How did I make me application stand out against other international applicants? Find out for yourself!
1.) Score Well Don’t aim for the mean. Go for above the standard deviation in all the standardized tests you have to take! When I was taking the SATs, my tutor would always give me a statistic. She’d give me the average score of U.S. students and tell me that I had to get a certain score in order to gain some security for my application. She told me the lowest I could score was a 2100 out of 2400.
2.) Develop Your Interests Dabble into everything you’re interested in. Don’t be JUST the smart student. Be the student who does debate, does charity work, teaches orphans…everything (as long as you’re passionate about it)! Make it very clear how you came about these opportunities when you write about it in your essays. If you manage to convey how passionate and aggressive you had to be to get these positions, the admissions office will definitely take that into account in your favor.
3.) Supplemental Application Materials Are Brownie Points! While I never got the chance to do this, I think that this could be a game-changer. If you are a talented artist or musician, send in your works and your portfolio. I was really into designing and drawing, but I was too hesitant to send in my portfolio because I was too shy and my portfolio lacked the preparation necessary. If you can show that you’re just as good as local students, I’m sure that you’ll be more memorable to the admissions officers.I know someone who sent in her designs for a course in architecture. I think this is what made her outshine her other competitors. In the end she was awarded a spot in Cornell!
4.) Make your Letters of Recommendation Really Shine Your recommendation letters need to be exciting and personal. Saying “Andrea is a good student who aces all my exams” is different from “Andrea is an intelligent and creative student who has a passion for history. She is a very talented writer and has won essay competitions at this school.” Make sure you shine and show your teacher what interests you and what drives you.
For students who go to local schools, it’s probably best to come up with an outline, and point out what really needs emphasis. For me, since I couldn’t score a 4.0 on the Philippine scoring system, I had to make them address my performance in class and my creativity.
5.) Your Essays Should Be Well Polished
Essays make up a very significant portion of your application. Make sure you take the time to revise and polish them before you turn it in. I didn’t like it when my friends who were also applying left the essays for the very last minute. There essays always felt half-baked, and could barely reach its fullest potential by the time the deadline rolled around.
6.) Demonstrate your fluency in English Do well in your TOEFL and make sure you flex your SAT vocabulary when you write your essays for the TOEFL, SAT and common application. Fluency in English is something Filipinos generally don’t have a problem with, and it definitely sets us apart from other countries. If you struggle with English, start studying now so that you can ace your exam. Making sure that you’re prepared to converse in English is really important to admissions officers.
7.) GPA and Class Rank Count!
If your GPA is among the best of the best, you’re sure to have an edge against all the other college hopefuls like you. I was definitely within the top 5 students out of the 267 in my class. My GPA was about a 3.8, which was the one of the highest you could possibly get from my high school. My cousins who got into U.S. universities were also within this range.
8.) Find Internships
Internships aren’t very common in the Philippines. Internships only come in for college students during junior year. Trying to get one would definitely make you a clear stand out from other international students. Try to get shadowing opportunities through teachers or relatives you may know. Make phone calls to hospitals and other institutions for volunteer work. Look up different places that could possibly need an extra hand.
When I was looking for internships, I tried approaching the following institutions:
I’m sure there are many places that you could look at. If you can figure out what type of job you’d like to explore, it’s best to do your research, come up with a resume, and try to contact those people running the institution.
9.) Get Into As Many Advanced Classes As You Can Although local schools in the Philippines don’t have AP classes, it’s best to try to get into special classes or the star classes in your school. In my case, I was in the class that held the top 40 students in our year. I was also part of the after school math program that aimed to train students for math competitions.
10.) Enter Competitions Being part of competitions demonstrates your academic achievement against peers your age. Getting a chance to be in one shows that you are competitive and eager to learn.