What Non-academic Factors Actually Influence College Admissions
Beyond grades, test scores, and class rank, what non-academic factors do colleges consider when making decisions on whom to admit? And how should students present their nonacademic selves? We’ll talk about these questions, and discuss college interviews and recommendation letters, too.
Guests: Courtney Vaughn, associate director of college counseling at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Georgia and Lenell Hahn, director of admissions at Southeast Missouri State University. Moderated by NACAC member Eddie Pickett, a college counselor and dean at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California.
Eddie Pickett: Hello, new and old friends, and welcome to the College Admissions Decoded podcast, an occasional series from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC. NACAC is an association of more than 25,000 professionals at high schools, colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations, as well as independent counselors who support and advise students and families through the college admission process. I'm your host, Eddie Pickett. I'm a longtime NACAC member and a college counselor and Dean at Pod Technical School in Pasadena, California.
Today's conversation is about all the non-academic factors that colleges consider when making decisions on whom to admit. Beyond grades, test scores and class rank, what really matters and how should students present their non-academic selves? We'll talk about these questions and discuss college interviews, recommendation letters, and institutional priorities too.
With us today, are two NACAC members with plenty of experience with the college admissions process. Welcome to the podcast Courtney Vaughn, Associate Director of College Counseling at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Courtney Vaughn:
Thanks for having me. I'm glad to be here.
Pickett: And we have Lenell Hahn, The Director of Admissions at Southeast Missouri State University, the Redhawks.
Lenell Hahn: Thanks Eddie.
Pickett: Thank you for joining me today. And we're going to jump right in with a general overview of the parts of the college application. Lenell, can you handle that for us?
Hahn: Yeah. So what the application looks like really depends on the university that student is applying to, which can be really challenging for our youth because every application can look different. And depend the selectivity of the school, the components of the application can vary. Of course, college and universities create their own native applications. A lot of schools are using CRMs to leverage that online application experience.
Pickett: Can you say what a CRM is?
Hahn: Yes. CRM is a constituent relationship management system. So really a technology platform that schools are using to manage their online application, all of their engagement with the student communication, hosting them to visit their campus. They really use that platform for that. And then a lot of institutions also partner with other vendors like the Common App and the Coalition App. And so, there's lots of forms of applications. Primarily, you've got the online application or some schools still do offer a paper application for students, and then they've got to be prepared for that application fee, if there's a fee that the student needs to pay for. And then along with that application, they've got all their supplemental documents that the school may require like a recommendation letter, or two, an essay that they've written as well as their high school transcript and potentially those standardized test scores as well.
Pickett: What if I can't afford the fee?
Hahn: NACAC offers a fee waiver form that students can fill out. A lot of institutions have actually started eliminating application fees. That's something to look at, but just checking with those institutions to see if you qualify for a fee waiver, if they have it. A lot of students who qualify for free reduced lunch can get a fee waiver or depending on what their EFC is, which is their expected family contribution when they fill out the free application for Federal Student Aid, the FAFSA, can also determine what the need is of that student and qualify for a few waivers as well.
Pickett: Thank you. Outside of a student's academic record, what are colleges really looking for in an applicant?
Vaughn: I think a little bit of everything. A student has, I would say between 12 and 20 pages to tell a college all about themselves, their 18 years of life. And so in those 18 or so pages are activities and organizations you've been a part of. There are sometimes test scores, but test optional is probably a whole other podcast that you all are doing. There's also, maybe you all have a job. Maybe you have home responsibilities. Maybe you have a really compelling story that you want to tell in the essay. All of those things are very important and worthy non-academic factors that students will look into. And a lot of colleges now are talking about holistic admissions and holistic review. What does that mean? It means all of these other things beyond the GPA, beyond the test score, beyond the numbers, what is that quality that makes up who you are versus the quantity of a number or APs or something of the sort.
