When families arrive at Collegewise for their first meeting, some parents reveal themselves as their applicant’s archivist. They endearingly present us with a binder containing every award, certificate, newspaper clipping, etc. that their kid has garnered throughout high school. If you’ve designated yourself as your applicant’s archivist, please know two things as you approach college application season:
1. What you’re doing will be very helpful.
2. You’ll need to leave a lot of it out.
Effective college applications use the space provided to highlight a student’s most important activities and accomplishments. They don’t include exhaustive lists of everything done and won. Like all human beings, admissions officers can only process and recall a limited amount of information. Every item you list chips away at their attention, so make that space count. Don't attach a resume just so you can squeeze every last item out of that binder and into the application.
Instead, use what you’ve archived to help your student remember the details. Your applicant knows which activities and awards defined her high school experience. But the specific details—what she accomplished and when—will be much easier for her to recall if she’s got your trusty binder.