With the increasing number of students applying for scholarship program at post-secondary schools and universities, you need to do more than get good grades in high school to receive a coveted letter of acceptance.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, estimates call for around 20.5 million students to descend upon campuses at colleges and universities across the United States in the fall of 2016. This tally represents an increase since the fall of 2000 of around 5.2 million students.
In order to impress admissions officials at the colleges you want to apply to, you need to pull out all the stops. So what follows are 5 ways to make your college application stand out beyond your essay. Yes, the essay is very important, but you need a lot more to make the grade.
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Show Sincere Interest
Admissions officials are used to combing over a lot of applications. One way that you can set yourself apart is to show that you are genuinely interested in, one, the college and in, two, enrolling at the college. For instance, if you plan to earn a degree in science, do some research to find out about the professors at the university and the projects they’re involved with. When the college sees that you’ve taken the time to do some digging, they’ll see you as a serious applicant rather than an applicant who has merely sent out a whole bunch of applications to many colleges in the hopes of getting a letter of acceptance from one of them.
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Apply Early
If you’re reasonably certain that you want to attend a specific college, let the institution know sooner rather than later. By applying for early action consideration, you’ll automatically see your application get priority status since such a request demonstrates that you are serious about. attending that specific institution.
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Resume
When you send in your application, be sure to include a resume that details your qualifications and accomplishments. The application itself may not provide the opportunity for you to explain certain things that might increase your odds of getting an acceptance letter, so use your resume to win over the admissions officials. While you could very well develop a resume on your own, you might want to take advantage of services to create a professional resume since so much is at stake.
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Social Media
Don’t be surprised if admissions officials check out your social media presence to get a feel for who you are — and to determine if you’re the sort of person they want to see associated with their colleges. As a result, you may want to take a sober second look at how you present yourself on social media so that you give the right impression to decision-makers at colleges you apply to. Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook can help you to put your best foot forward, so tread carefully.
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Follow Instructions
While it might be tempting to submit extra materials along with your college application, you need to demonstrate to admissions officials that you can follow instructions. That means that you should include everything stipulated while resisting the urge to perhaps send in extra things. Going too far may backfire since it will show either that you can’t follow instructions or that you don’t care to.
There is indeed a lot of competition for spaces in college programs. By following the 5 tips mentioned above, you’ll make your college application stand out beyond the essay, and this will greatly improve your odds of getting the acceptance letter or letters you’re counting on.