Hahn: Yeah. And I'll add to that, someone who works on the higher education side for a university, we're looking for students who are going to be partners with us. We each have something to contribute to this educational journey they're going to go on, and so we want to learn about the motivations of those students, how they plan to be successful in college. We want to tell them we're going to have a lot of support systems for you, but are you going to take advantage of that? So we really want to authentically get to know their character, their motivations, and what they're going to take advantage of once they're on that campus to succeed, because we want them to stay, we want them to graduate and we don't want those students to stop out along that journey.
Pickett: I like what you said there, you said partners and community. I'm going to pull those two pieces into the next question. As a college counselor, we all know the stories of students who load their application with long lists of clubs and accomplishments, but does that actually impress an admissions officer?
Hahn: Honestly, no. My personal opinion is, can they really fully immerse themself in that experience if they're doing 20 activities? For me, it's much more valuable to make some very strategic commitments of things that you're passionate about, get highly involved and be able to truly make an impact in what those organizations are. Because if you've got 20 activities, you may just be going through the steps, going to the meetings, being there, but there's more than just being present.
Vaughn: And I think something that I ask students when I see that or ask about updates on their extracurriculars, as a college counselor, I'm asking them also, how are you taking care of yourself too with 20 different organizations and two jobs that you've been a part of. And you're also taking care of a younger sibling and the pandemic and such. And at that point, that person is very giving of themselves in their time, which is commendable, but I also want to make sure that they're taking care of themselves too, knowing that they're going to have autonomy of themselves on a college campus and need to have that responsibility and time management. That's a skill that they'll continue to learn, and don't we all throughout each stage of life?
Pickett: Oh yeah, that's a skill that nobody has perfected. Not possible. I don't think my personal opinion. And thinking about that, I have parents who come in and say, my student hasn't checked the community service box yet. What are your response to that?
Hahn: I think community service takes a lot of different forms. And I think that sometimes families think it has to be going to the salvation army and working in the soup kitchen. But there're things that you do for your community through maybe the church that you're a part of, or maybe you're in a community based organization and there're activities that you do with that. So really just thinking holistically about how do I spend my time, and what activities am I giving back, even if it's not going and joining an estate organization and some type of event that they're hosting.
Pickett: And to Courtney, one word answer, does a student have to do community service to be admitted to college?
Vaughn: No, not technically. You don't have to have community service to be admitted to a college or a university. A student will get a lot from a college campus. There's so many opportunities that are there, but then how is a student also going to give themselves to a college campus and give their time to the community surrounding that campus and to be a partner in that space and that community, because that also informs who a student will be after graduation too, as a citizen of the world and supporting their communities and whatever that looks like beyond their time on a campus.
Pickett: Yeah. And if you have to work to help your family and you can't volunteer your time, that is completely fine. That's what students I work with in the CBO often says, I can't do community service. You don't have to. You're helping your family. That is your community service.
Hahn: Well, and I think with the pandemic, family contributions are playing such a larger part of students lives. I reflect back on some essays that I've read of students who've been talking about how I've only had an hour of day to do my online schoolwork, because I'm caring for my younger siblings. I'm feeding them, I'm doing the laundry because I know my parents have to be out helping earn income to support us, and I'm the person in the home that could keep those siblings cared for.
And so those family contributions, to me, they have carried a much greater portion of those non-academic weights when we're looking at what we want to hear from students, because it's essential. Your family's first. That self care that you talked about, Courtney, that's first and sharing that.
Pickett: Thank you. So we talked about the activities resume so far as one of the non-academic factors, but what are the other non-academic factors? Where are those, and where can students those in their applications?
Hahn: They can definitely show those when they're writing their college essay. Also, a lot of applications will provide sections where they can share their extracurricular activities, their maybe summer activities, their work experiences, those family contributions. It may be that there're questions on the application that they answer to provide those through that essay, and as well as recommendation letters. Those people who are recommending them can really talk about the contributions that that student's making for their school, for their community and for their family.
Vaughn: There are so many parts of the application to learn so much information about a student. Maybe you are taking care of your younger brother or driving him to practice or whatever that might be, but you don't think about that as an activity because that's life, and perhaps that's captured from a teacher who knows about that, about you. So that's how admissions counselors are trained in order to find those different hints throughout the application, knowing that we are going to get the most accurate snapshot of a student that we can in those pages. But there are a lot of different hints all over those.
