How Do AdComs Select Applications?

Curious about how universities select students? You must have prepared those long admission applications but have you ever wondered who reads your application and decides your fate? The answer to this is the admission committee (of the university or school) popularly known as AdComs which consists of the deans and other faculty members of the university that you are applying to. Scary isn’t it? Being judged by people who you don’t even know. Now, you can’t do anything about that part but instead what you can do is craft such an application that the committee has to let you in without any second thoughts. And how do you do that? For that, the first thing that you need to know is how AdComs select applications. So, here is all that you need to know about AdComs in order to ensure a seat for yourself in your dream college/university. 

What is the Role of AdComs?

The role of AdComs is very simple. They read your applications and decide whether you qualify to be a member of the university that you are applying to. For this purpose, they analyse your application from various angles because they are supposed to select a candidate who will not only be academically strong but could become an asset to the larger student community. 

A typical AdCom generally consists of the Dean of the university or any other high ranking member, faculty members and sometimes even senior students. All of them sit together and go through your applications to check if your qualifications are up to the standards of the university and decide if you should be allowed to be a part of the university or not. 

How Adcoms Evaluate Your Academic Scores

How you have performed academically is one of the factors which determine whether you will be accepted in the university or not. Now we all know that a good GPA is a must but academics is not just about the final grade which is printed on your mark sheet. There are other factors which contribute to your academics and the AdComs selects applications based on these factors too. Here are the key factors that AdComs consider to evaluate your application

1. Let’s start with the basics. You need to have at least an average GPA even if not the highest to be even considered by the AdComs. 
2. Your academic performance should reflect some sort of improvement. Your performance in the final semester should be better than how you did in the first semester. This shows that you have improved through the course of your study and therefore the fact that you have the potential to do even better. 
3. How did you perform in the various entrance exams? For instance, if you are applying to a business school then your GMAT or GRE score matters. The higher the score, the more is the probability of you getting in. And it could actually compensate for your average GPA. (To know more on this front you could refer to the school’s class profile and find out the acceptable scores). 
4. If you have taken part in other educational events like quizzes, Hackathons, Olympiads, case competitions, it would positively impact your application. What this shows is that you were able to deal with the rigorous academic schedule and actually engaged in other beneficial activities. 

How to Impress AdComs?

1. A Strong Resume

 This you must already know. Your resume decides what your first impression on the AdCom will be. And if you fail there, there is not much chance that they will proceed further with your application. No, we all know the basics. A strong resume means good academic qualifications, lots of extracurricular activities and in applicable cases a good professional record. But what’s also important is how you present all that information. Do you think an irregular font or silly grammatical errors could impress the AdComs? Obviously not. Your resume needs to be structurally strong and consistent in terms of the usage of bullet points or sentence patterns. 

2. A Creative and Informative Essay

After your resume, what counts is your college essay. A college essay basically represents your personality. So, it should be as original as possible and be written in a manner which displays your hold over the language. It must include the key motivation behind applying for a particular course as well as outline your academic and professional journey and why you think that this specific course will help you fulfil your career aspirations. The AdComs are interested in knowing how you are as a person. Therefore, a college essay should speak on your behalf and tell the AdCom about your hopes and aspirations and how you are different from others who have applied. Be sure to mention what inspires you and give a general outline of the events of your life which impacted you the most. AdComs are always looking for uniqueness and what can impress them more than your individuality.

3. Be Convincing

You shall never leave any loopholes in your resume or your essays. You should be convincing in whatever you say. Whatever you have mentioned should make sense together i.e., different points in your essay shouldn’t contradict one another. Otherwise, the AdComs might get confused and start questioning your reliability. And if the AdCom doesn’t believe whatever you are putting in front of them, then forget about impressing they won’t be even willing to go through the rest of your application. 

4. Establish How You are Different from Other Applicants 

Most of the students applying for the top schools would have a good academic track record. Then why choose you and not someone who has the exact same scores as you? That’s why other aspects of your application are as equally important as your resume. Your applications process consists of various questions that you need to answer and they are there for this reason only. To differentiate one candidate from the other. If you are honest and at the same time creative with your application is meant to impress the AdCom and give you an upper hand over other candidates. So, think twice before adding anything into your college applications. 

Things to Avoid

Knowing what not to say is more important than what to say. Because just one wrong word uttered from your mouth or written in your application could lead to instant rejection. 

1. Even if you are unsure of what you exactly want to do with your life, never let the AdCom know that. A statement like “I don’t know what I’ll be doing in the next three years” would form a completely negative impression. What it shows is that you want to pursue the course out of a pure whim and not because you are actually interested. In such a case why would they want to select you and not some who have clear goals about their life! 
2. Say anything but never lie because they will figure it out one way or the other. Lie about your internships or achievements and your certificates are gonna betray you instantly.
3. Even if you have immigration prospects in mind while applying to any university your Statement of Purpose (SOP) shouldn’t reflect that. 

Must Read: How to Write an MBA Essay?

How Leverage Edu can Help you Craft a Winning Application? 

If you are gearing up for your university application for your dream school abroad, our Leverage Edu head coaches and mentors are here to provide you with the best guidance. At Leverage Edu, we follow an intensive-career led process to help you land your dream university. 

• Career Counselling: The process begins with our career counsellor understanding your academic or career-related queries. 
• Personality Assessment: Afterwards, you can get in touch with our head coach and mentors who will provide you with a psychometric assessment to analyse your strengths and weaknesses and further gain clarity about your career goals.
• Gaining Clarity about your Career Goals: Once you know about your academic and professional goals, our head coach and mentor will help you break them down into achievable ones and then map your career quest.
• School Fitment Sessions: This comprises rigorous one-on-one sessions with your head coach and mentor to find the best schools to apply to and curate the best strategy for your application.
• Crafting an Impressive Resume, SOP and LORs: The next steps crucially focus on the integral elements of your application, i.e. resume structuring and drafting a Statement of Purpose and Letters of Recommendation (LORs).
• Mock Interviews: After you have successfully cleared the round of essay submissions and applications, we’ll also train you with mock interviews to ace the final interview round.
• Post-Admission Guidance: Once you have landed at your dream school, we will assist you in selecting the right scholarship or education loan along with finding the right accommodation to ensure that your journey towards reaching your dream study destination is as smooth as possible.

Thus, we hope that this blog provided with all the details you need to craft the perfect application and impress the AdComs at your dream university! Unsure about how to go start with your application? Reach out to our Leverage Edu experts and we will guide you in crafting the winning application you need to get successfully shortlisted! Sign up for a free session with us now!