To get into big schools or for attaining good scholarships, you must have a solid profile. A winning profile is one that stands apart from other profiles. Often, parents and children alike presume that participating in innumerable activities is a ticket to college admission. This my child is a mistaken concept, yet it has gained traction over the years, and due to this misconception most of you end up partaking in generic activities like the MUNs, Internships, et al., without even knowing why you are pursuing it. We are sorry to say but this is a useless approach!
Why? Because, for starters, everyone is doing it!So, when every student aiming to study abroad is undertaking hordes of activities how will your application stand out? Seems boggling right? You’ll be shocked to know that admission officers [AOs] are not looking for only a breadth of activities, they are also looking for activities that really mean something to you – the depth.
But if you are short on time and you don’t have enough hours to devote to profile building, then what to do? In that scenario, we have to rely on ‘irresistible stories’ and academic progress. However, if we have time then we must always… and I mean always work towards building an impressive profile. The AOs should feel that they want you and they want you now!
After investing thousands of man-hours and hundreds of meetings with the AOs, we’ve been able to formulate a powerful assessment tool on how AOs evaluate a winning application. An applicant is judged on 6 main carefully chosen elements: Academic, Co-scholastic, Personal qualities and Activities, Growth and potential, Personal story and Contribution to the university. Parents and students simply focus on academic and co-scholastic activities, which is just one third of your profile, meaning we are failing to address or highlight two-third of your profile. Most of the counselors are not even aware that there are other factors involved apart from the two, then, how do you suppose you will get admission to your dream college with that approach?
To simplify the process, we have converted subjective information into a quantitative parameter which gives a better idea of where the profile stands. It enables you to identify the stronger areas and the areas where you need to ‘focus.’ (You can Evaluate your profile for FREE, here)
Once you have taken the assessment, we will discuss actionable steps needed in enhancing your profile. Let’s say if you lack ‘leadership skills’ or ‘confidence level,’ then the ideal strategy would be to participate in Debates, or Theatre or anything similar with the focus on the outcome. With this, we can refrain from enlisting you in all activities that come your way and rather focus on areas which will build certain skills. The idea is to convert your weaker areas into strengths; that is your real progress. And this focused approach gives far better results than blindly following the herd. Once you start working on the weaker areas and evolve, you can convey a convincing growth story to the AOs.
Picking five strengths and five improvement areas is a good way to start. Once you have identified the weaker areas, you should start working on converting your flaws into strengths by taking activities that will help you enhance the skills you would like to master. Interestingly, you can choose one activity to enhance two weaker areas. For instance, if you volunteer in community service, you are not only contributing to society but also inspiring others. We have these kinds of activities in our workbook which will make it simpler for you to identify your personality traits.
However, we must not only focus on the breadth but also focus on the depth. By breadth, we mean participating in multiple activities – debates, competitions, quizzes, sports, music, clubs, etc. – and by depth, we mean displaying real dedication in one or two areas beyond academics. Ideally, you should work on breadth in 9th and 10th grade, whereas in high-school, you must focus on the depth. Unless you explore various activities in junior school, you would not be able to pursue your interests in high-school. Depth is the most essential ingredient in college application; it’s depth that allows the AOs to see your commitment and dedication.
Simultaneously, Career Activity Mapping is equally important. You should pursue courses, internships and undertake projects related to the respective major you are applying. Simple school or college syllabus is never enough for an undergraduate or graduate application. Online courses, internships and projects indicate dedication and commitment to the course; thus, investing time in exploring the course illustrates your intent. Therefore, self-motivate yourself and try to take two-three internships, three online/offline courses and three projects to bolster your profile.
Lastly, you must keep track of your personal traits and your growth in the last two years. How different activities have shaped you into a person you are gives an idea to the AOs that the applicant is smart, enthusiastic and most of all willing to learn.
The above pointers shall give you a wider picture of what goes below the surface. Mnemonic’s constant endeavor is to enhance the child’s profile through correct guidance have helped thousands of students get offers from their dream colleges, and we hope for you to get the same results!
P.S: YOU CAN USE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLEGE ADMISSION PROFILE ASSESSMENT BELOW: