607: Admission Nutrients (Part 1 of 6: Intro): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life

The College Essay Guy - Episode 607 - Admission Nutrients_otter_ai

The College Essay Guy - Episode 607 - Admission Nutrients

Mon, May 12, 2025 2:58PM 22:48

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Admission nutrients, positive character attributes, intellectual curiosity, service to others, leadership, collaboration, consistent engagement, college application, extracurricular activities, recommendation letters, personal statement, supplemental essays, community service, initiative, team player.

SPEAKERS

Ethan Sawyer

Ethan Sawyer 00:08

E

Hey Friends and welcome back to the podcast. This is the first in a series that we're calling admission nutrients. So quick backstory on this last year we did a series of conversations with folks and some admission officers looking at what colleges are looking for based on the latest state of college admission report from the National Association of college admission counselors. Now in one of those episodes, we dove pretty deeply into something called positive character attributes. So this is something that's granted a kind of ambiguous idea. It's the idea that you know colleges when they're looking at your application, yes, they're looking at your grades and the rigor of your courses, but after that, they're looking for, like, your positive attributes. And it's like, What even are these positive attributes? And for a while, I was kind of like, well, it's hard to know what all colleges want in some general way. Then I started doing some research, and started looking at colleges websites, and I found more than 100 websites where colleges actually do specifically say what they're looking for, like they make it explicit. So an example of this is like Cal Tech, where if you go to their website, it says we're looking for collaborative spirit, and we're looking for creativity and we're looking for single minded determination. So I was like, Well, let me, let me see more of these. And so I basically, with some help from a couple folks on my team, we created this big, giant internal spreadsheet that has all these different qualities. We used AI to basically synthesize these and create a word cloud, and we came up with a set of qualities that are not important. Side note, important caveat, these are not like the be all, end all. You must have these in your application in order to, like, get into a good college they're more like nutrients, nutrients in the sense of like, Hey, if you want to have a healthy, you know, well balanced college application. And also, side note, you know, live a more meaningful life. These are some good things to think about and to be thinking about bringing into your life. And, yeah, here it is, all right. So here they are, in no particular order, the admission nutrients. First of all, we've got the one we call intellectual curiosity. Now colleges will call this lots of different things. We call this at College Essay Guy, unapologetically nerdy. And if you had to think of this as like adjectives, this is like showing that you're intelligent and thoughtful, inquiring, exploring, smart you know, do you ask big questions? That's one way. Side note that you can show this in your application is just what are the big questions that you've been exploring in your high school career, or if you're putting specifically in your application what you want to study, what are the specific questions that you want to explore in college and beyond. If we're thinking about this in terms of roles, identities, avatars, this is like the enthusiast, the part of you that's really energized by ideas, that maybe stays up late, you know, going to YouTube rabbit holes or or the questioner, or maybe the critic or the critical thinker. Or is a weaver, the one who's connecting different ideas from different fields, other ways of thinking about this might be the experimentalist. You know, the one who's sort of trying out different things, exploring different terrains. Or the deep diver is another fun one. So where does this one show up in your application? Oftentimes, this is going to show up in your transcript based on the courses that you've chosen to take. It could be that it shows up in terms of courses that you've taken outside of your typical high school curriculum or your assigned high school curriculum. Maybe you've done some online courses or taken courses at a local community college, for instance. Side note, you don't have to have done that. This is just what some students do. And then also, in terms of your activities list, what are some of the different clubs you've been a part of? And that can give some insight into the kinds of conversations you're having outside the classroom. And sometimes this is going to show up in your recommendation letters, particularly your teacher recommendation letters. So one difference between your teacher recommendation letters and, let's say, your counselor recommendation letters, if your counselor is writing you a letter, is that your teacher recommendation letter is going to be primarily about your experience, your performance in the classroom. So who are you as an academic slash intellectual slash curious human being, and your teacher is often going to be a person who's pretty well informed on who you are in the classroom. And so you can almost think of this as being like a spotlight on you in the class, whereas the counselor recommendation letter is going to be more about who you are as a community member. So it. Will sometimes include information about who you are in terms of the different things you've been involved with, or it could be related to experiences you know, connected to your family and so again, teacher recommendation letter, who you are in the classroom, how you show intellectual curiosity, whereas counselor recommendation maybe little broader picture, almost like bringing up the house lights, if we're thinking in terms of this theatrical lighting metaphor. Another place that could show up in your application might be your Additional Information