As college application time nears, I remind cllients of one of my favorite tips, this one from Chisholm and Ivey's How To Prepare A Standout Application, regarding telling your story in the application. Telling a coherent and compelling story about your life, with those themes consistently weaved throughout the application, are what help admissions officers distinguish you from many other students who have similar grades and test scores. Your story is a very short summary that describes your demographics, characteristics as a student, extracurricular interests, personality traits, and career aspirations (think BIG!).

If you are a home-schooled Israeli-american with ten siblings who loves poetry, enjoys archery and helping at a food pantry, and wants to study international relations to bring peace to the middle east, you application should reflect that story at every available time. This is not to exaggerate your accomplishments, but a chance to help colleges differentiate you from others to determine if you are a good fit for their student body.

Questions or comments? Contact Eric@topchoicecollegeconsulting.com