Welcome!
As you are in college application season, most are focused on trying to enhance their application to stand out from their peers. 90% of the time, that is where our focus is as well.
After all, this is a competition and you need to compete as much as possible to win the prize.
But one of the fundamentals of college applications is to not beat yourself. This means avoiding mistakes like poor college selection.
But today, we will focus on the basic but common mistakes that we have seen from college applicants.
1. Being Unprofessional
Simply put, we see a lot of applicants be unprofessional. That could be chewing gum in an interview with an admissions officer or using email addresses like “ibtrollingu@gmail.com.”
Make sure to handle these basic things. Create an email with your name and a few numbers. Make sure you have clean clothes for an interview. Sit up straight. Respond to emails with proper language. Do not use short hand texting lingo like “bet” or “can u call me.”
Do not get eliminated by something as silly this.
2. Not Being Responsive
College applications are not just one off submissions - they often come with multiple communications.
You need to respond to them.
Often, we have seen applicants not get accepted to schools because they jsut do not respond promptly or at all. There was a student who was rejected from Columbia Law School purely because he never responded to messages in a timely manner.
Create a dedicated email/address/number for these communications. Check them daily. Respond promptly. Do not lose out on opportunity because you do not want to email someone back.
3. Do Not Misrepresent
This is a big one. Do not put anything on your application you cannot actually defend. Specifically, do not lie or misrepresent your involvement on an application.
The last thing you want is to be asked in an interview about an activity you never did. It is obvious, and you put your entire application in jeopardy because now no one knows what to believe about your application.
If you want to stretch an activity (1500 hours of community service vs. 2000), that is your choice. But pretending you were in charge of an extracurricular that you really only attended a single meeting for is asking for issues.
4. Lacking Confidence
This is particularly important for those on interviews - you need to project confidence.
Do not slouch. Avoid “ums” and “it is what it is” type statements.
It is not about knowing the answer to every question. It is about being confident in yourself that you belong, can provide something to the campus of the college you are applying to, and believe in yourself enough to be there.
5. Not Researching The School
An article could probably be written about this alone.
If you apply to a college or university, research it ahead of time. Do not just look for surface level information like SAT or GPA information. You want to look for real information that shows you actually are aware of the college and university.
Look into the types of programs or extra curriculars are available. Know about the majors and courses. Or famous alumni.
It is not a good idea to apply to a college looking to join a robotics club to find out it has no program. Or to claim you learned about the college based on an alumni that never attended the school.