Grades open doors. The ones that are determined by leadership.
As a silent truth in college admissions today, particularly at highly competitive US, UK and Canadian universities. Academic ability is not the only factor in admissions decisions. They’re seeking students who have demonstrated initiative, effective contribution and outgrown the classroom.
However, most students don’t realise that it’s not about doing more. It’s about what you have to do for yourself.
Here are 10 directions you should be aware of. But which of them should be in your profile is another matter.
1. Passion Projects
When a child builds one of his own, a blog page, a community project, a little campaign, it tells me that he is someone who is a lot like me, a child who cares, a kid who took initiative formal activity can’t do that.
This is one of the most thought-provoking avenues to follow today. Whether it’s right for you depends on what you’re interested in, your follow-through and how it fits in with the rest of your application story.
2. Leading Within Community Service
Volunteering is common. Taking responsibility as part of a service initiative – organising, coordinating, mentoring – is far less and more noticed.
The change from participant to contributor is a subtle yet important one. The application of this in practice is very different from student to student.
3. Strengthening a School Club
It is not always necessary to begin a new project. It can be as impactful to enhance what already exists – to increase their impact, create a new program.
It’s all about making a difference in the process, creating something better than what was there before. This is a silent but very telling contribution.
4. Peer Mentoring
Empathy, communication, and accountability are all shown through teaching and/or mentoring a younger student, either academically, in a skill, or in a new experience.
One of the least leveraged leadership activities for college admissions — and one that college admissions officers will likely read. If made regularly, it can’t be overlooked.
5. Research or Independent Academic Work
In competitive applications, intellectual initiative for students who are interested in STEM, medicine, economics, or social sciences is a serious consideration.
This doesn’t require a formal university programme. But it does take inquisitiveness and perseverance, not summer before applications are open.
6. Organising Events or Competitions
The process of planning and conducting an actual event, be it a competition, a fundraiser, a workshop, creates the conditions for developing team skills in coordination, communication, and accountability under stress.
The significance of this in an application will vary depending on the context, consistency and the story this illustrates.
7. Sports or Performing Arts
Commitment to music, sport, dance or theatre develops qualities that are really valued by universities – discipline, resilience, teamwork.
It’s not about being the best. It’s about what comes from the persistence of commitment. That the framing is a huge part of how to present that.
8. Entrepreneurial Initiatives
Initiating an endeavor with a real-life application – service, product, digital tool – shows initiative and pragmatism.
Entrepreneurial activity for college admission is becoming more and more compelling at the best Universities. It doesn’t have to be a big venture. The reasoning behind it does.
9. Real-World Responsibilities
Not all students have equal access to the structure of extracurriculars — and colleges and universities are becoming more aware of it.
Real duties in the home or community can be very powerful in terms of maturing, resilience and character. The question is how they’re phrased and situationalized in the larger application.
10. Depth Over Volume
Not an activity but a principle, and perhaps the most important in this list.
Involvements, when sincere and well selected, are more apt to read well in two or three and seldom in ten. The definition of “most students” greatly benefits from an external perspective knowing which two to three to commit to given their strengths, interests, and goals.
Knowing the List Is Just the Beginning
You can be sure that each student reading this list will have two or three directions that will resonate with them — directions that they are already doing, or could commit to doing tomorrow.
But what is available is not the hard question. It’s what’s right for you, your personality, your academic trajectory, your target schools, and your application’s story.
It is not the students who did the most who make the strongest profiles. They are the ones who made deliberate decisions, typically with the help of one who knew both about the admissions process and the student in front of them.
The Right Guidance to Ease Your Way
Being a student not knowing where, when and how to start to make it at your dream place.
That’s the type of guidance we give at SchoolnBeyond. Our counsellors don’t hand out a list of things to do, but rather listen to students starting from Grade 8 and help them create a profile that is a true representation of who they are.
The best thing you can do if you’re not sure if you are building in the right direction is to find out!
Contact SchoolnBeyond for a free consultation and see where your profile is headed and how it can get there.
Keep up with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook to get timely updates, study abroad, and admissions trends all over the world.