter from a teacher who taught a core class (so math, English, science, or social studies). It's a good idea to also get a letter from a teacher who works in the field you plan to major in. So if you got an A in AP English and plan to major in English, asking that teacher for a recommendation letter would give a great boost to your application.
👥 MEASURABLE VOLUNTEERING
Colleges love it when an applicant has not simply volunteered but has also made a measurable impact with their volunteering efforts. What does this mean exactly If you have volunteered somewhere or for an organization, your assistance should have resulted in a noticeable, positive change to the group, community, or area you were aiming to help. For instance, say you volunteered at a local library. Maybe the library was struggling to get funds to continue operating, and you came up with the idea to hold a 24-hour reading marathon in order to raise money. The fundraiser ended up making more than $5,000, a figure that would be a concrete indicator of the positive impact your service had on the library. With your college application, then, you could specifically mention how your initiative allowed the library to remain open.
Hope this is helpful Jazzy
Updated
Brice’s Answer
Start volunteering, preferably in a field that has something to do with what you would like to major in or minor in.
Ben Reagan
Digital Learning Consultant (Content Writer and Business Consultant)
1
Answer
Updated
Ben’s Answer
Volunteer and write about how your experiences impacted you on your college essay and how you care about giving back to your community.
Also, try to find an internship and job shadow people in careers you’re interested in. Take AP courses and study hard to obtain credit on AP exams at the end of the year.
Take practice ACT (or SAT) tests for free online and possibly buy a workbook or utilize free ACT prep resources online so you can get a higher score. Remember you can take the ACT multiple times and only submit your highest score!
Also, try to find an internship and job shadow people in careers you’re interested in. Take AP courses and study hard to obtain credit on AP exams at the end of the year.
Take practice ACT (or SAT) tests for free online and possibly buy a workbook or utilize free ACT prep resources online so you can get a higher score. Remember you can take the ACT multiple times and only submit your highest score!
Updated
Amiya’s Answer
Maximize your ability to speak on what you have done, no matter if you think its the smallest thing. I think the biggest part of a process is being able to convey what we do well effectively and how we bring value.