As juniors at Newark Academy are just beginning to learn, and as seniors have now fully experienced after completing their first wave of early applications, the college process is one that is long, drawn-out, tedious, and painstaking.  Truly a “quest,” as Upper School Principal Dr. DiBianca likes to refer to the process.  For those not familiar (or not yet familiar) with the process, first there are the countless visits to campuses over two or more years, followed by some major “soul-searching” to assess these colleges, and finally there is the actual brute labor required to tackle applications.  This is not to leave off the alphabet soup of testing, which takes place intermittently over the entire two years (and even more) of preparation.  Somehow students every year manage to conquer the unparalleled stress of senior fall, motivated by that glimmering but far-off reward of an acceptance letter to the college of their choice.

While buried under deadlines for personal essays and final SAT II subject tests, one has to wonder if there is not a better way to gain acceptance to college.  Besides being tiresome, it seems hard to imagine that any applicant really stands out much from the rest amidst thousands of transcripts, test scores, and similarly assembled Common Applications.  After all the blood, sweat, and tears of the college application process every year, hundreds of thousands of applying athletes, artists, musicians and thespians are ultimately reduced to just a limited amount of numbers and letters printed on two-dimensional paper.

So, what is the magical answer?  For years now the acceptance rate among top national universities has hovered at around 10 percent, and even admissions staff at such colleges admit that usually half the 25,000 applications that they read every year come from students who are qualified for top national universities.  While overall the average acceptance rate for the nation’s 2,000 four-year colleges is 67 percent, for most schools to which Newark Academy students apply, many more applicants are turned away than are admitted every year.

The question remains then, after all the hard work that students invest in classes, sports, clubs, arts, community service, work experience, and all the other activities that overflow our daily planners, how can students aim to quantify themselves on paper in a way that allows them to stand apart from the hundreds of thousands of other college applicants?  While maybe not a magic answer, there is certainly a successful way to approach this problem, but it takes an understanding of some weighty, not very tangible advice from the ancient Greeks: “know thyself.”

Much more significant than an acceptance letter to any prestigious university is for a student to understand what exactly it is that he or she wants to come away with after four years of college.  Of course, there are the opportunities to discover one’s academic inclinations, through which one should assess whether fainting at the sight of blood may be a good detractor from pursuing a pre-Med tract, whether completely lacking fine motor skills may be a clue to stay away from an architecture degree, and whether a frustration with higher level mathematics may spell trouble for potentially applying to an engineering program.  Students are encouraged to determine what makes them “tick,” because there are programs for just about anything.  Think big, think broad, and do not shy away from astrology, music or sports management, even if it does not immediately lead to a corner office on Wall Street.

After establishing one’s interests, the college process should not really be too intimidating.  An applicant has to accept that while the two-dimensional application may seem confining, the best way to take advantage of such a system is to utilize all of the available supplements accepted by colleges.  Every optional essay or peer recommendation adds yet another dimension to an admissions officer’s perception of who an applicant is, as well as demonstrating the applicant’s interest in a school.  Supplements for the arts, music, and theater also offer a platform for students to demonstrate their talents and interests, in a form that is often evaluated by professors within a respective arts department.

Colleges realize that many applicants may appear similar on paper, but they are truly looking for ways to differentiate students.  Many colleges offer school-specific essays that probe beyond cookie-cutter topics, such as those offered this year by the University of Chicago (Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they?), New York University (If you had the opportunity to bring any person to a place that is special to you, who would you bring and why?), Wake Forest University (What final Jeopardy category would ensure your victory?), and Yale (If you could witness one moment in history, what would it be and why?).  Tufts University, besides offering creative essay options (Use an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper to create something), also allows students to submit a one minute video as a supplement.

The best way to beat the system is to take advantage of it.  Every year, Newark Academy students go off to excellent schools, and while the process of applying may seem daunting, positive letters are bound to reach the hands of weary seniors before long.  However, the best way for students to approach the process is to establish what interests and activities really make them eager to wake up each morning and tackle a new day.

-The Minuteman Editorial Staff