What colleges look for in applicants
My team and I are writing educators. (See our College Essay Help Center for help with all aspects of applications.) Anytime we write or our students write, we always stay laser-focused on one thing – our audience.
Yet, when we ask high schoolers, “What is the purpose of the college application?” – we’re met with blank stares, or get stammering answers like, “It’s just something I need to do to get into college.” Or when we ask, “What do admissions officers want to know about you?” – we’re frequently met with, “I don’t know, maybe something about who I am.”
This issue is about the single most important thing you can do to improve your students’ college applications and admissions chances – help your students understand their audience. We’ll cover:
What colleges care about
The purpose of the college application
A guide for talking with your students about their audience (admissions officers)
What colleges care about
Colleges are selfish. Every acceptance or rejection relates to one or more of a college’s priorities:
US News Rankings. The higher the rank, the more revenue a college makes. Highly-ranked colleges are more desirable to families (i.e., families are willing to pay more money to attend). As such, colleges prioritize having good stats for what the US News uses to determine the rankings (click here for the criteria). This means accepting students who are likely to attend, likely to graduate, have good test scores and class ranks, and support social mobility.
Tuition. Colleges are non-profits, but they still seek to increase their revenue. And they need to make more money than their expenses. As such, colleges accept a mix of students that get them to the total tuition revenue they’re looking for (e.g., full-pay students, scholarships, Pell Grant recipients). Oh, and more financial resources also help that ever-important US News Ranking.
Alumni donations. Alumni donations are revenue. It’s important for colleges to keep their alumni happy. This can mean increasing social mobility (i.e., accepting more low-income students), positively impacting the world, or even accepting kids of alumni (legacies). As an added benefit, more alumni donations also help the college’s US News Ranking.
Mission. Colleges are trying to impact positive change in the world. While rankings and revenue are important, colleges try to fulfill their mission while meeting their ranking and revenue targets.
The purpose of the college application
Students can’t control everything in college admissions. But we’ve distilled what students can control into a single phrase:
“To prove you’ll be successful in college and beyond.”
Colleges want students who will:
Graduate. A higher graduation rate leads to a higher US News ranking. And graduating means more revenue – students pay tuition for 4 years (or longer).
Positively contribute to the college’s community. Colleges know their value is classmates and experiences – not just academics. Students who like their college experience graduate at higher rates, recommend the college to their friends, and eventually become alumni donors.
Have a positive impact on whatever they choose to do in the future. Successful alumni enhance a college’s prestige and help a college fulfill its mission.
Students prove they’ll be successful from both their academic history (grades, strength of curriculum, test scores) and their experiences. A student’s experiences demonstrate their traits that the student will call upon in college and beyond. A future issue will focus on the 5 Traits College Look for in Applicants: drive, intellectual curiosity, initiative, contribution, and diversity of experiences.
A guide for talking with your students about their audience
A 15 to 20-minute discussion can help students understand their audience – which helps them:
Write about the right things on their applications
Select more balanced school lists
Be more accepting of rejections
The best discussions let the students develop an understanding of what admissions officers are looking for themselves, with an educator nudging the discussion as needed. Here are some questions and guidance we use when speaking with students.
What makes a college successful? What do colleges care about the most?
Most discussions include “educating students”
Consider nudging about “making money” or “mission”
What if I told you the college’s US News Ranking is one of the things that matters the most to them. Why would that be? How would that change what colleges care about?
May need to nudge on specific things that the rankings consider: selectivity (test scores), social mobility, graduation rates, reputation (among peer administrators), financial resources per student, faculty resources (class size), alumni donations, and graduate debt.
Let’s say a college accepts you. What makes accepting you a good decision for them?
Most discussions include “graduating” or “grades”
Consider nudging about “tuition” or “community” or “after graduation”
When deciding who to accept, what do you think matters the most?
Most discussions include “grades” and “test scores”
Consider nudging about ability to pay, likelihood to accept admission, social mobility, athletics, legacies, geography, potential to contribute positively to the student community, likelihood of graduating, likelihood of contributing positively to the world.
Now that you have a sense of what colleges are looking for, how will this change your approach to applications, such as where you apply and what you write about?
Lead to the phrase “prove you’ll be successful in college and beyond.”
Thanks for reading. If you’re interested in learning more about Prompt’s application and essay resources, please visit our page for high school counselors.
In our next issue, we’ll focus on the 5 Traits Colleges Look for in Applicants.
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