HOW STUDENTS CAN USE THEIR COLLEGE APPLICATION AS A MARKETING TOOL
Colleges across the country are constantly promoting their programs, athletics, etc. to get more high school seniors to apply to their institutions. In doing so, they gain more revenue from college application fees, and more prestige from lower acceptance rates due to a larger number of students applying for a limited amount of spots. This is possible because of strategic marketing.
In order for high school seniors to make their application look more impressive, they should evaluate all of their classes and extracurricular activities to discover their "hook" or a Wow Factor, which is a unique accomplishment or talent that shows your student is special. Basically, students should use the same marketing strategy as colleges to promote themselves.
Having a hook on their application will make them a very strong candidate and will boost their chances of acceptance to their dream school. Just a few examples are:
Independent study or research with an adult, such as a professor
Doing something exceptional in which no one can figure out how it was accomplished
Summer jobs or internships in a field of interest (through adult networking)
Being a top athlete at school, in the state, or in the country
Another way to impress colleges is to package many things that you have done in high school to illustrate how they could lead to your future accomplishments.
Use foreign language skills to get a volunteer position or an internship
Participate in volunteer programs for special education students, the elderly, immigrants, etc. to demonstrate empathy. This would be great if you are looking to teach, do social work, etc. Read “Turning the Tide II”
Find a way to tie together some of your extracurricular activities to show an area of expertise in a particular field, e.g. taking a lot of writing/journalism classes, being a three season athlete, and wanting to study sports journalism, or participating in Model UN and volunteering at CASA if you want to apply as a pre-law or poly-sci student.
Attendee of a prestigious summer program with a low acceptance rate, e.g. MIT M.I.T.E.S. or The Princeton Summer Journalism Program.
Do research on hooks/Wow Factors, and if you’re already a senior, quickly figure out if you can present yourself as being competitive in a given field. Juniors, you still have time this year to enhance your activity list by starting a business, writing a book, teaching classes at the library, teaching to a group of Black preschoolers how to read weekly, cooking special meals for older residents, etc.