How (Not) to Make Your Students College Application Stand Out
Every college applicant wants to stand out, but in your students efforts to show what makes them distinctive they need to make sure they don’t end up blending in.
The U.K.’s college admissions service Ucas recently analyzed the personal statements in more than 700,000 application forms to come up with a top 10 of the most popular opening lines.
The statements sit alongside the parts of the application that deal with academic achievements and give students the opportunity to stand out from the thousands of others whose grades are equally as impressive.
They are the part of the application form that is simultaneously most dreaded by students and most eagerly read by admissions tutors. It is also the part where tutors are most likely to have their hopes dashed, when students who look so promising on paper turn out to be less impressive than they thought.
Ucas found the same opening lines recurred with depressing regularity. Most popular was “From a young age I have (always) been…”, often going on to be “interested in” or “fascinated by” the subject in question.
Next most widespread was “For as long as I can remember I have…” followed by the even-less inspired “I am applying for this course because…”.
The top 10 also features an opening line specific to nursing, the subject with the highest number of applicants.
The complete top 10 opening lines in applications for college admission in 2015 are:
1. From a young age I have (always) been (interested in/fascinated by)…
2. For as long as I can remember I have…
3. I am applying for this course because…
4. I have always been interested in…
5. Throughout my life I have always enjoyed…
6. Reflecting on my educational experiences…
7. Nursing is a very challenging and demanding (career/profession/course)…
8. Academically, I have always been…
9. I have always wanted to pursue a career in…
10. I have always been passionate about…
And for those who thought they were being truly original, there was a cold, hard dose of reality. Just outside the top 10 most popular opening lines was a quote from Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” No doubt its users thought it was a way of making their application stand out, when in truth it did just the opposite.
Instead of recycling cliches, students need to think what it is that makes them different. You would hope that everyone who wants to study history has been fascinated by history since childhood. What makes them different might be where that fascination came from or where it has led them.
No one envies students who are trying to think of reasons why they should be offered a college place ahead of others with identical grades. Selling yourself does not come naturally to most of us, and is particularly difficult at an age when there are fewer life experiences to draw upon.
But if you want your application to lodge in a tutor’s mind, you need to make sure that it stands out, and that means making it personal.
This is definitely something that should be pointed out to your students. Be original! This will help their applications stand out more than anything.
Forbes blog can be found here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/04/23/how-not-to-make-your-college-application-stand-out/#30f1408e30bf