What Colleges Are Looking For & Why

By Bianca Lewis

​College is an extremely important decision in a student's life that affects not only academic aspects, but also social aspects and other activities. However, before a student can decide which college they will attend, they must first apply to colleges. Although I have yet to apply to college, I am a high school student and have to make a lot of decisions now so that I can be prepared to apply to colleges and so that I can be accepted to my most desired colleges.

As the standard of education continues to improve, so does the competition that exists between students. This means that students continue getting smarter and smarter, more involved in their schools and communities, and more well-rounded. Therefore, I think that there are three extremely important factors that contribute to a student's college acceptances or university related decisions; the three factors being academics, activities, and community involvement. 

A student's grades and their academic record will be one of the first things a college looks for. Students are expected to have a strong G.P.A, high test scores, and more. When colleges are assessing a student's GPA, they are not only looking at grades earned in certain classes, but the difficulty of the classes. To colleges, it is important to see that a student took the highest level classes available to them, because they want to see that the student is willing to work hard and challenge themselves. Colleges want to accept students who are going to be motivated to study and pursue a career that will lead them to have a successful life. 

Colleges are also going to look at the activities that a student has been involved in. Activities demonstrate a student's well-roundedness and how a student is able to balance sports or clubs with academics as a priority. This is an important factor for colleges because they want students who will be involved at the university and not easily become overwhelmed. 

Finally, it is important for students applying to colleges to show how they have been involved in their community. This is because colleges accept students from all around the world, and they want to see how a student has made an impact on their community, and how the students will continue to positively change the environment around them. 

All of these factors are necessary for students to present to colleges to achieve success in their lives.