Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.
Some students go into the admissions process with the strategy of declaring a strange, off-the-beaten-track type major that will bolster their chances of getting into a selective school which otherwise would likely reject their candidacy.
The idea is once they’re in they’ll change their major with the advantage of being in the system not outside of it. For most of the liberal arts colleges such as Middlebury, Pomona College, or Davidson, this strategy won’t work.
Admissions officers spend a lot of time sorting through raffs of transcripts, standardized test scores, essays, recommendations, interview summaries, portfolios, and lists of extracurricular activities in search of clues of leadership, that prized trait sought by hundreds of American college campuses.
Few of us have escaped the economic impact of what some economists are calling the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression. The colleges haven't escaped either. Many, whether public or private, are more vulnerable than you might suppose. It's a good idea to be aware of how they will be affected, especially if you're planning to join their campuses either this fall or next.
Few aspects of the admissions process tend to fray the nerves like pulling together an activity list in your senior year and reviewing your extracurricular pursuits. Almost no one feels they compare well with their peers. This feeling is only compounded by articles about other applicants taking an 8-week jaunt to Bolivia and doing ground breaking research on some strange virus, or playing with the New York Symphony in Beijing before hiking up the face of K2. These applicants do, probably, exist. But, they shouldn't deter you from taking pride in whatever it is you enjoy and excel in.
