Understanding What Colleges Are Looking For

Level 2: Admissions 101

Welcome! One of the comments from readers in our “What are my chances” posts are how to define some of the key terms that colleges use to assess candidates.

If you are unfamiliar with these posts, you can check out a free post here:

What Are My Chances?

Let’s start with the basics:

Part 1: Academics

This is usually the part of the application that is most heavily weighted for colleges. Although each college may define it differently, there are generally a few specific categories:

Rigor of Academic Record:

This is the strength of the course schedule that you took. There are two ways that colleges can view this:

1. Relative views - Did you take the most challenging schedule that your school allowed you to?

2. Absolute Views - Was your academic schedule strong compared to other applicants?

All colleges will judge you on 1, but some will judge you on point 2, especially in the most selective colleges.

Class Rank/Academic GPA:

There are pretty straight forward. Colleges want to know how you rank relative to your peers. GPA, on the other hand, is very different for each college. Some will want an unweighted view, and some will want a weighted view.

Usually, the weighted view isn’t as important because you can couple weighted with the academic rigor factor to figure out how strong someone’s GPA is, specifically in the courses that matter. It’s an easy metric to see how well you did in school to immediately qualify or disqualify applicants.

Standardized Test Scores:

In the test optional world, this has shifted, but this is really your ACTs and SATs. This does NOT include your AP scores.

Application Essay:

These are the essays submitted as a part of the applications you send. They are usually used to primarily evaluate your ability to communicate and respond to a written prompt.

They can also be used to gain additional insights that admissions officers can use when the are evaluating the candidate.

Recommendations:

These are the letters of recommendations provided by teachers, counselors, employers, or others who know you and are submitted as a part of the application.

There is an art to writing a letter of recommendation, and the letters that are written that check of the most boxes will typically sway admissions officers more than letters of recommendation that, while good, don’t convey the right information.

The remaining factors are considered “Non-Academic.”

Part 2: Non-Academic

Non-academic factors vary in levels of important to the school. Each college or university will weigh them differently and while the list can be long, we will attempt to provide the most common ones.

Interview:

Not every college or university even offer an interview, and many of the ones that do make it optional.

The interview is a way to assess the personality of applicant, determine their interests, and add color to the application file. Usually, it will not make or break a particular applicant in the admissions process.

Extracurriculars:

All of the activities that a student performs are included in this category, though it is important to note that some colleges and universities will NOT include the following in extracurriculars:

• volunteer experience

• work experience

One of the most common questions received is on how extracurriculars are viewed. The simple answer is: it depends. Some schools value depth and some value the number of activities. In our experience, colleges will tend to value impact in a given area over a number of activities where you have little to no impact.

Talent/Ability:

One of the lesser known things that colleges will look for is the demonstrated talent or ability of a given student. This varies, but generally, talent/ability can be understood in one of three ways:

1. Ability to fill a college need (e.g., athletic recruitment, oboe in a college orchestra)

2. Ability to expand a college’s academic footprint (e.g., undergraduate research)

3. Ability to support a college’s mission (e.g., strong math/science background at an engineering school)

The more likely you are to fulfill one or more of these areas, the more likely you are to score higher in this category.

Character and Fitness:

Little thought of is an applicant's character. Essentially, you want to make sure you avoid two challenges:

• Academic dishonesty

• Criminal Challenges

Academic dishonesty is pretty clean. You avoid plagiarism, allegations of cheating, or any other form common form of academic challenges. The younger these mistakes are when you make them, the more likely you can explain them and overcome them.

Criminal challenges are both things you were convicted of OR arrested for. This could be simple possession, burglary, or under-age drinking. It’s not the end of the road if you have this, but it can derail your college application life.

Part 3: Demographic Factors

Some colleges will also consider demographic factors as well. While most of these are intuitive, we will call out some of the specifics that often create confusion.

Geographical Residence vs. State Residency

Geographical residence is more a matter of a region or country that an applicant hail from. Some colleges want diversity and define that as students hailing from different regions.

What this means:

• A college will consider the number of students they have from New England

What this DOES NOT necessarily mean:

• A college will consider how many students come from California vs. Utah

State residency, on the other hand, normally only applies to public universities, where they have a preference to take students from the state than out-of-state students.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, this helps to provide some clarification on the categories that admissions officers use to evaluate applications.

Remember, this is not exhaustive, and every college and university will define these slightly differently.