Applying for university is a stressful time. It is the first time that many students will face the real world, where their experience and efforts are finally measured and judged. Getting into a top school that offers the program that they want can be a very big deal, but the good news is that it isn’t the end of the world. This guide can help you put together a winning university application, and if you don’t succeed on your first try, will give top tips and advice on how you can take a step back, learn more about yourself, and improve your credentials and applications for the next time.
Understand and Meet the Minimum Requirements
The most important step to any application is ensuring that you meet the minimum requirements. Meeting these requirements is in no way a guarantee that you will get in, but it is the first step. A good way to do this is to look on third-party sites that outline all the admission requirements and how competitive the school is as a whole. You can easily see the Elon University GPA requirements at CampusReel, for example, and have a complete list of what you will need before you apply and what the likelihood will be of you being accepted with just the bare minimum.
By understanding the acceptance rates and a few other important statistics, you can then start to get a better idea of how much more you will need to increase your chances of acceptance.
Great grades may be all you need to be accepted, but for the most competitive programs, you will want to add extracurriculars, projects, work, and your own personal journey to your application.
Join Extracurriculars or Start Your Own Project
While being attached to extracurriculars for your entire high-school career (and beyond) may feel like a necessity, it isn’t. You can get started with a new extracurricular activity in your senior year and get the experience that you need to increase your chances of being accepted into top courses.
The secret is that joining isn’t enough. While you don’t need to be the president of whatever group, society, or project you join, you should try to get an active part. The part doesn’t have to be in the spotlight, but it should make an impact.
Don’t be afraid to start your own project or projects, either. Starting a business, starting a platform, creating something and then submitting it for competitions – all these activities make a big impact on a college application.
Writing the Admissions Essay
There are many tips out there when it comes to writing and perfecting the admissions essay. At minimum, the essay is simply there to help the admissions team understand why you want to be on the course. If the reasons why you want to be on the course don’t align with the course outcomes, then you may get rejected simply because it isn’t the course for you.
When it comes to writing any essay, one of the best tips you can use is to overwrite the first draft. Try to add all the ideas you have and organize them into a somewhat coherent list of reasonings. From there, edit down. Edit out the unnecessary, the fluff, the things you like that don’t actually add to your case.
Editing down to the word count means putting together a tighter essay that reads better and has a far greater impact than trying to flush it to meet the word count. Put anything you can think of in your first draft, let your ideas go wild, and edit them down until you have the best arguments.
Tips If You Didn’t Get Accepted the First Time
If you didn’t get accepted into the programs of your choice, then do not worry. It isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can be a great opportunity to take some time and invest it back into yourself in a unique way that will open up new doors that you didn’t expect. These tips can help you understand yourself more, gain experience and credentials, and help you get accepted to your top choice the next time you try to apply.
Earn the General Requirements Elsewhere
One of the many realities that most students don’t know is that you can transfer institutions during your academic career. You could earn the general education requirements at a community college and then apply to transfer into your top program, for example. General requirements aren’t specialized, meaning that you can still get the specialist education you want from your top choice later on.
This gives you time to invest in extracurriculars and other personal projects that can help your career. You can even take on those credits on a part-time basis and earn internships or look for work. All of these strategies can make your transfer application appeal to your top choice universities.
Work, Intern, Travel and Learn More About Yourself
If you weren’t set on any of the programs you initially applied to anyway, then it can be very useful to take the time to really focus on learning more about yourself. Working, interning, traveling, taking workshops, exploring your interests, and so on can all be great ways to understand more about what you want out of your career and your life. Not only that but all of them are great opportunities to stand out on a college admission application, even in particularly popular and competitive programs. You are, after all, always competing against the latest wave of both recent high school graduates and other young-adult careerists looking to get back into education.
By exploring more about yourself and getting that much-needed experience, you can really stand out, and not just on the page. Knowing what you want to do and being direct in your career efforts can be a powerful approach toward success.
Take Short Courses and Build Your Credentials
There are many short courses, workshops, and other alternative learning opportunities you can invest in. These can provide a higher level of education than you would find in a book or a free course option and can help you understand more about yourself while also building up credentials that will look great on your next college application or work application.
Yusra Hammadi
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- How to Put Together a Winning University Application! - July 6, 2022