Hahn: Well, we haven't talked about interviews either. Not every college is going to require an interview of students, but some of those highly selective institutions, they are going to have to sit down for an interview and just students genuinely trying to be as comfortable as possible and have those conversations. They can share those things during those interviews as well.
Pickett: One of the often missed places is actually in the activities resume. They have 150 characters to say something. You can do some whats, but you can also do some whys in there too. That's a good time to explain a little more information about why you do something.
Vaughn: I will say in working with students right now, they are stressed about 150 characters. They say, Ms. Vaughn, how do I figure it out? I say, you write something and let's work together on it. Let's workshop it a little bit and let's get creative with it too. That can be a space to show some creativity and brevity.
Pickett: Yeah, absolutely. And Lenell, you just talked about interviews. Let's just talk a little more about interviews. Any advice on just interview prep for students?
Hahn: I think they do need to come in being prepared to share stories and also share the impacts that they're having. You mentioned earlier about listing 20 organizations out. We don't want someone to come in and just say, I'm a member of these organizations, but we want them to share, okay, what is something that you did as a part part of that organization and how it made a difference to others or how it impacted others. So storytelling is really important and just trying to be as genuine and authentic and as comfortable as possible and just making those connections back to the campus that they want to be a part of. Demonstrating that interest and being a part of that community. And then going back to, again, wanting to be a partner in this educational journey and how they're going to take advantage of what resources you're going to offer and what their contributions are going to be in return.
Vaughn: I don't like the word interview all the time, because it implies this QA, QA, QA, when in reality it should be a conversation for someone in the admissions office to get to know a student better and maybe more deeply than they could on the application. Maybe on the application you don't get a chance to talk about your hobbies and how that's influenced you very deeply or how that connected you to your uncle or something of the sort, or maybe a conversation is a space to be able to do that at where students can just put themselves forward beyond those pages and be in person or on Zoom nowadays with somebody else on the other side.
Pickett: Any advice on how to dress? That's always the question I get as a college counselor, what do I wear Mr. Pickett?
Hahn: I think it is probably good to do your research and understand what the climate is at that institution that you're going to interview for. Always safe to be more professional than relaxed, but you're a high school student too. I don't necessarily think that a student tie is needed, but I probably wouldn't wear a t-shirt with holes in it either.
Vaughn: I was on the college side previously and something that I saw virtually a lot was students in bed and they might have had like a sweatshirt on or something. And while virtual was definitely a space of grace and comfort, we don't want you in bed in your sweatshirt for an interview. I think it communicates the wrong me message to a college. So just finding that space that is comfortable yet slightly professional. I don't want to say all the way professional, because it doesn't have to be a suit and tie, but just clean and ready to go.
Pickett: Are you saying, just be yourself basically?
Vaughn: That's the name of the game in this process.
Pickett: And as they're having these conversations, what are just typical topics that an interviewer might ask about?
Hahn: They're definitely going to want to know your career aspirations. And I think that something that we need to tell our youth okay to say, I'm not really sure what career I want to go into. I'm still exploring. And I'm hoping to learn more about myself once I get to your campus and take advantage of typically those general education classes that they take their first two years. But they definitely want to know if the student has a vision for their future. And even though if that vision's uncertain, just the things that are meaningful to them with the communities they're looking forward to being a part of on that campus.
Vaughn: I would say knowing or having an idea of your favorite subject, but really your favorite project in school, that can lend some specificity to that kind of a question. What do you like to do for fun, and how does that inform how you spend your time or who you meet, who you spend time with, those types of things. Again, those are things that you do naturally because you're just living your life. But now is the time to be able to identify those and let those shine too. I think that this is a process where students have to brag about themselves and talk about themselves, which can be very awkward and uncomfortable, but being able to have an answer or at least an idea of what those answers are is really helpful too.
