What Colleges Really Look For (and How Your Teen Can Stand Out)
What matters to colleges when it comes to admissions? Crack the code to help your teen stand out.
College Admissions (for Parents)
As a parent, you want to help your teen launch. For some, that means college as the next step.
If you have been keeping up with this article series, “Everything You Need to Know About Applying to College (for Parents),” then you are off to a strong start.
If you missed the initial articles, check out the first two: “Where Do We Even Start?” and “Building the College List Without Stress or Pressure.”
Now onto the next task: figuring out how to stand out to colleges.
What Do Colleges Look for?
There are around 6,000 colleges in the United States alone, and although they are all institutions of higher learning, each is unique.
This is true of their admissions process as well. College admissions is still a very human process. Bots do not troll the applications; humans consider each one.
In the strict sense, all colleges are looking for something similar: they want students who will thrive at their school and move to rewarding careers (or more advanced schooling) afterward.
Colleges look for indicators in the application that this student will be successful at their school.
While some of these indicators may be obvious to you, others will surprise you.
Knowing what colleges value will help you guide your teen into crafting an appealing and authentic application.
Factors That Make for a Strong Application
Read through these factors that make your student a strong applicant for college admission.
Grades
Colleges are academic institutions, which means grades matter. The higher your teen’s GPA, the better.
The most important thing your student can do to improve their chances of college admission is to study, study, study.
If your student has a lower GPA, don’t rule out college. Many institutions will take a chance on students with lower grades.
This is especially true if grades are trending upwards. If your student had a poor start to high school but is working hard to regroup, colleges will see that.
College-Prep Classes
Colleges want to know that a student is academically ready for college.
Your teen can demonstrate that readiness by completing college-prep classes with a strong academic core (science, math, history, composition, etc.)
Success in dual-enrollment, honors, and AP courses also shows that your teen can handle college-level work.
Standardized Test Scores
While GPA matters, many colleges also consider standardized test scores (such as the SAT, ACT, and CLT).
Some schools are making their applications test-optional, which means you can include your standardized test score or leave it off entirely.
If your student has tried repeatedly but could not bank a competitive score for their college of interest, consider applying test-optional if the school allows it.
Family Ties
It takes a lot of money to run a college, and many schools rely on alumni donations to fund scholarships and building projects.
If your student is a legacy at a school (meaning they have a relative who attended), they are much more likely to donate to the college when they graduate.
Colleges also prize legacy students because they can count on those students accepting their offers of admission.
First-Generation College Students
If neither you nor your partner graduated from college, your teen may also have an inroad in the college admissions process.
Some colleges have special programs for “first-generation college students.”
Diversity
A variety of experiences and backgrounds among the student body lead to better class conversations, increased connectivity with various communities, and opportunities to develop empathy among students.
Colleges prize diversity, but there are many ways to diversify a college, including (but not limited to) race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, family background, and educational background.
Colleges are looking for students who will broaden their student body. So the qualities that make a person diverse at one school may not make them diverse at another.
For example, if you live in Oregon, your teen will not broaden the geographic diversity of a school in Oregon. However, if a student from Oregon applies to a school in Louisiana, they will bring diversity to that college.
Leadership
Colleges are looking for students who will be tomorrow’s leaders. Leaders are made, not born.
High school students who have demonstrated leadership are strong applicants.
Demonstrating leadership can move beyond being president of a club or the captain of a sports team; it can be someone who organizes a charity drive or an after-school program.
Committment
Colleges want students who will graduate from their school (preferably in four years). This statistic is valuable to colleges because it affects their national rankings.
What type of student graduates? A committed one.
Students who are committed stick with the activities, jobs, and hobbies they start.
If your student has been in the theater program for 4 years, run on the track team for the past 3 seasons, or volunteered at Vacation Bible School each summer, they have demonstrated commitment.
Volunteerism
Colleges are communities unto themselves, but they are also members of larger communities (the cities and towns in which they reside).
Colleges want students who look beyond themselves and seek to improve their own communities. Chances are, they will do the same in college and beyond.
College Interest
Every year, colleges play a guessing game when they send out admission offers.
If they send out 10,000 offers, they know that only 4,000 of those students will ultimately choose their school.
They need a certain number of students to say “yes” to their admission offers because they count on those tuition dollars for their annual budget.
A college is more likely to say “yes” to you if they know you will say “yes” to them.
How do they figure this out? Colleges use different means to determine if a student has an interest in them, but it can improve your teen’s chances if they do some or all of the following:
- Request information on the school
- Contact an admissions counselor
- Open the emails the school sends (yes, they can tell)
- Go on a virtual tour
- Go on an in-person tour (this is very important)
- Talk with the school representatives at an in-person or virtual college fair
- Apply for early admission
Awards and Certifications
Has your teen gone above and beyond in academics, sports, extra-curriculars, or job training? Awards and certifications can demonstrate diligence and excellence.
Extracurricular Activities
Colleges pay attention to your student’s activities for several reasons.
First, they want to see what your student is passionate about. If your student is applying to a school where they plan to major in music, their involvement in high school music groups demonstrates that passion.
Your student’s activities (depending on what they are) can also help paint a picture of who they are: creative, hardworking, competitive, detail-oriented, compassionate, etc.
Beyond the typical list of sports teams, clubs, and after-school jobs, consider other activities.
Does your student watch their younger siblings every day?
Do they build creative structures out of Lego bricks, crochet items to sell on an Etsy shop, or work on an old car in the garage?
Do they have their own movie-review podcast or YouTube channel for gaming?
These count as activities as well.
Dealing with Challenges
Adversity comes in many forms, and how students work through and overcome challenges testifies to their character.
Some teens have had the proverbial wind in their faces. As a result, progress is much harder to achieve.
Colleges are impressed by applicants who have demonstrated they can work through challenges.
Communication Skills
Effective leaders are excellent communicators. Colleges look for students with strong communication skills.
Students can demonstrate their written communication skills through the personal essay and other supplemental essays in the application.
If the college conducts interviews, they will assess your teen’s oral communication skills.
Letters of Recommendation
Most colleges require a letter of recommendation from your teen’s high school counselor (home-educated students will have their parent complete this).
Additionally, colleges may ask for letters of recommendation from teachers or other adults (such as coaches, pastors, or bosses).
Which Factors Are Most Important?
Not all factors are weighted equally; their weights depend on each institution’s prerogative.
Some schools might consider GPA their top factor, while others look at course load, and still others prize the essay.
Research the schools on your teen’s college list and identify the factors they particularly value. Do they match what your teen brings to the table?
Remember, your teen is fantastic, and colleges will want them! Look through the list of admissions factors, and figure out how to highlight your teen’s strengths.
