3 On Your Side: What College Admissions Officers Are Really Looking For
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's the time of year when high school students begin preparing college applications. But will they be touting qualifications that will actually stand out? New research says no. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan has advice so as to keep your kids application from ending up the in the trash.
As if high school isn't hard enough, Penncrest High School seniors Tanner Daggy and Jessica Davis are also busy applying to college. According to Daggy, "It's months and months of writing essays and getting recommendation letters." While guidance counselor Lori Rice-Spring says, "A lot of effort goes into one student's application from a lot of different people." Davis says, "There's really no set formula for what you're supposed to do." While Deann Scherer, a math teacher at Penn Crest says, "The whole college admissions process, the application process, everything has changed dramatically."
Scherer is an also the school's advisor for the National Honor Society and says getting into college isn't what it used to be. According to Scherer, "A lot of people think that it's just the GPA or it's just the SAT score, but getting into the college of your choice goes well beyond that."
New research from the National Honor Society shows that a majority of college admission officers say that participating in extra-curricular activities gives students a competitive edge. They're most impressed by students who volunteer in their community.
Davis says, "One of the college application questions was, 'what can you add to our community?'" Scherer says, "Think carefully about do you want to do a variety of small services that you know take smaller amounts of time or do you want to have one long term service that you do." Daggy volunteers at a hospital and assists with transporting patients. While Davis has organized benefit concerts.
But can they spell? 45% of admissions officers say they'll instantly deny an application if it contains spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, or typos!
According to Scherer, "They need the help of a guidance counselor, they need the help of their parents to review what they've written."
Davis says she's tried her best, and says, "You kind of just hope that your well prepared enough to make yourself look as good as you can in every category."
By the way, another bit of advice, get help early. A majority of college admission officers recommend that students start preparing as early as 9th grade.