section, which is a section that's optional, but that reveals other things, or other information about what you've gotten into in your high school career. Now, if you didn't have this admission nutrient in your application, the reader might wonder, is this student going to be able to thrive and contribute to our classes in dynamic or meaningful ways? Is the student comfortable asking questions, noticing patterns? Do they take agency? Do they go deeper beyond the curriculum, as it were, with their academic and intellectual interests. So that one's really important. It's one that I hear a lot of college admission officers talking about, but it's not the only one that's important. Now, side note for listeners Tom Campbell, who's going to be hosting a couple more in this series, he sat down with Susan tree, one of our college counselors at College Essay Guy, and they went into this topic at length, and we'll link to that in the show notes. One of the things they talked about is the desire for students to appear like a quote, unquote, finished product. Who knows all the answers. And sure, colleges want to see that you've done some work, and you know your stuff, particular in the areas that you are really interested in going further in but they also want to see that you're hungry to learn, and, you know, ready to receive more resources, and then you've got those bigger questions that you want to explore in college. So in other words, you don't have to be sort of done and be like I am 17 years old and I've finished learning about x. It's more like I've gotten excited about X, and I'm excited to explore it in these particular ways. So again, thinking about those lingering questions and maybe even putting them into your essays can be a really nice, practical way to demonstrate your curiosity. All right, the second admission nutrient. And again, these are in no particular order. These are just great qualities to consider, including your application somewhere is service to others at colleges like I we call this compassion in action. So not just like thinking about helping others, but what have you actually done? This shows that you're empathetic, that you're, in some cases, responsive to, let's say, community needs or needs in your school, if we're thinking about this in terms of roles, identities, avatars, this is the advocate, the change maker, the activist, and this is going to show up in your application, oftentimes, in your activities list. So thinking about the extracurricular activities, the clubs that you've been involved with, the roles that you play there, that's going to be a big way to show service to others. And then you know, the number of hours that you've been involved, if this was a one time event, that's fine. But colleges really love to see that you've been involved in a deep way, and, you know, one or two, at least, areas, or, you know, with one or two different projects. Sometimes you'll see this in the recommendation letters. So whereas the teacher recommendation letter is going to be more about you in the classroom, your counselor recommendation letter might speak to who you've been involved with in your school community or local community service to others might also come up in your personal statement or your supplemental essays, and there's lots more to be said about those in the resources that We have. But in terms of your supplemental essays, you might have a particular supplemental essay that's about being involved with connecting with others and helping others. So you might bring forth that quality there and then, in some cases, in the Additional Information section, which is again this short optional section in your common application, or some other application that's asking, what else would you like us to know? And if you feel like you haven't been able to demonstrate how you've been involved with others as well as you'd like, or as an in depth, as way as you like, you could potentially put that in the Additional Information section. And with how this nutrient the reader might finish your application and wonder, does this student really care about others? Do they want to help support others efforts, or are they mostly looking out for themselves? Is this student a lone wolf, as it were? Are there particular causes or issues that they're eager to to get involved with to do something about? Okay? Third quality, again, in no particular order, is leadership or initiative, and we call this curiosity with legs. So it could be something that you're curious about, you know, but do you actually do something about it? Are you self directed? Are you a starter? Are you proactive? Are you maybe, in some cases. Visionary or bold or innovative. And if we're thinking about these in terms of roles, identities, avatars, this is the catalyst, the one who starts things, the synthesizer, the one who maybe sees things that exist the way things are, and maybe weaves together different ideas to create something new, and hopefully, at least when it comes to projects, the finisher, this could also be the risk taker. Now, one fun exercise that you can do this, if you want to think about what kind of leader you are, is you can take the roles and identities list, which will be linked in the show notes, and you could actually just rename it. How am I a leader? And then you can basically look at that list of roles and identities and pick, let's say, five different roles that you feel embody your or help to describe your leadership skills. So for instance, let's say I've got this list in front of me, and I look at it and I go, Okay, what kind of leader am I? And I see a word like experimenter, and I think to myself, do I experiment? Yeah, for sure, especially when I'm in a brainstorming session, I love to sort of use a yes and mentality from, you know, from theater and improv, to think about what else might be possible here. And even if I'm not, you know, actually going to do the thing right away, experimenting, at least mentally, with what might be possible, and sort of activating my own visionary sense can be really fun. Another one might be something like the