Edwin DayI get it.
Most people only apply to college once in their lives, so they see it as their one, singular opportunity to stand out, impress application readers, and get admitted into that one, highly exclusive university (because no other university will do!) which will set them up for the rest of their lives.
And if they donât, theyâve failed in life.
No matter how many times I advise students and parents that this is the completely wrong mindset to have when applying universities, some of you will still see it as such.
Fine.
Given how selective many universities are, itâs no surprise that students often feel like they need to go beyond what is asked for when applying, but the reality is, if you bombard admission officers with things they donât ask for, the perception is that you are overcompensating for a perceived weakness elsewhere in your application.
Below I go through some of the more common gimmicks students think are good ideas, when in fact, are counterproductive to your university admission goals:
Letters of Recommendation
Donât send an abundance of extra recommendation letters. Just because you have letters from employers, extra teachers, volunteer coordinators, camp supervisors, peers, or even other parents, doesnât mean admission officers want to read them. If a university asks for none, send them none. If a university says up to two letters only, only send two.
Additionally, I know many parents will have a friend of a friend of a friend who knows the CEO (or someone with another fancy title) of some company willing to sign his or her name at the bottom of a letter of recommendation. You may think that such cachet means guaranteed admission, but in reality, universities are wise to this game. They know that 99% of the time students didnât really work hand-in-hand with that CEO, that the CEO doesnât really know the student well, and that itâs just a blatantly superficial attempt to sway others with seemingly impressive people whom ultimately have minimal relevance to the actual student.
Just donât do it.
Other âInspirationsâ
Sometimes students will do or send âout of the boxâ things to admission officers they believe will show their love for a particular university. Students have had things like bouquets of flowers or chocolates, singing telegrams, scrapbooks containing every newspaper clipping, achievement or award the student has ever been in, and even application essays delivered by carrier pigeon. Then there was that one student who found out (stalked?) when and where an admission officer was having lunch and showed up in a sandwich board listing the top 10 reasons why that student had to join the incoming class.
The point is, if what youâre sending to admission officers is unsolicited, donât send it no matter how clever and novel you may think it to be. Odds are, itâs simply more annoying than anything else.
Portfolios & Other Creative Piece Submissions
If a student is applying to a drama, architecture or other fine arts related program, portfolios are often requested and required. If a student is applying to a more traditional program like, math, economics, business, psychology, etc., however, all these extra âthingsâ like links to your personal website, YouTube videos of a piano recital or performance in a school play, or other creative pieces that are not part of a formal arts supplement are unnecessary.
While these achievements are awesome on their own, if a university really wanted such materials from every applicant they would ask for them specifically, and most donât.
Conclusion
When colleges ask for things, they do so in an attempt to provide themselves with a full and balanced picture of the achievements of its applicants. While many students will still attempt to separate themselves from the pack by adding more and more, students capable of showing restraint by making the requested for materials the strongest they can be will ultimately better distinguish themselves.