What do elite universities look for in high school students? Stanford highlights four key admission factors: academic excellence, intellectual vitality, extracurricular activities, and context. Columbia, USC, Yale, and Harvard appear to be consistent in their admissions processes as well, but why? We’ve narrowed down three key characteristics that these factors communicate: drive, passion, and potential.
Naturally, to communicate drive, passion, and potential, students should strive to maximize those four factors, right? Precisely! But following through with such goals is so much easier said than done, especially for high school students who most likely don’t have their futures realized yet (which, by the way, is okay!). What can students do about it? One of the best ways is for students to set a trajectory for their high school journeys. Let’s compare Student #1 to Student #2. Student #1 receives all A’s but has no discernible qualities that explain what he wants to accomplish, but Student #2 has A’s in relevant classes AND involvement in extracurriculars that outline her goals. Sure, Student #1 communicates drive and some potential, but Student #2 communicates those as well. The main distinction is that Student #2 also communicates passion, and her potential is supported through her performance in relevant areas!
So how can students craft their trajectory?
Set a Goal. The more specific, the better. Indicating interest in becoming a surgeon, for example, is more effective than indicating general interest in the medical field. For students blessed to already have an idea of where their future is headed, take it a step further and indicate interest in specific fields like otolaryngology or neurosurgery. Of course, the purpose of the examples is to highlight what specificity looks like; specificity exists in all fields of interest. The more specific the goal, the more students can craft their journey to best support that goal. It doesn’t have to be razor specific, just as specific as possible.
Prioritize Relevant Factors. The factors detailed by Stanford that were mentioned earlier—academic excellence, intellectual vitality, extracurricular activities, and context—are indeed important, but how can students demonstrate relevant academic excellence? If the student’s goal is to become a clinical psychologist, the student should especially value receiving a good grade in their school’s AP psychology course to demonstrate academic excellence. Moreover, the student could take volunteer or internship opportunities to demonstrate extracurricular initiative. For students interested in political science, their school’s Mock Trial or Model UN team would be great resources to consider joining. Prioritizing certain factors to excel in that will move students towards their goal act as the building block for developing a plan.
Develop a Plan Early. Knowing the factors, students should move forward with how to accomplish or attain them. For example, after understanding which internships or shadowing opportunities exist, which should you choose and when? For example, let’s say a student wanted to participate in an engineering club, engineering internship, take an SAT/ACT preparation course, and take multiple AP or IB STEM courses. Upon organizing the opportunities on a timeline, however, all those extracurriculars happen to only be available the same semester. The student would likely not be able to simultaneously handle all of them, and would need to redistribute the opportunities to be less demanding or find alternative solutions. Developing a trajectory with a college admissions expert early on will help students build a path best suited for getting into their dream colleges, and minimize the risk of unforeseen obstacles.
The purpose of a trajectory is to have a goal to work towards, but even that goal can change. It’s rare for high school students to know how they want their life to play out, let alone for their life to go exactly as planned. Students can, however, convince the admissions offices that they are committed to a particular path that communicates drive, passion, and potential. With all that said, a student’s trajectory should ideally reflect their primary passion. Students who work toward a goal and enjoy the process of it will have a much higher chance of following through with their trajectory. But if the student’s trajectory is different from their primary passion, they can still craft a compelling story that elite colleges want as part of their own narrative! For students who do not have a trajectory, here are some tips: Keep your options open! Yes, the more specific, the better, but the future isn’t everything. High school students are still young and falling in and out of interests, and that is perfectly okay. Goals, plans, and trajectories can change according to the person, so students should try to keep it open at the beginning and tailor the trajectory throughout their journey.
Your trajectory does not determine your career. While the strongest applicants generally have the strongest idea of how they want to approach their future, not all students have that figured out, and that is okay. For example, if students don’t know what career option to pursue but know they want to help children, they can look for community service opportunities both within and outside their high school to tailor their trajectory down the road! If a student knows they enjoy art, they can craft a journey that explores their creativity, whether it’s by joining art competitions or pursuing various fields that can allow them to channel their creativity!
About the Author:
Allan Han, MA is a writer and educator with over six years of teaching experience in teaching K-12 students fundamental English, fundamental Math, SAT writing, and high school literature. He received his Master's Degree in English Instruction at NYU and formerly taught in LaGuardia High School in the city of New York.
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