Steve LeMenager, educational consultant for Edvice in Princeton, NJ, and former Director of Admission at Princeton University, sums up the essential qualities that the most competitive colleges seek.
1. Be adventurous.
Look beyond the Northeast corridor. There are spectacular schools around the country (and the world) that would love to have you. These are places that, if they happened to be in Connecticut or Massachusetts or New York, would be more recognized, and frankly, better appreciated here. And these colleges could be a better match for you! Remember, this is just the next step in your life's journey, not a crowning achievement or the ultimate endgame. Although college is a temporary destination, it can offer not only an education, but exposure to a different part of the world and possibly a different culture. Embrace the possibilities!
2. Be authentic.
There's a tendency in this process to try to present yourself to the mythical college reader in a way that you think they want to see, in a way that shows you to be the 'perfect' college applicant. Well, there's no such thing, and therein lies the folly. You are much, much more impressive than you think you are, honest! Sure, you can be creative and clever with your essays or in other parts of your self-presentation, but they must reflect accurately who you are and what you're about. Admission readers are like CSIs; they love to look with great care at all of the evidence, and inconsistencies don't help – and could hurt – your case. This is also a good reminder that others will be writing about you in your application, for example, your teachers and your college counselor. So how you live day-to-day will be reflected in those letters. Your authenticity will invariably lead to much better college outcomes .
3. Have something to offer the colleges, aside from good grades and good test scores.
Depending on your year in high school, you may still have a chance to build a set of non-academic skills or talents that could help in the college admission process. The colleges care about how you would contribute to their community outside of the classrooms and the labs. And those are the questions that the admission officers will ask as they review your application. Will you contribute to community service? To our musical or drama programs? To our athletic teams? Will you be a leader in our community? What kind of community member, in general, will you be? They will look at you in totality, holistically – not just as a set of grades and standardized test scores.
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