What College Admissions Officers Look For
There are guides and advice all over the internet and all around the world telling you what college admissions officers are seeking in new students. Most of these guides will give you a simple list, something like this:
- High school GPA
- SAT scores
- AP courses and test scores.
- College essays
- Extracurricular activities
- Recommendations and references
- Interviews
- Application questions
- Personal factors such as race, gender, ethnicity and background
All of these are relevant, certainly. Your grades and test scores are integral to getting into college, but they are not everything. If you do not or have not done well on your entrance exam, don’t be discouraged. There are still other things you need to keep in mind:
Find the college that’s looking for you. Don’t lie on your application. Don’t cheat on your entrance exams. Don’t pretend to be something you are not. You’ll only be lying for the next three or four years, and maybe even beyond that. At some time it will catch up to you.
There is no single formula for getting into college. The list above is ordered very differently from one college to the next. There are schools that emphasize different faiths, aspects of your background or that look for students with skills in leadership or other features outside of academics.
Be yourself. If you fit into a college or specific academic standing, then congratulations. If not, then there are other possibilities more suited to your likes and disposition. Many of the most successful people in the world never set foot in college or never fit in at college or university.
