By Tia Sharma
New Delhi: Gone are the days when you could just score above a 90%, meet your cut-off and get into college. The admissions process in the United States is far more demanding than what our national colleges require. The admissions office at almost every single competitive American college assesses students beyond just their academics; as they like to call it a “holistic overview.” It's easy to become misguided and lost in a crowd where people are simply stacking up achievements onto their applications, which is why here are some tips on how to work smarter, not harder.
Here are some tips which can help you in getting admission in US Universities
1. Firstly, plan your resume and extracurricular activities with this in mind: “How coherently would this activity fit into my personality and how would it sound in an essay?” Choosing to build your profile based on essay prompts will make it much easier for your profile to fall in line while applying. For example, if someone volunteered at an NGO to teach dance it could be tied with personality traits like being passionate and altruistic. Weave a convincing story, which is what they’re looking for.
2. Have strong reasoning and learning outcomes behind everything you do. It makes no sense to fill up your resume by playing basketball and also being a trained dancer and a distinction-level math Olympiad champion. Universities want to know why you began doing something, what kept you invested in it, and most importantly, what you learned from it. Being able to passionately describe 3 activities you’ve built on is far more likely to appeal to an admissions officer than excelling at 7 things that have no rhyme or reason.
3. Show that you’re a caring citizen. Giving back to your community is a crucial requirement for a US applicant. However, it’s not just about showing it, you have to be it. Admission offices are quick to spot disingenuous community service, therefore making an online fundraiser and calling it a day is not going to be of help. They want to see your ability to inspect and solve problems, your active involvement, and again, of course, the learning outcome. Finding a cause you have an actual interest in will go miles for your application where you can write about it with enthusiasm.
4. Work experience can show a lot of good qualities: that you’re already used to a workplace, you’ve gathered some skills and if your internship is in line with your choice of major, it shows that you’re already focused. An internship is an unsaid, unofficial compulsory requirement for a good admission offer, so get to finding one that you like!
5. Grades are not the defining factor for your application, but they do mean a great deal. After all, no matter how well you’ve excelled outside of school, it won’t make a difference if your grades don’t even meet the minimum requirement and your file is thrown into the pile of applicants who do not have an upper hand. Do your research thoroughly for the average grades required to get into your choice of colleges and faculty well in advance so you can make that your goal while giving examinations.
The most important takeaways that students should know are to keep your application original (do not let a professional edit your essay to a point where it doesn’t even sound like you anymore), unique (bring out your distinctive qualities), and genuine (do not try to fabricate achievements). This knowledge should hopefully make the overwhelming upcoming application season a little easier to navigate.
