How Do You Define Your Potential? How Do Schools Define Your Potential?

How do colleges/universities look for potential in applicants?

How do admission officers figure out, through university applications, which students have potential for success at their institution and/or in the future? Preferably selective schools that have an acceptance rate of less than 50%.

I was asked to answer the question above on the website Quora.com

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Recently, the president of Harvard, Drew Gilpin Faust, gave some advice to parents about getting their children in: “Faust's top tip for raising a Harvard man or woman: “Make your children interesting!” http://socialassurity.com/newsandblog/2014/7/1/how-to-get-into-harvard-the-atlantic

The reason I mention this is that the word interesting can mean anything and nothing. What is ‘interesting’ to me may bore you out your mind. And vice versa. Harvard has its own definition of interesting but you can bet it will never see the light of day as the word permits them to pretty much do whatever they want to enroll a class that meets their institutional needs. The fuzziness of the word is purposefully used.

The word ‘potential’ means many different things too. The way a school defines potential differs according to the student and the school. I will try to explore a few of the more important ways you might be evaluated for your potential.

For selective schools, potential first and foremost means that you have proven that you have the background and skills to graduate. The primary mission of a school (or it should be at least) is to educate the next generation. They want to enroll students who will do well and then go on to a fulfilling life. That is the ideal behind education. It is also true that schools are ranked partly on their graduation rates so every student they accept is one they want to see graduate from a pragmatic perspective too.

Given what I have just written, you need to know what schools look at more than anything else are your academic credentials since they are what predict academic success. Your academic performance and the courses you have taken will be the first things that get looked at to predict your academic potential. It is important to remember that both program and performance intersect. A student who gets high grades in a weak program will not often stand out. Nor will a student with a very tough program but average grades. You must challenge yourself and do well. If your school offers APs you should take a number of them in those areas in which you have skills. Increasingly, many students accepted to selective schools have more than 5 AP classes (and some have a lot more than that). If your school offers the IB diploma you should be in it. Or if you are in some other educational program around the world (A Level, Abitur etc.) you should be taking the rigorous options that are offered. In addition, most students getting in to selective schools are ranked in the top 10% of the class. At schools in the top 25 over 90% of the students who enroll typically are in this group. Even if schools do not rank, the counselors are asked to estimate the decile you are in, and even if they do not answer this question colleges run programs of applicants from each school to see where your GPA stands in comparison to other applicants.

Of course standardized tests also predict potential. There are many in education who think standardized tests do not predict well, but the data is there that in conjunction with grades and program testing does predict potential. In fact, there is some data that standardized tests predict potential beyond school in life as well.

This data on SATs, and there is quite a lot of it, does show that high testers tend to do well and low testers don’t at competitive colleges and universities.  Given this, and despite what some educators think, and despite what is often said in brochures put out by colleges, testing is still used heavily in admission decisions to selective schools. (If you are a member of certain groups, such as low income or under-represented students this is not as true, but for the vast majority of applicants testing matters a lot. If it didn’t the colleges would not have high scores listed on their academic profiles. Testing too is used in determining rankings for colleges so they pay attention to these numbers.)

Schools, however, look for many other forms of potential than what your GPA might be at the end of 4 years. That may be the starting point for highly selective schools, but there are many other ways of demonstrating potential.

If you are an academic star and can prove this in some way outside the numbers then you will have demonstrated potential. If you have won significant recognition in academic competitions (Siemens competition, Math and Science Olympiads, Google Scholarships etc.), then you will stand out from almost all but a few applicants. There are, of course, many academic recognitions that are not at an international and national level. The higher up the recognition is the more likely it will be a huge factor in assessing your potential. But even regional and in school awards may help an admission reader decide you have potential do to dwell in a given major, school or field.

If you have done significant research or if you have patents that look impressive or if you have started a business that looks legit, these too lead admission officers to see your future potential to do well in school and in life. Once again, you may not have accomplished research topics at this level but if you have some research or a worthwhile internship you can describe these too may help indicate your future potential.

Potential, however, at colleges and universities, does not only apply to academics. One of the reasons schools ask you to list (and sometimes discuss) your extracurricular activities is that they may find potential in other areas. For example, if you have devoted countless hours to service of some sort this leads admission readers to conclude you have the potential to do great social good on their campus and afterward too.  Or you may have a talent, be it athletics, public speaking, music or one of hundreds of others things that demonstrate your potential to add to the life of the campus and life of those around you. In some cases, athletics in particular, (but also sometimes in the fine arts too), having the ability to contribute to a team will be determinative to your acceptance—far more than your testing and grades. Any special talent helps predict potential and you need to make sure you demonstrate this in some way.

One way to do this is through recommendations. If there is a teacher, mentor, employer, advisor, coach etc. who can put in writing that you have tremendous potential then this will help the admission officer learn more than just what you may have listed on your resume or the box of activities you fill in on the Common Application.  In some cases, the writers of letters are looking for a little guidance about what to write and you may want to suggest your potential to them as something to address. Schools look for people who have the potential to grow and succeed.

Another place to demonstrate potential is through your essays. If you are an exceptional writer, then you can demonstrate your potential for contributing both academically and as a potential contributor in campus media. In this sense, it is your style that will stand out rather than what you necessarily write about. A great writer can demonstrate potential with any topic.

On the other hand, you may wish to address, through your essay, the experiential potential you have. The Common Ap prompts are, for the most part, attempts to get students to write a story that demonstrates potential. Sometimes these stories are about overcoming great odds and if you have a story like this then you need to tell it well. For most, however, the story you write should show (and tell) how you have grown in some way and how this predicts that you will continue to grow and flourish in college. I have lots of examples on my blog of essays that work because they tell a story that’s focused, organized and gets across personality traits and experiences that underscore potential.

Finally, if schools offer interviews, then you should make it a priority to get one. If you prepare for the interview and demonstrate your interests and abilities in a conversational way, then you will also underscore your potential to be a contributing member of the class.

I wish you the best of luck.