Pickett: Yeah. I always add this like you should know something about the school in front of you. You don't have to know everything. It's not physically possible. Even the admissions officer can't know everything about the school, but you got to know something. Like, why are you thinking about the school? You might not be applying yet, particularly for small liberal arts schools. You're interviewing during the fall. You haven't applied yet, but there's a reason you're in front of them.
The other piece I always add is if it's a school that's the most important to you, that should not be the first interview. Get your feet wet a little bit, try it out and then get to that school that's really important to you so you're not as nervous about the interview. I'm also an alumni interviewer for my undergrad. Shout out to Pitts college [inaudible 00:16:33].
And so I love talking to students. It's a really interesting conversation, and my goal is always to make it a conversation. I don't want to be a QA, QA, QA. That's boring for me and that's boring for you too. So how can we have this conversation about what's going on in your life? I'm trying to get to know you. I don't want to know the presentation of you, I want to get to know you. This is your time to actually talk to a person who's representing the college. I'm not making a decision either. So it's not a value. I'm just trying to add more information to your file.
Hahn: I think smiling is so important. So making sure that your attitude going into it, you can smile and you can look happy that you want to be there, because I've been a part of those awkward interviews where it looks like they're sad to be there. So smiling goes a long way.
Vaughn: One final thing on interviews is to have a question or two for your interviewer. When I was in high school, I did not know how to do this and have learned since, but have a question about the institution or even about that person, so that you continue to have that conversation and you show interest in them and the institution that they're at.
Pickett: I'm going to ask a question about that, but you wrapped that up perfectly. And this is the time you're getting to know an adult, it might be a senior interviewer. It might be an admissions officer. It might be an alum. You never really know, but they're giving their perspective on you. Another way that the admissions officers are going to get perspective on you is on the letters of recommendations. Let's dive into that a little bit just quickly like, how should a student choose who writes their letter of recommendation?
Vaughn: This is an excellent question in that it might feel really easy to ask the teacher for whom you've gotten all A's in their classes because they'll write the best recommendation. But maybe there is a class that you got a B in, a B plus in, and maybe that's not, or even a C, to be honest, but you worked your butt off in that class. And you really like that teacher, that is the person.
In that letter of recommendation, what a teacher will be able to do is say who you are in the classroom, the effort that you put forth in that class, even if that grade was not as good as you wanted it to a be, but it is a representation of who you will be in a college classroom, rather than maybe the class that was easier for you and you knew you were going to get the A and felt like an easy win. They really want to know who you are in the classroom, because that's something that they won't be able to see otherwise in the application.
Pickett: Preach Courtney, preach.
Hahn: I will add a non-traditional recommendation letter that I've read has been if they babysit for someone, that person, the parents whose child they're caring for can really have some cool insights on that individual. And so I've seen some recommendation letters in that at lens too, which has been kind of interesting.
Pickett: Yeah. Who you leave your kids with, that shows the ultimate sign of trust. There is no higher sign of trust in leaving your kids with somebody. I'm not a parent and I still know that. Any advice on just how to ask the teachers?
Vaughn: Some schools might have ways of asking teachers, but I think being really honest and transparent and communicating why you want them to write the recommendation. There's a student who asked a teacher that they didn't get their best grade in, but they said like, you know that I've worked hard. I really enjoyed your class. I'm coming back to your class next year, and I would really love if you wrote my college recommendation. That's a genuine ask. Or perhaps there's another system structured in a high school. But I think going to that teacher and asking is really important so that they know to write the recommendation and that it's not sprung on them late in the game.
Hahn: Yeah. And I'll say a lot of the technology platforms that we're using, students now have the ability to enter the name and the email address of who they want to provide a recommendation letter from. And that recommender does not want their first point of contact from that student be that email. So as Courtney said, they really need to go in person to that person, I'd really like for you to write a letter of recommendation for my college applications. Is it okay? Are you comfortable with that? Before that email hits them, asking for it, that's a huge step. And it can help too if they can provide a resume to who they're asking for that recommendation letter to be written by, because there're some things that you may not know about that student. So it's great to see that resume to help that recommendation letter.
