Most young students start thinking about college applications in grade 12 and by then, it is already later than you’d think. You’re supposed to apply to colleges this year and you are only now realising that you have only 1 activity outside classes to add to your profile. Or worse yet, you have 15-20 activities doing all sorts of things but no direction as to where to go now. As someone who works around young students, learning about their experiences and profiles, the best time to seek guidance is not when you start grade 12 or grade 11 for that matter but to get as early as you steer towards an interest. For a lot of students, this is around mid grade 9 to grade 10. They have gotten some high school experience but still have enough time to build their profiles by the time they apply for their undergraduates and all these experiences can be aligned with their existing interests to support their learning and not just mindlessly add it. If you are someone in grade 9 or have a child in high school, do not wait until your school starts talking about college applications. Wait until some interest show up and act on it.
Young children and their parents often think that we will go with the steps of education and once we finish grade 12, we will then look into universities especially in India. However, you will realize that what distinguishes you or your kid from other students in not their grades but their experiences. There was a time when people’s highest level of education was secondary education. In this time though, going for an undergraduate degree is the minimum education that we expect of young individuals. And lets be honest, every student that applies to a good university has the grades to get in. So what is it that truly makes you stand out?
You might be the kindest person in that room, you may be the most hardworking and ambitious. You may even be the smartest of all the other applicants. However, if you cannot show that to the university, they will never know. If you tell me that you are kind, I want to believe you but I cannot rely on that. However, if you come to me with a compassionate being award you’ve received from your school or certificates of community work you have done, I will be forced to believe your words. So if you or your child is in high school, don’t wait too long. When you are busy thinking about your actions, you have less time to act on it.
If you are reading this, there is a strong chance that you are either feeling like you’ve started too late or unsure where to even begin. Most of the students are not behind, they lack structure in their goals. The one thing that makes the different between a strong profile and a weak one is your intention behind it. If you are a student or a parent who is trying to figure our what activities actually matter, how to build your profile with intention and where to start in grade 9-11, I share simple, realistic strategies around this. You can explore more in some of my other blogs. I have also create a free guide of 100+ things you can do to build your profile (especially if you think you’re already late).
And if you are still confused, you don’t have to figure it our alone. You can always reach out to me- I am happy to guide you. The goal is not to do more but to do things that actually moves you forward.
– Tushti