How Do A Lot of Students Incorrectly Prepare for Thinking About College? 10 Things You Should Know

With the current hyper-competitive era of college admissions, it’s never too early to begin planning your application strategy. 

Strengthening your extracurricular involvement and academic achievements will be an ongoing process throughout high school, and standardized test preparation should begin far in advance of your senior fall. When it comes to actual application components — ranging from school research to writing essays — it’s best to begin work by the end of your junior year, as creating a truly compelling application takes substantial preparation. 

In this blog, we’ll review 10 essential aspects of the college application process where students are prone to make mistakes. We’ll offer guidance on how to avoid common pitfalls in subjects ranging from researching schools to application review to ensure your application is as strong as possible!  

1. Waiting to begin planning your strategy

Preparation for college applications doesn’t just begin when essay prompts are announced — it’s an ongoing process throughout high school. When planning your extracurriculars, think about what would be the most impressive additions to your resume and highlight your greatest strengths and interests. And don’t just limit yourself to school-year involvements — to be truly prepared, you should use your summer strategically to add high-impact activities that will further enhance your profile. 

There are also smaller application components that you can get a head start on. If you know some of the schools you’d like to apply to, work on showing demonstrated interest, whether through attending information sessions, signing up for emails, or visiting campus. If you know you’ll be submitting a research or arts supplement, preparing a portfolio in advance is an invaluable time management tip. 

2. Misusing application rounds

Application rounds are the subject of much confusion, which can often lead to students making less strategic choices with their school lists. With five different primary options — Early Decision, Early Action, Restrictive Early Action, Early Decision 2, and Regular Decision — it’s hard to know how you can plan out your application strategy, especially as most schools only offer a few of these choices. 

First and foremost, it’s key to learn the differences between application rounds and identify the options for each school on your list. Once you’ve gathered this information, try to create some balance between the early and regular rounds. Even if you don’t want to submit a binding application to an ED school, you can still submit non-binding EA applications that will get you a decision sooner with no strings attached. Not only does this cut down on anxiety, but it also spreads out your work timeline. By splitting up your applications into two stages, you’ll have extra time for application review and perfecting your essays. 

3. Neglecting school research

Knowing specific details about the schools you apply to is important both for your application strategy and your enjoyment of college. Students often think that as long as a school meets their academic preferences, the other factors are irrelevant. Usually, this couldn’t be further from the truth! Remember that you’re also deciding where you’ll live for the next four years — considerations like weather, location, and school size can have massive impacts on your quality of life. 

Most students who want to attend an Ivy League wouldn’t be equally happy at Dartmouth’s rural campus of 4,000 students and Columbia’s campus in the middle of NYC with 35,000 students. So, do your research to ensure you’re making the right choices for your needs! 

For more quantitative data, you can use features like the Common Data Set, which gives statistics on topics such as student enrollment and institutional priorities in making admissions decisions.

4. Only focusing on “reach schools” 

Many students understandably get excited about aiming for the most prestigious schools they can. However, when the desire for this achievement dominates all of one’s preparation for college applications, it can become a cause for concern. 

When forming a school list, every college should be somewhere you genuinely feel excited about — safeties shouldn’t just feel like a backup option. If you randomly select safety schools, you may end up disappointed. Instead, carefully select multiple safety schools where you have a strong chance of admission to have at least two choices if your reach and target applications don’t work out. One last tip — research schools without looking at acceptance rates or rankings — selectivity doesn’t mean quality, and you might dismiss a great option because you didn’t give it a chance!

5. Mistaking school prestige for program quality

A common misconception held by high school students is that the prestige or name brand of a school automatically means a better education than anywhere else. Sometimes the most prestigious schools won’t have a program you’re interested in, or it will be one of the smaller or less standout departments. On the other hand, sometimes schools with less prestige in the name have stronger programs in specific fields that can put you ahead in your future studies and career. For example, for engineering students fixated on the Ivy League, Texas A&M has a more highly ranked Engineering program than Columbia and UPenn. Name isn’t everything!

6. Poor timing for Testing

Standardized testing is incredibly risky to put off to the last minute, as students’ initial test scores are often lower than desired. A general rule of thumb is to begin preparing no earlier than 10th grade — you may not know enough of the material to adequately study — and finish testing no later than the summer before 12th grade. 

Waiting too late can mean you’re stuck with a score you don’t want to send to colleges, or have such limited time to retake the exam that you fall behind on more important tasks, such as earning strong grades, writing applications, and building a school list. 

If you’re having a lot of trouble with testing, you can also look into test-optional policies to see if your application might be stronger without submitting an SAT or ACT score.

8. Underestimating the importance of the Activity List

The Activity List, or resume section of the Common App is not something to rush through. This is a crucial part of your application that has the potential to make you stand out among similar applicants or fade into the background. When you write the Activity List, approach it strategically. It should show a clear trajectory of achievement, with entries describing leadership roles and increasing accomplishments and obligations over the years. Order activities to complement your academic and career goals — relevant extracurriculars should go at the top. Above all, be specific — make details as clear and concrete as possible, with no room for ambiguity about the scope of your accomplishments.

8. Missing the purpose of the Personal Statement

Your Statement —  the mandatory 650-word Common Application Essay — is a core element of your college applications, and will be viewed by every school you apply to. As such, it’s essential to nail this essay and avoid common pitfalls that can disadvantage your application. 

Generally, the Personal Statement should connect to your overall admissions strategy while adding depth to your application. Don’t just reiterate information about your extracurriculars or focus too much on your major — you’ll usually be required to share information on these topics in school-specific supplementary essays.  Think about how you can supplement this information with elements like stories of personal growth or overcoming difficulties, experiences of how you developed leadership skills, or academic creativity. 

9. Writing ineffective supplements 

The Personal Statement isn’t the only important piece of writing you’ll need to do — supplementary essays can have even more significance to your application. As colleges individually design these additional prompts, the questions they ask are uniquely significant to the school’s admissions process. Colleges want to discern applicants’ level of “fit” with the college, so you’ll need to nail these essays to show that you belong at their school. One of the most crucial supplements is the very common “Why this school?” essay, where students are tasked with explaining why they want to attend. Colleges will expect a detailed answer with references to specific features of their programs that distinguish them from other options, otherwise, you have very low odds of acceptance. So research, plan, and review these essays with care!

10. Not utilizing a second reader

It is always a good idea to have someone else review your application before submitting it — they’re often able to catch mistakes you didn’t notice and can give a more objective opinion of the message you’re sending with your application. One option is having a college counselor or teacher review your application materials. Or, you can also employ application review services for expert opinions — services like EarlyBird offer feedback from former admissions officers that can tell you how your application would be evaluated by colleges, showing you exactly how you can refine your work to appeal to admissions officers. 

One other option – the Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you’d like to recommend a rigorous research program open to high schoolers, you may want to consider the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here. You can also reach out to us at contact@lumiere.education to know more, or to have a chat about possible collaborations!

Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.