Adding depth to a STEM-focused application

Chelsea had done a lot of interesting things. The problem? She didn’t think they were interesting.

The Challenge

Chelsea came to us with a great GPA, fantastic test scores and a strong, eclectic activity list. However, she did not see the value in her list. She considered her non-STEM activities, such as her year spent as the president of her school’s DIY craft club, or her time as the leader of a special education school outreach group, to be a “waste,” even though she loved doing them! When it came time to write college essays, Chelsea was convinced she had to focus on her more “normal” activities that directly related to her goals in STEM, even though she wasn’t really passionate about any of them.

Possible Approaches

We could have simply helped Chelsea continue down the path she was on: focusing solely on the time she won a math competition, or the time she went to a debate competition… the things she thought the admissions committee would “want” to hear about. The other option was to help her see the value in writing confidently about her passions and see that nothing she had put so much time and energy into was “useless.”

The Admissionado Approach

Chelsea came to us right as application season was beginning, so we needed to get started quickly! After many hours of discussion, we saw how important it was to show Chelsea that she had gained valuable skills and life experiences from ALL of her activities in high school (especially the ones she thought were weird or unimportant). As an applicant for STEM programs, her “more relevant” experience was going to be very common in the engineering school applicant pool. It was the quirkier activities that were going to set her apart from the crowd, particularly given her ultra-competitive demographic (Indian, female, engineering).

The Result

The top school to which Chelsea was accepted was UCLA. Ultimately, she decided on UT Austin because of their strong business program and her family’s proximity to the city.

Personal Shoutout

“I am very impressed with you and Admissionado. I believe Admissionado provides the best college preparatory and application guidance services in the world.”