What should your 9th grader be doing to get ready for college admissions?
Teens today are under a lot of pressure, especially once they get to 11th grade. Is there anything that motivated 9th graders can do that will simultaneously enrich their lives AND set them up for success in the ultra-competitive college admissions process?
Start thinking about extracurriculars very early.
The number of applications submitted to highly selective colleges seems to jump each year. This year, applications were up 20-40% at many top colleges. What does this mean, practically speaking:
On the numbers alone, it’s become harder to get into top schools;
Teens today are applying to more colleges than ever;
There could be 5, 10, 20 or even 40 kids from any given high school applying to the same schools; AND THEREFORE
It is more important than ever to have something in an application that really stands out.
Grades and scores won’t work. They have to be great, but that’s not enough. The reality is that most kids applying to top schools have amazing grades and board scores. So how can an ambitious teen stand out? Extracurriculars. And the easiest way to stand out with extracurriculars is: start thinking about them early; choose a selection of activities that have some thematic link; make sure that some of the extracurriculars are not school-based (see above - you are trying to stand out from everyone else at your school); and include a few activities with some WOW! factor. Interesting and unique extracurriculars won’t guarantee that you’ll be admitted to a top college. But they will probably improve your odds of standing out in a pile of applications from candidates who otherwise look really similar to one another.
Want to know more about where you can find exactly these kinds of activities? Watch our FREE webinar at: https://blue-blaze.com/webinar and join Blue Blaze at: https://blue-blaze.com/join and discover our amazing, curated collection of original extracurriculars, mind-blowing summer programs and impressive community-based projects.
High school goes fast. It’s not too early to start building a smarter resume for college admissions.