Pickett: We also have them do a reflection on the class. We have nine questions, I think we ask and make them reflect on the class and they have to give that to the teacher. The teacher will not write for them without that reflection. It's done wonders, honestly. This is my time to say thank you for my letters of recommendation. I'm 20 years out of high school, but to Mr. Carton at Berkeley High, my English teacher senior year, I appreciate you. And to Mr. Angel, my history teacher from 10th grade, I'm sorry about waiting till January 7th to ask you for a letter of rec that was due January 1st, but I got into college. So thank you very much.
And Courtney over there just brought us idea of timing. When should they ask the teachers to write a letter of recommendation? Because obviously you don't want to do what I did with Mr. Angel.
Vaughn: Mr. Angel is a really great teacher. Still write that recommendation. By the end of junior year, you have completed the classes that will be on the transcript that a college sees. I don't think there's any harm in thinking about that at the end of junior year and just planting a seed with a teacher, but really at the beginning of senior year, as soon as school starts. Getting that ask in is really important because that teacher might have 40, 50, depending on the high school, 100 other recommendations that they need to write. And so, being able to have that ask earlier is really helpful, especially for early deadlines that are in October or November.
Pickett: So far, we've talked about things that the student can actually control. And so, while they're not writing their letters direct, they are asking in the interview, they're sitting there, but what they don't control are things on the college side. There's this term called institutional priorities. I'm going to throw this to Lenell first, can you describe what institutional priorities are?
Hahn: First and foremost, your mission as an institution, your values, your vision, what that strategic plan is for that institution. And most of that stuff is readily available on the web. Those students doing that research, understanding that campus, what their vision is for the future, that's going to tell them what those institutional priorities are. Now, the other way is ask their admissions counselor. Again, just that preparation, visiting the university's website can really give them a chance to really explore those new stories that are out there that are talking about some of those priorities that are first and foremost.
Pickett: And institutional priorities are long term goals, usually for colleges, but oftentimes colleges have short term institutional priorities. Can you give a few potential examples of those?
Hahn: I would say during the pandemic, having those flexible modalities for student to complete their course assignments or participate in their courses, those are some priorities that happened unexpectedly for a lot of institutions. I think a lot of institutions have a lot of priorities right now related to diversity, equity, inclusion. Strategic enrollment management is huge because we know to continue to be viable as an institution, we do need students that are attracted to our campus and wanting to attend. And so I think those are some key priorities currently.
Vaughn: I previously worked at Elon University in North Carolina and there was a new nursing program that came online very quickly. And so a short term, which is also a long term. It was both, but we had to go find nursing students. And that became a huge priority in our recruitment practices, in that we had a program that faculty were ready to teach and we had space and a building and we needed to find students to be able to participate in that.
Pickett: Yeah. I worked at Tufts prior to my college counseling time and same thing, you don't know what the priority's going to be each year, but as an office, we get them early on oftentimes or at least the Dean gets them and starts to put some things in place to help that out. Some examples, one year we graduated five offensive linemen. Somebody has to block for the quarterback. Or Tufts has a really strong classics department and particularly in Latin. We had a big graduating class, a senior. So we need to put some more people in that department. And thinking about that, students know what the institutional priorities are at a given college or university in that year?
Vaughn: No.
Pickett: Why not?
Vaughn: They won't. It's not typically a one sheeter of these bullet points and this is who we're looking for and this is what our priority is this year or next year. And I think that's a really hard piece for students, and especially for parents to understand in this process is that each university has their own unique priority in terms of students they're looking for, programs, they're filling, et cetera, team they're filling. And students are qualified to go to college. Students should have the option to go to college, but universities aren't able to admit even the most qualified student every single year. And those decisions that they make are guided by those institutional priorities. But those are not as clearly listed as the middle 50% GPA.
Pickett: We've talked about a lot of things so far, but what about just being a good human and contributing to the culture of your campus? How do you communicate authenticity in your application?
Vaughn: That's a deep question, Eddie.
Pickett: I love a deep question. We can get in some philosophical thought, let's do it. So Courtney, hop on in there.
