From the desk of Kris Mathis, Academic Counselor:

Our year at Brook Hill is just starting, but, believe it or not, the deadline for seniors to have their applications submitted to the colleges of their choice are right around the corner.  That being the case, this seems like an appropriate time to answer the most asked question of a college admissions adviser: “What is the most important thing to a university on a student’s application?”

Unfortunately there is no simple answer for that question.  It often time depends on many factors.

The first thing a university will look for is a student’s class rank.

While Brook Hill is a non-ranking school, because universities in Texas are required by statute to admit students who are in the top ten percent of their graduating class (or in the case of the University of Texas at Austin the top eight percent), they do allow non–ranking schools to send a letter requesting that they consider students as if they were in the top ten percent for admissions purposes.  Universities will honor this request and admit students automatically as long as the school includes a numerical ranking on the letter that designates a top 10 percent ranking, i.e.,  5 out of 50.  If you are one of the students fortunate enough to be in this group that is where the process ends.

You might be asking “Where is the cut off for the top ten percent if you have a class size that is not divisible by ten (or eight)?”  The answer is simple math.  If you divide the student’s class rank by the total number in the class and the resulting number is 10.4 or less that student is still considered to be a part of the top ten percent.  If the resulting number is 10.5 they would be considered to be in the first quarter.

What if you are not ranked high enough?

When a student is not deemed to be an automatic admit, College acceptance standards get a little hazy.  Most colleges will tell you they are evaluating the whole student.  This is absolutely true but there is no single model universities use to do this.  I can however give you a few tips that will help any applicant give the most well rounded picture of themselves:

Academics

Since you are applying to an institution of higher learning, academics are always important. But, there is more to be concerned with here than merely grades.  Equally as important are the courses you choose to take.  A university is not going to be as impressed with a 4.0 from a student who has done the minimum required work for graduation and did not attempt say a science or a math course their senior year if one was available as they will be with a student with a solid GPA in the 3’s who took the hardest class load possible and mixed in college course work their junior and senior year.

Please do not misunderstand me. I would never encourage a student to take a course load they were unprepared for or incapable of doing.  However, it would benefit them to get out of their comfort zone and push themselves as hard as they can academically.  Ultimately, only they know where that line is and in the long run, only they will know if they sold themselves short.  But, as a parent, you can definitely encourage them and let them know you have faith in their abilities so that they are more apt to challenge themselves.  The key here is putting everything else aside such as what class their friends are in and focusing on what is going to prepare them academically, not only to be admitted to the college of their choice, but also help them be successful in their field of study.

On a related topic I would encourage students, and you as their parents, to evaluate their academic progress early, and if there is an issue, to work quickly to identify it (a conference with a teacher is always a great place to start) and make the needed adjustments.  I have seen too many students be unsuccessful in a course simply because they assume that poor performance early on is due to some sort of fluke or because the teacher is making the assignments and tests too difficult when in actuality it is due to the fact that they simply do not know how to prepare properly for the exam or they are not willing to ask for help when they do not understand. By the time they figure this out, it is too late to be successful in the course.  It has been my experience that more times than not a lack of success has nothing to do with a lack of ability.

Extra-Curricular Activities

I have seen many applications that have so many extra-curricular activities that there are not enough lines on the application and the student has to send a supplemental resume. This is absolutely fine but not a must.  Most universities are equally as impressed if you are just involved in a few things during your high school career as long as you remained involved and took an increasing role in the leadership of those organizations as your high school career went on.  It also often grabs admissions officer’s attention if a student has sought out internships or paying jobs during high school that allowed them to be exposed to their intended field of study or intended career.

Letters of Recommendation

My advice here is do not assume that more is better. Some universities will limit the number you can submit.  If this is the case you should definitely submit the maximum.  However, many schools will let you send all the letters of recommendation you want.  Often however they only read one or two so if you send in ten and the student really wanted them to read the eighth one in the stack, they will often never see it because they just take the top two off of the pile.  Often these can have much more impact if you focus on getting a few really strong ones instead of trying to impress the admissions office with volume.

It might also help to think outside the box a little in this particular area.  The admissions offices do not need two letters saying that the teacher had the student in his or her math class for three years and they never made below a 98.  They can see that on the student’s transcript.  They are much more likely to have their attention grabbed by a letter from an English teacher that says the student in question was the only one in the class who grasped the intricacies of Shakespeare and took the time every morning to lead a study group so that their classmates would be successful in that section of the course even if the student in question had a “B” or “C” average for the year.

It is also important to note that it is perfectly acceptable to get letters of recommendation from people outside of school.  In the right cases even (such as a prior tie to the university where the student is applying) family members may be great choices to speak on the students behalf.

Social Media

In the world we live in today it is also very important that students think about what they are sharing on social media. The internet is forever and once they hit “post” what they say and do is out there for everyone to see.  It is not uncommon for admissions officers to search social media in an attempt to evaluate an applicant’s character.

While this is by no means an exact blueprint to check off, I hope it will guide you in preparing the best college application you can.  Also, in closing I would encourage both you and your students to use Mrs. Tucker, Mr. Nelson, and myself as a resource in the college application process.  Please know we are here to help students and their families in any way that we can in achieving their goals and dreams for life after Brook Hill.