A speaker posed this question in a recent webinar. While being remembered five years from now may seem impossible, the examples given were not farfetched. Leadership in high school certainly counts, but standout activities require a commitment to something beyond winning a game, being in the marching band, or serving on the prom committee. When applying to the most highly-selective institutions, what’s needed is a well-developed profile and intellectual curiosity–in action.
What matters? Do something that is not commonly done, make your mark, and do it sincerely. If that doesn’t resonate, think more deeply.
In the wake of the pandemic, when school halls were emptier and the mood was depressing, one of my students spearheaded a plan to paint an uplifting wall mural and enlisted other artists to help. A few years earlier, another student developed materials to tutor students for APUSH, then trained tutors to keep the program running after she graduated. One of my current students is running a financial literacy program for low-income students in his area. Before graduating, he can engage other students to keep it going. Any student can create such a program in any subject. Other recommendations to help underserved communities were creating a traveling library and raising money for library computers.
Involvement in political causes demonstrates critical thinking and the confidence to enact change. Students who are passionate about our environment might lobby for meatless Mondays or create a race fundraiser for an environmental (or any) cause. Several of my students served as high school liaisons on their towns’ Environmental Commissions, implementing initiatives and recruiting volunteers. Campaigning for a candidate, achieving prominence in Model UN, and targeting the issues you care are just a few of many acts that can make you memorable…maybe even for five years.
During lunch with our new local admissions rep in November, I was shocked to learn that the University of Tampa's population has roughly doubled in ten years. I’ve watched the school grow more popular each year, but more applications don’t usually translate to that kind of growth. Stories about students unable to secure housing seemed to be related to pandemic restrictions, but they continued. While Covid may have been a factor in 2020 and 2021, the reason today is that admissions received 44,365 applications to fill 2,400 spots. Over 1000 students were offered the waitlist.
If you wondered why you were waitlisted by the University of Tampa, a school you counted as a likely, now you know why. (Don’t take it personally–it’s never about you, but institutional priorities). Each year, Tampa becomes more selective as more applications roll in.
It’s not surprising that students, 70% from out of state, are attracted to a beautiful, midsized campus on the waterfront that offers a high quality of life. A new tech building, housing data science and cybersecurity, was recently added to already-impressive facilities for business and the arts. There are 200 majors, an Honors program with exclusive housing, 20 restaurants, 21 D2 sports, and access to a city offering internships and nightlife.
For the first time, Tampa’s admit rate dropped below 50% in 2022. This year’s admit rate was 26.9%, not so different from Tulane’s longtime pre-pandemic number.
How will the Tampa admissions office handle the tsunami of applications likely to roll in from the class of 2024? For the first time, an ED option will be added to the choices of rolling and early action. The University of Vermont found ED to be an effective enrollment management strategy this year. They admitted 85% of the 400 ED applicants and even awarded them merit aid.
So if you love the “very popular” University of Tampa, the news is that it’s no longer a likely for many applicants. Consider applying ED.
We can only speculate about AI’s future capability.
There are doomsday scenarios where AI gets smarter and smarter, transcends human intervention, and causes catastrophes. There are other theories about how quickly it could accelerate scientific research to benefit humans. We know that it will continue to develop (hopefully at a slower rate than it has since November 2022), but the topic is far too nuanced for any extreme prognosis.
Since AI is driven by tech companies, the energy behind its growth will always be market-driven. Markets are ultimately controlled by people, and those people need AI to be safe along with performing rudimentary tasks such as writing emails and doing specific research (which may have errors). People have created these systems as well as the information they can access. It’s up to us to intervene–or at least to be able to interpret–what AI is telling us and where the information it uses comes from in order to validate it. Until then, we can’t really trust everything it says.
Where is this going and what does it have to do with college applicants? Many students will go beyond using AI for simple tasks like writing high school papers but need to grapple with it at a higher level in college. Even students taking high school Computer Science courses learn little about it. Those inclined to learn more can take advantage of online courses and summer programs.
Two highly-regarded programs are Inspirit AI and Veritas AI, both of which offer mentored research projects. Free courses offered by Coursera or Great Learning offer fewer hands-on opportunities but are a smart way to gain better knowledge.
At the moment, humans control AI–let’s not check our brains to it!
Below are links to some programs and a podcast that delves more deeply into what I’ve discussed here.