Many colleges look for different things in students. Some want to see many extracurricular activities, others a strong GPA, or great test scores. I have realized though, that looking deeper into these aspects, I have heard some colleges prefer to see one type of extra curricular rather than another. For example, one school may want to see academic clubs on an application rather than sports, or they may want to see that you consistently volunteered at the same place rather than jump around and random volunteer opportunities.
With that said, with the thousands of colleges that there are, and therefore many different preferences, would it be appropriate to directly ask Admissions of a specific college what they want to see from an applicant?
They want what’s in short supply: development case parents who can fund $50 million new library wings, recruited athletes, celebrity names, URMs from Wyoming The rest of the extracurricular stuff is noise.
It sounds as if you are looking for a checklist - we want X - so that then you can do X and be sure of getting in. But the X changes year by year, depending on all the other Ys and Zs who apply. Selective colleges build classes, so they don’t want all Xs- they are trying to build a community so need some of everything.
The jumping around piece is different. Colleges look for doing something over time partly b/c it shows that you can stick with something, and partly b/c that is how you get more responsibility. When they ask for signs of taking responsibility - often under the ‘leadership’ tag- it is b/c it is a proxy for some amount of maturity.
The colleges all indicate the relative importance of ECs, GPAs, test scores, etc on the Common Data Set (google collegedata + the name of the college). As @happy1 said, though, it’s very generic and certainly not what you would bet your college app on.
School admissions webpages are deliberately broad – b/c they don’t want ppl to be cookie cutter. You can ask but you’ll be met with references to the broad language already posted.
There is no way to pin it down because there is often an intangible attraction to an applicant. It can be like falling in love: you can meet a whole bunch of people with similar looks, abilities, interests and the like. But only one steals your heart away and makes you “know” this is the one for you.
College applications are often the same way. Lots of candidates with similar ECs and grades but the combination with essays and LORs make certain ones pop. And what makes one admissions person pick one applicant may not grab the attention of another one.
Others have said that college admissions is a bit like casting a musical. You need the leads, you need the chorus, you need people who will be happy to make things work behind the scenes. There is no one right way to get in. And if they’ve already accepted the blond girl for the lead and you are another blond girl with a great voice, they might not want you this year, even though any other year they would have taken you.
It won’t tell you which specific EC or sport the college favors, but it’s all spelled out in black & white whether certain criteria (e.g. GPA, scores, ECs, interviews, essay, rec, visit, demonstrated interest) are required, recommended, optional, or not considered at all.
It’ll also spell out how many years of HS subjects (foreign language, science) are required and recommended.
@mathmom , great analogy. Lots of very good advice here @hhalvey . I will also add my two cents. Many colleges also want to see that you actually want to attend their college. I know a girl who had the very best everything and she was denied at NYU, a college she should have been easily accepted to. She apparently never interviewed and never even signed up for the email list, as she was so sure she would get in.
At the very top colleges, interest is often not considered, but at many many others it is, especially those colleges that are not top tier, but maybe the next tier or two down. Be sure you show real interest. Sign up for emails, visit if possible, contact reps (though be careful, as this can backfire. There is a lot of info on how to communicate with reps, do a bit of research), and be sure to interview if the College offers that option. If the college considers interviews, have one. Interest as a considerstion in acceptance is indicated on the college’s website in the common data set.
I think what the poster was trying to say was that some colleges seem to value grades over test scores and others test scores over grades, though of course they all love to see strong GPAs and great test scores. Many colleges admit only by the numbers (typically state universities) and they don’t care at all about what sort of extra curricular activities.
As for how many extra-curricular activities are good, and how many are too many. That is a subject for endless debate on College Confidential. Really no one knows for sure. There are always some students who get in doing one thing fabulously well, while others have more of a variety of activities.
You don’t have to! All you need to do is google " Common Data Set" and they tell you how much emphasis they put on the following:
Either they think they are Very Important, Important, Considered, Not Considered
***Academic
Rigor of secondary school
record
Class rank
Academic GPA
Standardized test scores
Application Essay
Recommendation(s)
***Nonacademic
Interview
Extracurricular activities
Talent/ability
Character/personal qualities
First generation
Alumni/ae relation
Geographical residence
State residency
Religious affiliation/commitment
Racial/ethnic status
Volunteer work
Work experience
Level of applicant’s interest