It’s college application season for many juniors and seniors across the country. Each year, colleges change things up to keep us on our toes but there’s a handful of college admissions secrets that they don’t want you to know! These secrets will help you stand out from the crowd on your application, so you can maximize your chances of getting accepted! While we mention these college admissions secrets, please keep in mind that each college is different. While we will keep these admissions secret in a more generalized focus, some colleges may put less of an emphasis on one over the other. So without wasting anymore time, let’s dive into our first secret:
College Admissions Secrets
Secret 1: Admissions Isn’t as Holistic as They Say
Colleges will claim that they look at applications holistically but that’s not entirely true. While it’s important to be a student with diverse extracurriculars, it’s more important to maintain a good GPA and standardized test scores. With many colleges and universities going test optional, it’s more important than ever before to score well on the SAT or ACT.
That being said, if you find that you’ve hit a wall with your standardized test scores, it’s actually better to not submit them if they’re not competitive! The reason we bring this is up is that many colleges will use an academic index system to screen applicants before looking at things like extracurriculars, volunteer hours, etc. Maintaining a good academic standing is a great way to avoid getting shuffled to the bottom of the applicant list by colleges.
Secret 2: Engagement Matters!
For the highly competitive universities and colleges, admissions will begin to consider student engagement with the school. They can track things like:
- How often you open emails
- Do you follow their social media page?
- Do you attend orientation/summer events?
- Do you know Alumni?
This is by no means an exhaustive list either! Colleges have spent a lot of time meticulously crafting the admissions process so that they can get the best idea of the student before reaching a decision. While engaging consistently with the university isn’t a guaranteed shoe-in for your application, it can certainly help you stand out from the crowd! It can be especially helpful to connect with alumni or students enrolled at the school so you can have references if needed!
Secret 3: Not All Extracurriculars are Treated Equally
While we mentioned that extracurriculars aren’t as important as once thought, they still are worth investing your time into as a student. Reason being is that they are still needed help stand out from the other applicants. Colleges and Universities will prioritize leadership roles over anything else. Being a leader in a club, team captain on a team, manager at a job, etc. are some of the best ways to stand out in this regard. If you’re a freshman or sophomore we recommend committing to a club, team, or organization early on so by junior year you can hold a leadership position.
Secret 4: Some Majors are Easier to Get Into
More competitive majors like business and engineering can have stricter requirements to get into then less popular majors. Some students choose to apply for a less popular major then transfer once enrolled. The benefit of doing this is your first year is mostly going to be spent completing general education requirements anyways. These are classes that every major needs to take to fulfill a certain degree.
IMPORTANT: Please be sure to research the institution and major your applying to in order to see if this is a valid option for you. We highly recommend talking with your college counselor first before making any decision.
Secret 5: Yield Protection is Real
Before we talk about this one, we need to mention that no college has openly admitted to conducting yield protection. Yield protection is a statistic colleges track that indicates how many of accepted students choose to attend the university. This is important to highlight (for shareholders and the board at the school because it’s possible for an overqualified student to be denied simply because the university is afraid the student has a low likelihood to enroll. Many colleges and universities implement early enrollment programs that skirt this risk where if a student is accepted they have to enroll in the college.
This is why it’s super important for overqualified students to weigh their options. If you know you’re overqualified for your first choice university, it could be a good idea to apply through the early application system to maximize your chances of getting accepted. Only do this if you’re 100% okay with committing to enrolling to that institution above your other choices.
Maximize Your Chances With College Admissions Secrets
I hope I was able to shed some light on the college admissions secrets. The important take away here is to discuss your options with your college guidance counselor. They will have the best idea on how to apply for the universities that you wish to apply to. If you’d like to schedule an appointment with one of our college counselors, you can click here to select a time. Mr. Ross has been working with students at our private school: The Tenney School. He has a wealth of information and can be a great resource for more information and assurance on the application process!