Not sure where to begin your college search? Read on for the inside scoop on how to apply, interview, and get in!

Admission Advice

Admissions Confidential

By Don Rauf

Looking for the inside story? Four admission professionals discuss the factors that affect their acceptance decisions.

Careers and Colleges sat down with four admission counselors and asked them to share their candid advice on the admission process. We hope these “insider” tips and recommendations will help you get into your top-choice school!

CC: What do you look for first in a candidate?
Quinnipiac: The most important factor that students are evaluated on is their academic record—the level of their courses, their grades, grade pattern (are their grades getting better over time or worse?), and how they compare to others in their high school based on grade point average (GPA) and class rank.
Linfield: First, we look at strength in the academic curriculum—the kinds of classes a student has taken. And definitely the GPA is important, but we look at a combination of GPA and board scores. Standardized tests are much debated, but statistically it still holds true that GPA and SAT/ACT scores together are good predictors of first-year academic success.
Loyola: We look at students’ academic experiences in high school—how they challenged themselves within the curriculum, and then how they succeeded. We next look at SAT/ACT scores.
Wesleyan: We look for students who will contribute to this particular environment. What makes a candidate stand out typically is the whole package—the types of experiences the student has sought, what he or she has done with available opportunities, his or her intellectual curiosity, and overall preparation.

CC: How important are activities outside of the classroom?
Linfield: Extracurricular activities and special talents are what give students substance. Yet while these may give students special appeal, they will never be a substitute for academic achievement.
Loyola: As a Jesuit school, we’re look ing for students who volunteer and do good works. We’re definitely looking for candidates who have been involved in their community. We have a strong commitment to service learning.
Quinnipiac: We want to see their involvement in clubs and activities. Have they specialized in one or in several areas? Are they involved in community work, or do they hold a part-time job?
Wesleyan: We like to see a student who is engaged with his or her community. I worry sometimes that students think only in terms of school-based activities. We look for the student who seeks leadership positions in volunteer activities and in church or temple groups—or someone who started working the Saturday morning shift at McDonald’s and is now a swing shift manager in the evening. That’s a progression of responsibility. There are many ways that students can be engaged and make a difference.

CC: Can a student overdo listing his or her extracurricular activities?
Linfield: Often students think colleges want to see a lot of activities—a lot of sports or music or community service. That’s OK, but I advise students not to get involved just because it will look good on the application but because involvement brings meaning to their lives.
Loyola: We’d certainly rather see a student who is heavily involved in a couple of organizations, taking on a strong leadership role, rather than someone who is a member of every school group. We often think a long laundry list of activities doesn’t show much depth of experience.

CC: We imagine most colleges try to create an atmosphere of diversity. How does a student’s geographic and ethnic background factor into admissions?
Quinnipiac: Colleges all look to enroll a diverse class. So we review all types of background information— ethnic, geographic, male/female, economic. You want a mix of students just to help make the education interesting. Keep this in mind though: while an applicant from California will stand out for us, a weak student from California is not going to get in.
Loyola: About 70% of our student body is coming from outside Louisiana. The fact that a student
comes from Seattle will be part of the equation, but it will not override weak grades and scores. Ethnic background is one of the things we look at. At the heart of a liberal education is the free exchange of ideas, and you need to interact with others who are not from the same background as you are.
Linfield: Diversity of background provides diversity of thought. We strive to help build that in our educational environment.
Wesleyan: We look at ethnic background, geographic location, socieconomic background, urban/rural, international experience, and first-generation college. Our hope is to be close to a 50-50 gender mix—that lends to diversity as well.
CC: Do you look for students with special talents?
Quinnipiac: Schools will look for students with special talents to contribute to their institution. Who will head the college yearbook? Who will be on student government?
Wesleyan: We encourage students who have a special talent to share that with us. We’ve put together guidelines on how applicants can share a film, a CD of their music, a portfolio of their artwork, or a tape of their dance. We are also part of a competitive Division III conference, so our coaches are actively recruiting students who have intellectual curiosity but want to wrestle or play squash, football, or ice hockey. We also have a superb research
science department, so we encourage students to send along information on their previous research.
Loyola: Because we have a college of music and a very strong theater program, a student’s musical or acting ability can be a significant factor in admission. There are some instruments and vocal ranges that are not as common, so it makes those people more attractive candidates. Almost every 18-year-old female is a soprano. Finding a strong soprano may not be as difficult as finding other vocal ranges.

CC: What advice can you give on letters of recommendation?
Linfield: Teacher recommendations are one more piece in the admission puzzle. Teachers need to be clear. They may say, “This is the best student I’ve taught in the past 20 years, and here’s why.” Or if a student’s grades aren’t so strong, a recommendation may say this is a great student not because of grades but because he’s always in class and prepared.
Quinnipiac: The recommendation is a chance to give information that is not in the rest of the application. If a teacher is simply going to say, “I had the student in my AP history class,” I can tell that from the transcripts.
Loyola: A recommendation that is written by an important person who really has no idea who the student is carries the least weight with us. Having a senator send us a recommendation is not insightful if he or she can’t write about the individual.
Wesleyan: My advice to students is to pick the teacher who knows them well. We look for teacher recommendations that have anecdotes, such as “Renée is the one I can count on to ask a question that will take the classroom conversation to an entirely different level.” That kind of comment from a teacher is particularly helpful.

CC: Where do you stand on interviewing?
Wesleyan: The interview is not a requirement, but we encourage students to interview so we get to know more about their personal outlook, their strengths, and potential contributions to our school.
Linfield: Interviews are optional, but if a student had mentioned something in the application that raised questions or doubts, then the interview gives the admission rep the chance to find out more and the student the opportunity to further explain.
Quinnipiac: Very few schools require the interview, but it is an opportunity for a college to sell itself and for you to sell yourself. What colleges want to see is that you’ve taken the time to visit the campus. Be sure to show interest in a college by attending an Open House, a group information session, and/or take the campus tour.

CC: How should an applicant use the essay?
Loyola: A student needs to think through and plan his or her essay with care. An essay is much more than a long listing of activities in prose form. That does not tell me who that person really is.
Quinnipiac: We encourage students to use their own voice. Sometimes, we get essays that sound like a parent or teacher wrote them. Our best advice is not to plagiarize. We got one essay from a student who was going to be a communications major. He downloaded it off the Internet [and we found out]. He had great SAT scores and no reason on earth to download an essay. That student was not admitted.
Linfield: What we look for in the essay is how well the student can articulate his or her thoughts in writing. I usually tell students, “Make it interesting. Try to keep me awake at night when I’m reading stacks of applications.”

CC: What’s the most unusual application you’ve seen?
Quinnipiac: We once received an essay handwritten on a beach ball, but the student got in because of academic ability. Colleges really don’t want you to do anything beyond what they ask you to do. Strong content is light-years better than writing on a beach ball!
Wesleyan: I’ve heard of the student submitting an essay written backwards so admission staff had to read it in a mirror. This year we received one of those huge binders that was essentially a scrapbook of the student’s life. It was way too much. Gimmicks are just as likely to fail as be successful.

Don Rauf is editor of Careers and Colleges.