The 7 biggest mistakes made on college applications

The college admissions process has grown incredibly competitive over the last 2 decades, and many applicants kill their odds of admission to their dream school before their essays ever land on the desk of a college admissions officer. This hyper-competitive atmosphere we live in means that students need to begin preparing very early in high school in order to stand a chance competing at top tier universities.

There are several common mistakes that we at Brains and Brawn consistently see students make. And unfortunately for those students, many of these are considered deal-breakers. We’re going to cover those below and make sure that students know how to avoid these common errors.

1. Starting too late!

   Most high school students don’t start thinking critically about college until their junior year. This leaves them very little time to knock out a plethora of standardized testing, volunteer work, and extracurriculars. More importantly, they realize that the AP courses they need to make their application competitive have certain pre-requisites that they haven’t taken. By junior year, it’s too late to knock out the pre-reqs and AP courses in time for their application deadline senior year. These students leave a lot on the table since high schools require AP courses to be year long and students submit college applications in their first semester of their senior year. Students starting the college admissions process junior year are also forced to take the ACT/SAT, plus any additional SAT subject tests all within a very short amount of time. Ideally, students should take SAT subject tests at the end of their junior year, to align with AP test dates (both AP tests and SAT subject tests are made by CollegeBoard, and material often overlaps).

2. Poor selection of colleges

   Students have all heard about selecting reach and safety schools, but few actually understand what this means. If you’ve read our recent blogs, you’ll know that the average high school student spends only 38 minutes with their college counselors over all 4 years combined, so they don’t get solid guidance on how to pick colleges. Each year, we see tons of students applying only to reach schools, ending up needing a gap year or having to settle for a college they have no desire in attending. Early on in high school, students should start examining the competitiveness (acceptance rates are public) for all of their desired colleges. No matter how well you prepare your applications, it’s tough to know what the admissions officers reading your application will decide. Putting all of your eggs into one basket, and counting on getting into the most competitive colleges could mean getting rejections from all schools. Applying to hyper-competitive reach schools is fine, but students should always have a few safety schools which they're confident will accept them. At the same time, students should understand their strength relative to other applicants, to avoid only applying to safety schools. A wide gradient of schools is crucial for high school students whilst applying for college. Read our 10/18 blog post on how college consultants can take the headache out of this process.

3. Overdoing extracurriculars

   This may be the most common flaw of students that are applying to competitive colleges. The rat-race of college admissions leads students to sign up for every club, sport, and volunteer opportunity that they hear about. Students end up being a member of 30 clubs, and a leader of none. However, it’s far more important to have depth over breadth in extracurriculars. Elite universities are looking for leaders. These schools also understand that it’s simply not possible to be a responsible member of 30+ organizations. Students should find extracurriculars that they are truly interested in, and become very involved. It’s far better to lead 3-4 groups than to be a member of every club possible but seldomly attend meetings. Colleges want students that will be successful during and after attending their university. Consider how your application will be received by those looking to accept the leaders of tomorrow.

4. Trying to mislead admissions officers

   Each year, on applications I see students listing things that they could not possibly have done, and taking credit for others work. I also see them working to build out the most robust and impressive resume ever, without once considering how realistic it appears. Adding that you interned at your father’s law firm for the past 6 summers doesn’t actually add anything to your resume because it’s just not feasible that you were a valuable intern when you were 12 years old. Admissions officers can see through this and aren’t going to fall for it. It’s far better to list your actual achievements instead of trying to blow the admissions officers away with things no teen could ever actually achieve on their own. Stop worrying about what you think college admissions officers want to see, and start working to tell your story in the most realistic way possible. If you’ve done the right things throughout high school, that will show through on your application.

5. Submitting essays without proof-reading

   Students that start too late are often rushed to meet deadlines with their applications. As a result, they end up submitting essays without any proof-reading. It’s incredible how often we see application essays with spelling and grammatical errors. These are extremely easy to fix, and also have a dramatic impact on how your application will be considered. We all make occasional spelling mistakes, that isn’t the point. Simple spelling mistakes show that the applicant was careless and rushed. Have multiple people proofread essays. Mistakes are missed by others as well, but admissions officers have a keen eye for these.

6. Sounding pretentious in applications and/or interviews

   While students should try to stand out from other applicants, it’s important to note that you should never attempt to be overly formal on your applications. Sounding too confident, or talking about how you’re going to change the culture at the university you haven’t been accepted into is a great way to have your application tossed to the side. If your college requires an interview, make sure you prepare and have some good questions for your interviewer. Acting as if you know every single fact about a school is not endearing and won’t make the conversation flow as well as asking genuine questions to the interviewer.

7. Having Generic content on your application

   Your applications should be specific to each school. If a college asks for supplemental essays, and you submit something that seems as if it could be submitted to a dozen different schools, it could mean your entire application is rejected. Research the schools you applying to, and include specific content about the programs that truly make you want to attend.

If you’re worried about making some of the above mistakes on your own applications, reach out to us today. Brains and Brawn has a proven track record of helping students secure spots at elite universities. Our background will help you or your student get into the college of your/their dreams. It’s never too early to start. Getting into elite universities starts freshman year, so contact us today to learn how to get on the right track!

-Mark Wilson, Director of Curriculum Development & Design