What Colleges Want
When colleges look at your application, they are looking for signs that you'll be a great addition to the campus community: someone who will succeed academically, get involved, and make it a good experience for the community as a whole.
There's no one "right way" to do it: Whether you're a focused academic, a star athlete, a talented artist, an involved activist, a disadvantaged high-achiever, or something else entirely, you can find a way to shine.
What Colleges Consider
Roughly speaking, you can group colleges' criteria into three main categories:
- Standardized test results (SAT Test, SAT Subject Tests, and other tests)
- Academic performance
- Personal qualities and extracurriculars
So what do colleges look at when evaluating you in these three categories?
- Standardized tests (SAT Test, SAT Subject Tests, and other tests)
- Transcript
- Extracurricular record
- Essay
- Interview
- Recommendations
- Resume
- Demonstrated interest