With the college applicant pool getting more competitive every year, it’s important to set yourself apart from other strong students to improve your chances at a top university. This post breaks down how to build the perfect college application in three steps to help you curate a winning profile.
The importance of personal branding in college admissions
Walmart’s core values. Amazon’s principles. Tesla’s pillars.
Scroll through a company’s website and there’s almost always a tab marked “Our Values” or something like it.
Companies all share one ultimate goal: to sell to you. Branding is part of building the memorability, cohesiveness, and credibility that nudges you to buy from one company over another.
Mastering the college application process, it turns out, isn’t so different.
The key to an application that admissions committees receive favorably is to think of yourself as a company selling its mission, your unique personal brand, so your dream college chooses to invest in you over another applicant.
So the perfect application doesn’t come from a one-size-fits-all approach. The key is developing a compelling set of extracurriculars that fits your unique personal brand.
Step one: identify your personal brand
The biggest mistake students make in chasing a top university is padding their resume with unrelated extracurriculars when they can’t settle on a clear theme. The dedication is admirable, but it’s far more practical to start from the idea, not the execution.
Defining your personal brand lays the foundation for your spike, an essential part of a strong application. A spike is a focused collection of extracurriculars in a specific area of interest that makes you stand out.
To brainstorm, head to the drawing board. No giant dry-erase board at home? A simple piece of paper works. First, jot down four or five words or values that describe you and are core to your identity. For example:
- Research
- Writing
- Advocacy
- Environmentalism
- Art
Each value should speak to a part of who you are. Imagine writing a short bio for your professional X account. Which few words sum up you and the work you do, or want to do?
The more unique, the better, but it’s completely fine for some or all of your values to be general (like mine). Just steer clear of basic descriptors like “student” or “high schooler.” Each word should be something you can explore on its own or in combination with another (more on that next).
Have fun with this. Feel free to add your favorite hobbies, your heritage, or even where you’re from. If it’s important to you, it matters.
Step two: bridge your interests
Now that your list is narrowed down, flip your paper over, space your words across the page, and draw a large circle around each one.
Here’s where the magic happens. Look at your values and brainstorm ways they can combine, labeling the overlaps between circles. In my example, I see “Research” and “Advocacy,” and I can connect them by exploring policy research.
Here’s the kicker: I can combine multiple values. Adding “Environmentalism,” I could research how far environmental legislation has gone to mitigate climate change. Focusing on just “Advocacy” and “Environmentalism,” I could start a student organization promoting environmental awareness.
In the same way, merging “Art,” “Writing,” and “Environmentalism,” I could create a digital zine on reducing your household carbon footprint. The possibilities are nearly endless, so let your imagination run.
If you need inspiration, you can always research online to see what others are doing in your fields of interest.
What makes this method so useful is that it’s flexible. Your values can shift, since what captivates you today might not in six months. Putting your character on paper makes it easier to see the line connecting your values and to weave a cohesive personal brand together.
Step three: implement your personal brand
So I’ve got my brainstorming sheet. Now what?
This step is where you’ll do the most heavy lifting. You have your ideas; now it’s time to execute.
As a high schooler, your options may be more limited, but don’t be discouraged. That hasn’t stopped thousands of high-achieving students each year from landing the internships and positions they wanted.
First, take stock of what you already have. No detail is too small: positions you’ve held in school clubs, meaningful volunteer work, and so on.
Then compile it, along with academic credentials like GPA and class rank, into a resume. This organizes your experiences into a format that’s easy to share with potential mentors and employers.
Now it’s time to reach out for opportunities. Most high schoolers don’t have existing connections in the field they want to work in, and it might seem far-fetched that a high schooler could intern at a biotech company or do research at a top university. But it’s completely possible.
Check out Rishab’s guide on landing internships, where he explains how he did exactly that. He covers strategies like:
- Cold emailing
- Drafting a memorable cover letter
- Acing the interview
- Platforms for presenting your skills
- Search strategies for finding opportunities
These methods will meaningfully improve your chances of landing a position, whether at a lab, a law firm, or a startup. For high schoolers new to internship-hunting, it’s an excellent place to start.
Beyond internships and jobs, high school programs are great to explore. These are designed for students aged 14-18 and span many fields across STEM and the humanities. The one caveat: many are competitive, so apply to several and have backups.
Watch Rishab’s video for a run-down of the top summer high school programs for STEM.
Once you’ve built up experience and knowledge in your fields, competitions are a good way to expand your range and meet other like-minded people. Like high school programs, there are plenty worldwide, spanning nearly every field, from the International Research Olympiad to DECA.
Finally, you can always start your own club or organization aligned with your personal brand if nothing out there is specific enough for your values. Don’t be afraid to take risks.
Concluding remarks
Everyone’s extracurricular profile and personal story is different. But a strong application comes down to a unique personal brand that ties everything you’ve done together. Think about building your differentiating factor, a theme so distinct that colleges are sure they won’t find another student quite like you.
Finally, it’s natural to look at high-achieving peers and feel discouraged about your own progress. But remember that everyone is on their own timeline. Everyone starts at square one, and it’s consistency and drive that get you to one hundred. Best of luck!
Additional resources to strengthen your profile
Does your personal niche overlap with STEM? If so, here’s the free STEM guide to research programs, competitions, internships, and more to further build your personal brand.
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