To study abroad in your Dream College depends upon many factors. Colleges overseas look for well-rounded applicants and hence evaluate not just your academic records & test scores but also extra and co-curricular activities, honours and achievements, social contributions, and more. A SAT score of 2400 might still not get you into a top university in US if the rest of your application is not up to expectations, while a seemingly average score might get you into the best colleges on the back of a good overall application.
Although the performance clock starts ticking early, you can always work on various activities to get into your dream College overseas.
Here are 7 things you can do or get actively associated with to maximise your chances and make your candidature relevant for your dream college.
Study Abroad Action 1: Extracurricular Activities
Colleges prefer students who take an active interest in activities outside the classroom, be it sports, school clubs, drama, music, social service, environment issues, special interest or hobby groups. Make sure you are part of some activities that you feel strongly about and strive to take up leadership positions within the ones you are active in. Your dream college will place greater value on few activities where you are actively involved than on a resume filled with multiple ones where you have hardly contribut..... Read More >>
To study abroad in your Dream College depends upon many factors. Colleges overseas look for well-rounded applicants and hence evaluate not just your academic records & test scores but also extra and co-curricular activities, honours and achievements, social contributions, and more. A SAT score of 2400 might still not get you into a top university in US if the rest of your application is not up to expectations, while a seemingly average score might get you into the best colleges on the back of a good overall application.
Although the performance clock starts ticking early, you can always work on various activities to get into your dream College overseas.
Here are 7 things you can do or get actively associated with to maximise your chances and make your candidature relevant for your dream college.
Study Abroad Action 1: Extracurricular Activities
Colleges prefer students who take an active interest in activities outside the classroom, be it sports, school clubs, drama, music, social service, environment issues, special interest or hobby groups. Make sure you are part of some activities that you feel strongly about and strive to take up leadership positions within the ones you are active in. Your dream college will place greater value on few activities where you are actively involved than on a resume filled with multiple ones where you have hardly contributed.
Study Abroad Action 2: Challenge yourself
Dream Colleges are impressed with instances where you have challenged your limits and achieved (or at least genuinely tried to) success in challenging courses or activities. Do not choose the easy way out or select the easiest courses on offer. Challenge yourself and aspire for greater things!
Study Abroad Action 3: SAT
If you plan to apply to colleges in US, start preparing for your SATs. Try to take two SAT I exams so that if you have not done well in your first attempt, you still have time to prepare better and retake the test. The SAT II are the more rigorous subject tests and it makes sense for you have more of your High School syllabus covered before you attempt it.
Keep an eye out on the Test Dates and last dates for registration (read more on the My College Sherpa Tracker here). Get yourself organised on how you will approach this task. Well begun is half done!
Study Abroad Action 4: Read as much as You Can
This is a good habit anyways! In the context of your college application, it would help in improving your standardised test performance, giving you more ideas for your essays, and of course, improve your grades at school.
Study Abroad Action 5: Develop Your College List
Start browsing the web to do your research on colleges. “Like” their FB page or sign up to their newsletter for regular updates. Use the time to proactively to check out various categories of colleges, their specialities, whether they offer the areas of study you might be interested in, their competitive index, any location preference you might have, et al. Also make note of the admission requirements of the dream colleges you prefer so that you can start working towards satisfying these requirements.
Study Abroad Action 6: Don’t Waste Vacation Time
Dream Colleges see how effectively you have utilised your vacations, whether it is through an advanced program of study, or participation in an extracurricular activity, or a part time job to acquire some skills. Please note that taking up tuition classes is not something that you would ideally like to report on your dream college application so think beyond regular school prep work. Don’t miss the chance to add to your profile during vacations.
Study Abroad Action 7: Lastly, Grades Still Matter
While dream colleges take a holistic look at your application, please remember that your courses and grades will feature at the top when they consider your application. In case you have not done well in the past, your current grades would be even more important. If you have done well earlier, do not relax as it would be hard to explain why your grades have come down. A higher class rank also shows better achievement.
22 June 2017
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