strategist. So, okay, we've got some ideas about how we're going to, you know, make a change, let's say locally or in our school. Okay, what's the best strategy? Rather than just sort of like jumping into action, let's think about what's going to be the most meaningful actions that are going to help move the needle. So I love this exercise because it can help you see that your leadership is not monolithic. It's not just one thing. It's probably made up of lots of different skills, qualities, values, and one of the great ways to get to know what kind of leader you are is, again, just look at this roles and identities list. What are the five different aspects to your leadership identity, as it were, the larger leadership identity of you as a leader. And to think about breaking it down into five separate parts, it can be really fun. Now, where will this show up in your application? Oftentimes, the activities list with you know, the projects, the clubs, etc, that you're involved in. And then, yeah, sometimes in the recommendation letters, either in your teacher recommendation letter, so you know, they see what kind of leader you are in the classroom, or your counselor recommendation letter. Again, if your counselor is submitting one to show what kind of leader you are outside the classroom. It could be that it comes into your personal statement or your supplemental essays, and maybe even the Additional Information section. Now, one thing to look at is when it comes to because we kind of, we're going back and forth with like, Should we call this leadership or initiative? We're kind of putting both in there. The slight difference here is that initiative is going to be something where you are the one taking lead. In other words, you're the one who came up with the project idea or his is somehow taking responsibility on leadership. Could be just, you know, something was bestowed upon you, you know, you inherited a club or something, or, you know, you were the vice president and the president graduated, and then you just sort of by default, became the leader. When it comes to initiative, there are lots of different ways to show that. And it doesn't necessarily have to be you being, you know, president of the club or something. It could be that you took initiative on a certain project, so you recognize there was a particular aspect of the club that needed improving, and that's where you took lead. Or it could be outside of clubs that you just decide, You know what, I want to create a self directed project. So maybe you create a podcast, or maybe you write a blog or an article on something, and again, in those cases, it's going to be something where we see that you're the one who made the decision to do a thing. Now, without this admission nutrient, the reader might wonder, is this student going to make waves on our campus? Are they going to take advantage of our resources and opportunities, and what might they create when they come to campus? All right, the next one is collaboration, and we like to call this inclusive excellence. So what I've noticed sometimes when I'm looking at a student's application is sometimes it's like, really solid, like, they've just got a lot of, you know, awesome activities they've been involved with. They've got awesome grades, etc. But sometimes I've looked and I've seen, like, Oh, it feels like something's missing. And oftentimes it's this quality of collaboration. Do we see what kind of community member you're going to be? Because remember, colleges are putting together a community. Some qualities that I would associate with this are consensus seeking, co creative. Are you an alliance builder? Are you symbiotic, unifying? And some roles or identities or avatars would be obviously the. Collaborator, the harmonizer, in some cases, the delegator, the connector, in the sense of connecting people, the team player, maybe even the party Bringer. You know, you're the and you could also call this the enthusiast, but who are you when you're in the room? So where does this show up in your application? It could be that it's in the activities list in terms of the different clubs or extracurricular activities you've been involved with, but I think this is probably going to show up more in the content that you share in your personal statement or supplemental essays, or content that gets shared about you in the recommendation letters, either from your teacher or counselor, because I think that's where you're going to get more of that nuance. I think in the activities list, oftentimes those descriptions are so short you really can't get into sharing specifically how you work with others, what that actually looks like in practice. So I think it's in the essays where you can start to give some of that more information, or those specifics about particular projects that you're involved with now, if you don't have this nutrient in your as part of your balanced, healthy college application, the reader might wonder, is this student, as I mentioned earlier, more of a lone wolf, or do they really understand the value of including diverse perspectives and talents in trying to move things forward? And again, this is a quality that I've seen lots of colleges put on their websites and also in conversations with admission officers that say it's something they really look for. Okay, the last one, again, last time, I'll say it no order of importance here is consistent engagement. And we call this staying the course. This is demonstrating that you're committed, that you're dedicated, that you're steady, that you're dependable. If you were thinking about this in terms of identities, roles, avatars, it's the this is the bedrock, the backbone, the worker bee, you know, the one that we can really count on. And this might show up in your application, your activities list, just in terms of activities that you've been involved with consistently. But side note, because the student asked me last week when I was doing an in school presentation, you know, do I have to have something that I've been doing for four years? And you know, I'll say, if you don't have it, you don't