The College Admissions Game

Why is it that every year we hear about college applicants with near-perfect SAT scores and super-high GPAs getting rejected by top universities? And why are students with much lower numbers regularly admitted to competitive schools?

The answer has to do with the objectives of admissions officers.

How Admissions Officers Assemble Classes

Understanding how college classes are assembled at top universities isn’t hard. In creating a vibrant class of admits, the primary goal is always to select a cohort with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. That way students can teach each other about their worlds. This is important because most of the learning on top college campuses takes place outside of the classroom and has little to do with academics.

Think of college as a forced assimilation process meant to broaden students’ understanding of the world they live in. This principle explains why in assigning students to dorm rooms the physics major is often paired with the aspiring poet, the farm kid is matched with the urban athlete, and the first-gen student is paired with the prep school grad. It’s done on purpose because college is about more than math, science and the arts.

The Implications for Applicants

The implications for applicants are obvious: You need to define yourself as a specific “type” of person who can add a unique perspective to the campus community.

The important questions that applicants should keep in mind when writing their essay are, what do I represent to admissions officers? What defining dimension can I bring to campus? What perspective can I share? And how will I benefit from being exposed to classmates from different backgrounds?

In other words, what’s my brand?

The Biggest Mistake

By far, the most common mistake that students make in writing their application essays is failing to define any identifiable brand. They talk almost exclusively about academic achievements and by default end up classifying themselves as generic “good students.” But being a good student doesn’t differentiate them from other applicants, and grades aren’t enough to get them admitted.

Virtually everyone in the applicant pool is a good student, and there are many more applicants than there are seats in the incoming class. So, why would an admissions officer select you? You need to do something to differentiate your candidacy: You need to build a brand.

What Brand Should I Choose?

It’s different for every student.

When I work with applicants, I often spend weeks exploring their interests and influences. I send them simple questions via email, and they respond with short answers. The idea is to brainstorm lots of options and get them all out on the table before we settle on a specific strategy and start to develop a “brand” around it.

Of course, I know much better than the applicants which of their possible brands would be most appealing to admissions officers, and we discuss that topic before moving forward with an agreed-upon strategy.

In all candor, I’ve been doing college admissions work from the “sell side” longer than most college officials have been doing it from the “buy side.” So I often know their jobs better than they do and can shape a candidate’s profile to fit the needs of admissions staff. The whole point is to offer them a product they want to buy. That's simple if you know what you're doing. But the story you tell differs from student to student, depending on their backgrounds, passions, cultural influences, personal challenges, and professional goals.

An Example of a Quirky but Meaningful Passion

Let’s look at an example of an essay that strongly brands an applicant. You can decide for yourself whether you like this brand or not, but the point is that it’s a clear brand, and any admissions officer reading the essay will know what he or she is getting.

For my fabricated example, I’ll choose Common App Essay Number 1. Watch how the student shares his passion and then makes it relevant to his college major and his eventual career goal. It’s very obvious from this essay what the student’s brand is and what unique expertise he can share with classmates:

	1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
	For as long as I can remember, I have loved manga — the “graphic novels” that are deeply embedded in Japanese culture and yet enjoy a massive global following.
	I became fascinated with manga as a child, mostly because of the dramatic illustrations and the high-action stories — which I could understand even though I didn’t read Japanese.
	Manga kindled my passion for the arts and was the reason why I took up drawing as a child. By the time I reached middle school, I was producing computer-aided anime and attending conventions for enthusiasts. Much of my love for drawing and my skills as an artist come from manga and anime.
	But it isn’t just the graphic art that fascinates me — the storytelling is just as compelling. Manga stories are essentially morality plays with themes that range from good vs. evil to friendship vs. rivalry. Though rooted in Japanese culture, the stories reflect universal themes of human experience and can be understood by people around the world.
	By my freshman year of high school, I was producing my own manga publications, and during my sophomore year, I created a district-wide manga and anime club, which grew to include 80 student members and now hosts an annual anime contest. I hope to found a similar club in college.

From here, the applicant might go on to talk about how manga and anime led him to his college major (film) and inspired him to seek a career in the entertainment industry.

Needless to say, this is an abbreviated version of an application essay, but do you see the passion the student has for manga and anime? And more importantly, do you see his brand? He loves the arts, we understand how his passion developed, and we know what he hopes to do in the future. This is an easily understood brand.

What Most Applicants Do

Believe it or not, most college applicants never get this far in developing a brand. They simply talk about their high school accomplishments and then list a proposed major. But that’s not compelling to admissions officers, and it doesn’t help the reader — who is trying to assemble a class with diverse perspectives, talents, and goals — do his or her job. That’s why the “good student” brand is almost always a loser. Applicants need to be more specific.

I would love to admit this kid because his passion is sincere, well-developed and a little bit quirky. It’s also something that many classmates would be interested in. He’s a winner in the dorms and in the film department.

Sometimes, this is all it takes to be admitted. It doesn’t matter that the reader may not be a fan of manga and anime. All that matters is the student’s passion for his brand and a story that makes that brand believable.

In Summary

• Be a well-defined brand, not a generic ‘good student.’
• Be passionate about your brand.
• Commit to your brand (on paper), even if you aren’t sure what you’ll end up studying in college.