Vaughn: I think that there's some pressure or students might feel pressure in this presentation of themselves in the best possible and most perfect light on the application. I think that they're is this air of perfection that needs to be there. And that's not true in that maybe in that effort of being perfect as students try to put forth this perfect image on an application, that takes away from the imperfections that make you a good human, that make you a great student, that make you an excellent partner on a college campus.
And so, what I mean by that is that in your essay, you don't have to click thesaurus on each word to come up with this lovely verbose essay. It should be your voice. It should be you. And that comes off the page to a college admissions reader as well. Colleges want to hear your voice. They know you're 17 or 18 years old and that's okay, and that's a good thing, but being you is the most important thing.
Hahn: Yeah. Get personal if you can. Make an emotional connection to those that is reading that essay or learning about those activities or hearing from you in an interview, that emotional connection of being like raw and real and getting personal can be super impactful.
Pickett: And Courtney, you said about being perfect. I always tell my students, if you are perfect, what does a college have to teach you? Literally, there's nothing to be learned if you are perfect, which I don't think anybody is perfect, but still it's not possible. And so, we are all imperfect. You're bringing your imperfect selves to this college campus, go learn something new. And in that space, as you're sitting on this college campus and thinking about the different communities and different people who are going to be there, can you talk about the role of inclusion in the college admissions process, and once you get to campus as well?
Vaughn: I think more and more students, they want to know that they're going to belong. That there's going to be that community that they feel comfortable with. They feel that fit. And it's not just about sharing all of the extracurricular organization at that college, but what is that group of students that they're going to get to hang with outside of class that they're going to connect with and belong to is really important. And they do also have to understand that they're joining a community of people from different backgrounds and experiences and view points. And so you're probably going to find a group that shares those things of value, but then you're also going to need to be very respectful and engage with those other groups that might have differences of opinions. And so, how can you have those experiences but remain respectful at the same time
Pickett: Thank you for that. I also just have to say I'm over here, admiring Lenell's earrings. She has these Southeast Missouri State earrings on that are just bad. So more power to you. I'm a fan.
Hahn: Thanks. I see.
Pickett: I'm very big on being a good human. And I always think to students like one, be yourself and be responsible, be trustworthy, but have some fun with your application, because you get to say the narrative. It is you directing these things. And so please continue to just be yourself. They want to admit you, they don't want to admit the representative of you.
Hahn: We haven't even talked about social media at all. That is such a huge piece that doesn't go underlooked. People are looking at your social media accounts. And so I think students need to be mindful of that. Again, be authentic. Be you, but are you someone that they're going to want you to be a part of your community and engage in that partnership, if there is social media content that's harmful or hurtful to others?
Pickett: Courtney, when you were at admissions, did you look at any social media stuff?
Vaughn: There were points where social media did impact decisions that were made. And that was because there were things that were hurtful or hateful that were a part of this voice on social media, and that wasn't a voice that we wanted on campus impacting other students and affecting a sense of belonging. We want every student to have a sense of belonging on a college campus, whatever that might be. But I would say just be mindful of what you post because it is there forever.
Pickett: How do you have time while you're reading applications to do this?
Vaughn: That's a great question. Things are brought forward to college admissions offices. So just be mindful of that. There always this search process happening, not necessarily, but things are brought to the attention of leaders in admissions offices if there are posts on social media that might not be flattering.
Pickett: I used to say, ain't nobody got time for that. But in reality, you can't unsee something that somebody has sent to you. So I didn't go looking, but it was sent to me, I'm going to read it. I'm bringing you to my community. I want to make sure that my community is a community of trust and love and respect to each other. And if you're going to do that, you don't need to be a part of my community, period.
We got to address the parents' role in this process as well. Can we address what is the parents' role and the non-academic factors, whether it's for the activities resume, for the writing, anything, what should be a parent's part in this process?