have it. But there are ways to demonstrate consistent engagement outside the classroom or outside extracurricular activities. Let's say, for instance, you've been consistently your go to person for your family in terms of taking care of your younger siblings, or, let's say, you know, helping out around the house like these are things that you've probably been doing for years, in some cases, and these are ways that you can show how you've been someone that people can depend on in ways that may not, quote, unquote, count, or You might not think they count, but they actually do. And when it comes to your college application, this is going to come through in your recommendation letters, especially your counselor letters. So make sure, by the way, and we've got a whole guide to this that we'll link in the show notes, but make sure you're setting your counselors and your teachers up with great information about you as they're writing your recommendation letters. So let's say, for instance, you're worried that you know your extracurricular activities aren't going to be as quote, unquote impressive if you could equip your counselor with information about areas where you have been consistently engaged, they're going to be able to advocate for you and speak on your behalf there. So make sure you're giving them lots of great information, and again, you'll find a really great guide to this linked in the show notes. You're also gonna be able to advocate for yourself in your personal statement, in your supplemental essays, which is to say, you know, the essays that some colleges will require, where you can show that you've been consistently engaged in a particular way. But another way that you can advocate for yourself is in your personal statement or your supplemental essays, where you mention just briefly ways that you've been consistently engaged. What have you been committed to for years? Even if that's something that's not necessarily maybe showing up in your activities list. If you didn't have this nutrient, the reader might wonder, is this student able to stick things out through the long haul. Now, of course, if you want to show that you've been involved in different things and you've jumped around a little bit, you're more of an interest hopper. That's fine. That's not sort of that's not a kiss of death for your application by any means. That shows variety range other great skills and qualities. But it's nice, if you can't to show one or two things that you've been involved with consistently. Now, just to be clear, these aren't the be all, end all, nutrients. These aren't the only things colleges are looking for. Colleges are also looking for things like creativity and commitment to personal growth and critical thinking and self reflection and diversity of thought and experiences. Now, just because we didn't mention these other what I'll call minor nutrients, it doesn't mean they're not important. They are. And if you're looking specifically for what a college is looking for, just google the name of the school what we look for, and chances are you'll find some page that points you to some of the qualities they're looking for. Okay, so what do you do with this? Well. First of all, you could do the thing I just said, which is to say, start to research. What are some of the things that the colleges that you're interested in are looking for? But a second thing you could do is, let's say you're in ninth or 10th grade and you're not applying to college yet, you could take these qualities and just make a small list of like, what are some different ways that I could potentially explore this for myself. So intellectual curiosity, you could do a little brainstorm, what are some things that you're intellectually curious about and things you'd like to explore more about, and you could just make a list same thing with service to others. Who are you interested in helping in your community, in your school, or, if you like, what's a local problem or a challenge that your school or community is facing, and what could you do about it for a leadership or initiative, you can sort of start to keep an eye out for what are some opportunities, either solo, things that you could build or create, or what are some things that are already happening that you could get involved with? Then there's collaboration. You can ask yourself, what kind of collaborator am I? Who am I when it comes to working on a team? And maybe you don't know that yet, but it could be an interesting question to explore, as you start to do, for example, class projects or getting involved in clubs and then consistent engagement. What are those things that you'd like to be consistently involved with over the next couple years. Now, if you're a junior 11th grader or a senior, a 12th grader, and you're getting into application season, you can do the same thing, but this is more looking backwards. So take a look at all of these and go, Okay, what are two to three ways that I'm able to show each of these qualities in my application? Or, let's say you're getting to the end of the application process, you could go, Okay, do a quick scan. Am I showing each of these qualities? If not, could I show them even more clearly, specifically? All right, that's the intro. If you want to know more about these, stay tuned, because the upcoming series is going to do a deep dive with college admission officers, or we're going to talk a little bit more about each of these, how they show up practically, in the college application, and why we believe these are qualities that are great, not just for college applications, but for life. Thanks, friends, as always, for listening. You can find the show notes at college sa guy.com/podcast if you're not in a newsletter, that's the best way to find out all the things that we're offering coming up. We've got awesome webinars, online courses that are pay what you can and hey, we even offer help for students going through this process. We've got free support for low income students through our match letters program and more. So we'll link that all in the show notes. Thanks much and stay curious. You.