making your app stand out: part iii
TRANSCRIPT
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Making your application stand out – Part III
What We’ll Cover in This Lesson
Background – Data, Numbers and the Common Application
How Applications are Reviewed, Debated, and Decided
Standing Out: Find Your “Diverse Factors”
Using an Application Persona
Recap: In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
You Submit Your Application
The Admissions
office adds it to their pile
of thousands of
applications
The applications are separated, each admissions officer
get’s a pile of applications
That admissions officer reviews all of the applications in their pile, and selects a handful of students they would like to accept
All the admissions officers meet as a committee and debate whether to admit selected applicants
In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
What things “make an impression”? Unique (i.e., “diverse”) experiences,
achievements, interests, and backgrounds (more on this later)
Engaging essays with lots of personality and human-ness
Clear, powerful passions Emotional and intellectual maturity Recommendations from reputable
individuals, which say the right things (more later on recs)
In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
What about GPA and SAT’s/ACT’s!? GPA and test scores are only a
“threshold issue” – once you have met a certain standard, they become less important.
In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
Example – Cindy and Frank both apply to Harvard. Cindy has a perfect GPA (4.0) and a 2400 on her
SATs. She participates in several student groups. Frank has a 3.9 and a 2280. He is a national debate
champion.
The Result? Frank gets accepted, and Cindy gets rejected. Admissions offices don’t actually care about the
difference between a 3.9 and a 4.0, or a 2280 and a 2400. Frank is far more unique, and is likely to excel at Harvard (in class and on campus).
In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
Here’s a real-life example of two Harvard applicants:
Ziggy, our student
His GPA was a 3.5 (he was not in the top 30% of his class)
He attended a public school
Ken (not our student)
His SAT was 2390
He attended a reputable private boarding school
He was not a legacy He was president of multiple school groups, and competed in several varsity sports (soccer, track) BUT, Ziggy was unique: he grew up
speaking only Hebrew, was the first in his family to attend college. He had also traveled the world, and had completed several serious pieces of scholarship
His SAT was 2300
His GPA was a 4.3 (4.0, unweighted)
Both of Kne’s parents and one of his siblings attended a Harvard Graduate School
In the Admissions OfficeHow Applications are Processed and Reviewed
The Result?
Ziggy was accepted to Harvard!
Ken was waitlisted, and then rejected
Why?
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