I didn’t get into my first choice school ED (got deferred), and my counselor told me that, while my scores are very strong and my grades were good enough and “in the ballpark”, my issue was that I did not have enough other stuff going for me- no legacy, athletics, URM, etc.
I have a few extracurricular activities, the two big ones being editor of literary magazine and head of model UN, and one of my friends suggested reaching out to the faculty advisors of these two activities to see if they could do so much as send admissions an email on my behalf, as it might be enough to put me over the edge, similarly to something like a club sport or an artist sending their portfolio .
The issue is, for Model UN, I’m not amazing at it, just been head for a year and VP for 2 prior, but I spend a lot of time on it and am interested. While I have some minor awards from tournaments, I’m not nationally ranked or anything like that. Obviously, the literary magazine is much harder to quantify, but again I’ve had leadership for a few years and am super committed to it.
My question is, how do I go about using these two clubs to help me with admissions/is it even possible? Like if I sent a faculty member a copy of the magazine and emailed them some info about me, could they help me with admissions at all (if my academics are strong but I have nothing else special)? Secondly, how do I even find this info such as a club’s faculty leader? I spent a few minutes searching online at one school and couldn’t find anything. Thanks for the help.
I don’t think a letter from a club advisor restating what is in your application will move the needle one bit for admission to top tier colleges. These are pretty typical activities and colleges have a very good sense of what is involved.
However, if you have had a big accomplishment with one of these organizations (or elsewhere) since your application was filed then you can send a brief update to let colleges know.
Keep in mind that most applicants are in the same boat as you – with no real hooks. So be sure to apply to a range of reach, match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.
I think your friend gave you bad advice and I wouldn’t recommend following it. Can you talk with your college counselor about it? Sounds like you go to a private school - that’s what your parents are paying tuition for. You’re aiming for top schools and the way in is not to bother the professors in the way your friend suggested.
You are a legacy at Brown but I don’t know if they consider it in the RD round - Penn and Dartmouth consider it only in the ED rounds. So there is that hook, if Brown looks at it for RD.
I just looked at your application list.
You have strong stats but which schools on your list are safeties?
I emailed my counselor and asked and he said it was actually a pretty good idea. He basically said that it ‘can’t hurt’ (not sure if I agree, especially with looking desperate/wasting people’s time), and that it could help me a little bit if push came to shove. That being said, I’m still skeptical, hence posting here, and will have a longer talk with him tomorrow.
So how exactly is this supposed to help? (1) you email faculty advisors (2) they are so ecstatic at finding another possible member of the club they advise they take time out of their day to look up the appropriate contact in admissions and email them saying this is a kid we ought to take (3) the dolts in admission, who saw these exact ECs on your app, finally realize that you might join the same clubs on campus (4) admissions is eager to boost the membership of these clubs the same way they might want a star pitcher to enroll and now views you in a much more favorable light. You’re in!!
Seems like an unlikely scenario, but maybe that’s just me.
Hows this for another scenario? Faculty advisor is annoyed by HS kid ■■■■■■■■ her for help in admissions. Forwards your email to dean of admissions saying “I hope you’re NOT encouraging HS kids to start pestering us.” Dean makes sure this behavior is not rewarded. Personally I see this one as more likely.
This would make me doubt any judgement this counselor has ever expressed to you.
There’s no aggressive recruitment for literary magazine writing or Model UN, because there are no big-money, nationally televised championships for those activities, nor is there Title-IX monitoring for those activities the way there is for sports.
Also, the gov’t doesn’t track participation in club activities, the way it tracks racial demographics, so there’s no compelling reason for colleges to recruit for clubs the way they recruit URMs.