What exactly makes one college application stand out from another can feel pretty unclear to most students and parents.
What do colleges look for in a great college application?
We’ll talk you through it below.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(click to skip ahead)Our methodology for determining college admission “nutrients”
We meticulously collected data on materials published by more than 100 colleges and universities to analyze what commonalities appear across those universities, including reading their mission statements, strategic plans, and pages like this one from Caltech that names specific qualities their institution seeks in its applicants.
Below, you’ll find what we believe, based upon our analysis, to be the qualities colleges are seeking (excluding things like institutional priorities, which change year-to-year, and which you cannot control).
But, rather than thinking of these as a “must-do” list (because elements of the admission process are unpredictable and full of instances of “it depends”), we like to think of these as…
College admission “nutrients” (aka important elements for a healthy college application).
We’ll start with what colleges tend to call the quality, tell you what we like to call it, then share where it can show up in a great college application.
In no particular order, then, here they are…
Intellectual curiosity
Service to others
Leadership or initiative
Collaboration
Consistent engagement
But that’s what colleges call them.
Below, we’ll talk you through how we at CEG think of these qualities, ways these might connect to kinds of identities a student claims or expresses, and, perhaps most important to you, where it can (or perhaps should) show up in your application, and ways that missing this “nutrient” might impact how admissions officer reads your application.
We’ll follow that up with links to guides talking you through how to develop the various elements of your application in ways that help you stand out.
College admission nutrients
Intellectual curiosity
At CEG, we call this: Unapologetically nerdy
AKA: Intelligent, thoughtful, inquiring, exploring, smart
Identities/avatars: The Enthusiast, The Questioner, The Critic, The Weaver, The Experimentalist, The Diver
Where it shows up in the application
Often: transcript, activities list
Sometimes: recommendations, essays (personal statement or supplemental essays), additional info section
Without this admission nutrient, the reader may wonder:
Will the student be able to thrive and contribute to our classes in dynamic or unique ways? Are they comfortable asking questions and noticing patterns? Do they take agency and go deeper/“beyond the surface” with academic and intellectual topics?
Service to others
We call this: Compassion in action
AKA: Empathetic, responsive,
Identities/avatars: The Advocate, The Changemaker, The Activist
Where it shows up in the application:
Often: activities list
Sometimes: recommendations, essays (personal statement or supplemental essays), additional info section
Without this admission nutrient, the reader may wonder:
Does this student care about others, or are they mostly looking out for themselves? Are there particular causes or global issues that they’re eager to combat?
Leadership or initiative
We call this: Curiosity with legs
AKA: Self-directed, starter, proactive, visionary, bold, innovative
Identities/avatars: The Catalyst, The Synthesizer, The Finisher
Where it shows up in the application:
Often: activities list
Sometimes: recommendations, essays (personal statement or supplemental essays), additional info section
Without this admission nutrient, the reader may wonder:
What waves will this student make on our campus? Will they take advantage of our resources and opportunities to the fullest?
Collaboration
We call this: Inclusive excellence
AKA: Consensus-seeking, co-creative, alliance builder, symbiotic, unifying
Identities/avatars: The Collaborator or Harmonizer
Where it shows up in the application:
Often: activities list
Sometimes: recommendations, essays (personal statement or supplemental essays), additional info section
Without this admission nutrient, the reader may wonder:
Does this student understand the value of including diverse perspectives and talents in accomplishing their goals?
Consistent engagement
We call this: Staying the course
AKA: Committed, dedicated, resilient, steady, dependable
Identities/avatars: The Doer, The Bedrock, The Backbone, The Worker Bee
Where it shows up in the application:
Often: transcript, activities list
Sometimes: recommendations, essays (personal statement or supplemental essays), additional info section
Without this admission nutrient, the reader may wonder:
Is this student able to stick things out through the long haul?
How to weave these nutrients into your application
How to demonstrate these “nutrients” in application components:
Regarding your transcript, this guide talks through how colleges think about your grades.
Here’s a full guide to building a strong activities list—the key will be using your limited character count to demonstrate things like your driving curiosity, or quantify the impact you’ve had in service to others.
You don’t have a ton of control over what details teachers and counselors actually write in their recommendations, but here’s a guide to ensuring that your recommendation letters are strong.
Check here for ways to build a strong personal statement or supplemental essays that stand out, and read through this guide to understand how to mostly “show, don’t tell” with your writing.
Have an experience that illustrates, for example, your desire to explore (e.g. a self-directed research project), and that isn’t a big part of your essays? Build out bullets for the add’l info, emphasizing the depth of your exploration and your “why”. Full add’l info guide here.
Other important “nutrients”
To be clear, the above nutrients are things we consistently saw across 100+ colleges. But that doesn’t mean those are the only things colleges like to see.
Other things that showed up (just less often) in our analysis of 100+ college websites include:
Creativity
Commitment to personal growth
Self-reflection
Diversity of thought and experiences
Critical thinking
We may at some point expand on these qualities a bit—stay tuned.
And in case you missed any of these above, as you think about how you want to craft your college application, while you are
drafting your activities list
building out your additional info section
and working on supplemental essays
think about how you can demonstrate those core “nutrients” to your admissions reader.
Or, if you’ve already built many of those things and are trying to see if you’re done, give your application components a scan and assess, as a whole, whether each of the core nutrients appears somewhere.
For resources on virtually every part of the application process, check out our College Application Hub.
Thanks, and take care.
The CEG Team.
Ethan Sawyer (he/him) has been eating/sleeping/breathing college essays for most of his waking hours since 2003. He is an internationally recognized college essay and admissions expert and the author of the Amazon bestsellers College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials. Ethan’s educational experiences, reading, and training have informed his deep interest in storytelling as a vehicle for personal development and growth. With a passion for access and equity, Ethan has provided quality resources for students, families, and professional communities alike. He has supported thousands of students through the complicated college search and application process, all while staying true to his core values of providing ease, purpose, and joy in the process.
Tom Campbell (he/him) is an eternally extra Gemini who has spent the past seven years helping students and families navigate the college admissions process—one alliterative/assonant aphorism at a time. Prior to joining College Essay Guy, he worked as a college counselor at Lakeside School and an admissions officer at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross (his alma mater). He stans em dashes and semicolons, Kacey Musgraves (all eras, not just star crossed and Golden Hour), superior breakfast burritos, and complaining about space tourism.
Top Values: Authenticity | Fun | Vulnerability
Andrew Simpson, CEG’s Editorial Director, has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 20 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.
Top Values: Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity
