Tips for College Admissions
These are some tips that you should
consider when looking for the right college
for you and to help you to be more successful in being admitted
to the college of your choice. When colleges make admission decisions,
they usually evaluate three areas: 1) academic
achievement, 2) standardized test scores and
3) a personal profile.
1) Academic Achievements:
The academic section is generally
the most important. It includes the quality of your courses, grades,
rank in class and, in some cases, teacher recommendations. The
quality of courses is determined by academic level, some examples
being general, honors, and college preparatory.
2) Test Scores
The second component is test scores,
either SAT I or ACT's. At most of the highly selective colleges
these tests are used in conjunction with the College Board SAT
II: Subject Tests. Specific information about different tests
appears in another section of this guide. Many Universities in
Canada do not require that you take certain tests to be admitted
into their programs.
3) Personal Profile
The third component, the personal
profile, measures what the candidate does outside the classroom.
This profile includes jobs, athletics, community service, religious
activities, art, student government, and much more. Displaying
leadership in these endeavors is of great importance. Unlike scores
and academic achievement, which are relatively easy to measure,
the personal profile is far more difficult to evaluate. The interview,
the application and recommendations are three ways that colleges
gather information in this area.
The impact of these three components
in the colleges' decision-making varies greatly. Large public
universities are less likely to use the personal profile and more
apt to use formulas and cutoffs than are smaller and private colleges.
In most cases, weakness in one area can be offset by strength
in another. Remember, the more selective a college, the more that
college can demand in academic achievement, scores and personal
profile.
Related Links
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Note-Taking Strategies
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