There are no guarantees in the college admissions game,

especially at name-brand institutions like those in the Ivy League.

Not everyone is going to gain admission, even if, as I noted in
my previous post, they meet the top benchmarks for
acceptance: stratospheric test results and transcripts. 34,295
students applied to Harvard for the Class of 2018, and only
2,023 (5.9%) gained admission. Harvard could easily fill a second
class thats just as qualified with students from the no pile.
So how do you improve your odds of admission with such a supercompetitive applicant pool? Since I only attended an Ivy League
school, Harvard, for summer debate camp, I am hardly the expert
here. Thus, I turned to a former Yale University application
reader, and specialist in college admissions counseling, Dr. Kat
Cohen, of the appropriately entitled education consulting
concern, IvyWise. Heres a paraphrase with my advice
sprinkled in of what the good doctor ordered:
1.

Start Preparing As Early As Possible

Colleges look at all four years of high school grades, courses and
extracurricular involvement. They want to know that students are
challenging themselves each year, and deepening their
involvement in activities that interest them. Or, as I routinely tell
high school students (not that they listen), college admissions
teams want to see that you are a master of one thing (in my case,
it was policy debate), not a jack of all extracurriculars. Sustained
extracurricular involvement over all four years of high
school is, thus, mission critical. Colleges, like marriage
prospects, like future employers, want to see that youre
committed to your interest.

English: Widener Library, Harvard University 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, please dont get involved in an extracurricular activity

because you think it will look good on your college application.
Get involved in a project or activity that deeply engages you. If
thats football, or chess, or the math club, or theater, or social
work of some kind, its all good. The main thing is passionate
commitment. Remember: elite colleges are not asking you to be
well-rounded. They are looking to build well-rounded classes
around a pool of world-class specialists.
2. Take Harder Courses With Each Advancing Year

This one is a no-brainer. Just as college courses are designed to

get more rigorous and intense with each passing year, so too
should your high school courses. As I noted in my previous
post, Superhuman High School Transcripts Are Key to Ivy
League Admission, colleges want to see students taking

harder courses each year on an upward grade trend so

they can tell if you are prepared for a heavy college course load.
So, take the most challenging courses you can find at your school
or nearby community college. And work hard to get the best
possible grades in these college-level courses.
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3.

Essays Matter: Dont Slack On The Common App

Highly selective institutions, like those in the Ivy League, ask

supplementary essay questions in addition to the main Common
Application essay. For example, Brown and Columbia ask
variations of the Why This College? essay. These supplemental
essays are very important because they are often school-specific

and act as a way for the college to get to know you better. Its
important for students applying to any selective school, let alone
the Ivies, to submit well-written, compelling essays that
convey their voice, interests, who they are as a person and
student, and how they would contribute to the campus
community. Generic pabulum about how much you admire your
wonderful grandma isnt going to cut it.
I would add that just as in the job market, elite institutions, like
elite employers, want to know that youve done your homework on
the school, what it is about, and how you specifically fit into its
mission (both in the classroom and out). However, please dont
make this stuff up. This is why it is so important to know what you
want out of college before you even apply. Instead of forcing
yourself into what the college wants, find out what you want first.
That will make answering college-specific questions easy and
natural.
4. Boost Your IQ (Interest Quotient): Demonstrated Interest
Matters

With more students applying to more colleges than ever

before, colleges are having a difficult time predicting
yield, or the percentage of admitted students who end up
enrolling. Colleges, especially highly selective institutions that
might be battling against one another for highly qualified
applicants, want to admit students who genuinely want to attend
their specific school and are, thus, likely to enroll if
admitted. Because of this uncertainty and the pressure to
manage yield, more colleges are considering demonstrated
interest the level of interest students have shown in their
specific school to predict who is most likely to enroll and who
isnt. Things like visits, contact with the admissions office,
interviews, applying early, are all considered elements of
demonstrated interest. Applying in the early round, in particular,
is one of the best ways for students to demonstrate interest, as
early decisions are binding (meaning a student must attend if

admitted) and single-choice early action prevents a student from

applying to another private institution until they receive a
decision from the first school.
Early admission rates at Ivy League schools can be much higher
than the regular admission rate. For example, for the Class of
2018 Harvard admitted 21% of applicants in the early
round, and with an overall admit rate of 5.9%, that means
Harvard admitted just 3% of applicants from the regular
admissions pool. So, boost your IQ, and dramatically improve
your odds.
James Marshall Crotty