Hahn: I think advice to parents is make sure that you're communicating and having a conversation with your child and you are asking them what gives meaning to you out of these activities, instead of what's going to give meaning to the parents, by being able to tell someone that your child has all of these activities or involvements. As a parent, myself, my daughter recently told me she wants to give up dance. Me as a parent, it does make me sad because she's put 10 plus years into dance, but she's not excited about it. Doesn't give her meaning anymore. And so for me, I had to really sit down and put her first in the center of it and what's going to be healthy for her. That was really difficult because I felt like she was throwing something away, but really she's making space for something that's going to be more meaningful for her.
Pickett: So were you able to give yourself your own advice?
Hahn: Yes, because I did not force her to stay in dance, but it was hard to let it go and not try to convince her. It was really hard. Because at first I did, I was telling her all these things that I think was going to make her regret the decision of giving it up instead of really letting her tell me why she didn't want to do it anymore and why she wanted to pursue another activity.
Pickett: What about the students attributes, their trustworthiness, being a responsible person, being an honorable person. Every parent hopefully wants to raise citizens that are good for our society. And so in thinking about encouraging your kids to be better people, what are your thoughts on that?
Vaughn: I think parents have to trust themselves in this process as well, in that they have raised a child who is going through this process and their child should have ownership over this process because this is one of those first huge decisions that they're going to make in their life if they have haven't already. And so a parent has to trust that they have raised an honorable student, a trustworthy student in that process. And then also trusting the recommendations, the interview, the essay to be those spaces and non-academic factors that will communicate that as well.
Those types of things don't have to be as clear as I am trustworthy, I am honorable, but might be communicated in your participation in the honor council for two years or might be communicated in the story that you tell on the essay that is about a relationship with a friend or something of the sort. Those are the types of traits that get communicated in specific ways, but aren't necessarily as clear as I was on the soccer team from 9th grade to 11th grade.
Pickett: We've talked about interviews, letters of recommendation, institutional priorities, and just being a good human. So just to wrap this conversation up, what's one piece of advice about presenting a student's non-academic information that you would give them?
Vaughn: I'm going to give a piece of advice that I would tell my 17 year old self, and that would be to do a values inventory. And when I say that, I don't mean mentally in your head, get out a piece of paper and write down your values because when you understand what those are, that will help direct the story that you tell in the essay, that'll help influence the kind of activities that you list on your application, that'll tell you what teacher to ask for your recommendation, that'll tell the angle that you go in your interview, and also it'll help you find what college is best for you too, if you have those values listed out and what you care about most and what you're excited about most as you go through this process,
Pickett: I'm going to add on to that, because I was going to say something very similar, and it's just make a list of things you want the admissions officer to know about you. Part of that has to be your values. And then next to that, where they might find that information in your application. If there is a blank, that means you need to be writing about this somewhere in an essay or be talking about this in an interview.
Hahn: Another piece of advice I would give is start a Word document, a Google Doc, whatever form of electronic document you want to start, maybe it's a journal, but start from that freshman year in high school, just joting down those things that you've done that have been meaningful to you or what your involvement has been or projects that you've worked on, because once you hit the end of that junior year, the summer before your senior year, it's easy to forget things that you did when you were a freshman, but they still may have had significant meaning. And then I also think that what is that one thing that has had the biggest impact on your life? That's something that you need to be able to answer, be ready for that question.
Pickett: Sadly, friends, that's all the time that we have today. What you haven't seen is that we've actually had a lovely session. We've been laughing and joking and lots of smile was being thrown around over here. So it's been a great day for me. I want to thank Courtney and Lenell for a great conversation. And thanks to you, our friendly audience for joining us for this episode.
College Admissions Decoded is a podcast from NACAC, the National Association for College Admission Counseling. It is produced by LWC. Kojin Tashiro produced this episode. If you would like to learn more about NACAC's guests, our organization, and the college admissions process, visit our website at www.nacacnet.org, or spelled out N-A-C-A-C-N-E-T.org. Please leave a review and rate us on Apple Podcasts. See you next time on College Admissions Decoded.
CITATION: National Association for College Admission Counseling. “What Non-academic Factors Actually Influence College Admissions” NACAC College Admissions Decoded, National Association for College Admissions Counseling, November 29, 2021.