I have to start applying to universities and I am so nervous. I feel like I cannot meet the admission criteria and don’t know how to make my application look better.

Get involved

Involvement in a variety of activities looks good, but be strategic about it. Find organisations, volunteering opportunities, and events to attend/be involved in that relate to your specific interests. When students do this and apply to schools that offer degrees or majors in those areas, they’ll stand out in the crowded field of prospective students.

Send a stellar letter of recommendation

Only choose the two teachers who will rave about you. Make the most of your junior years by forming relationships with your favourite subject teachers.

Stand out from the crowd

“Be original. Be sincere. Be passionate. For instance, nobody at NYU admissions wants to read another repetitive response explaining how great New York City is and the career opportunities it has to offer. Tell the admissions panel about a specific teacher at NYU who you’re particularly interested in learning with, or about an alumni and their achievements that inspired you. Perhaps you read a novel by an author who teaches at their school. This strategy holds true regardless of where you apply.” – David Greenberg

Be aware of your digital footprint

In the words of…

“Students should always be aware of building positive digital footprint. It’s not about just being public or private on

social media. Admissions aren’t searching strictly to police students, schools have a huge problem with retention and they are also searching for things that validate and confirm what a student is putting on a college application. If a student is “private” everywhere, it’s almost as if he/she doesn’t exist, and sometimes that is worse than an admissions office finding a negative or silly thing a student did online. It’s perfectly acceptable for students to use social media privately with friends, but they should also be conscious of using additional social media outlets safely, to start to build their digital brand.”
– Melissa Davis

Make sure it’s the right fit for you

“One of the most important things for a student to understand about applying to their dream school is that there is a difference between their “dream school” and the “best fit school”. This is often a hard encounter with the reality of their expectations and the expectations of the dream college. Simply the fact that it is a “dream” is a pretty good indication that there is a disconnect between their academic aptitude and the academic expectations of the college.” – Robert DeCock