Every application cycle, admissions officers read tens of thousands of applications, looking for “red flags” to weed out unqualified applicants in the arduous review process. While understanding what admissions officers are looking for is crucial for compiling standout applications, it can be equally beneficial to understand what admissions officers don’t want to see. If you’re a senior brainstorming personal statements, crafting supplemental essays, and drafting activities lists, or a younger student engaging in extracurriculars, selecting courses, and planning your summers, identifying and eliminating these missteps can save time and effort—and level up your application strategy.
Whether you’re vying for Ivy League admission or seeking to join the bustling community at a state school, here are five “red flags” that admissions officers will notice on your application—and how to avoid them:
1. Lack of Course Rigor
Admissions officers want to see that students have challenged themselves by taking the most rigorous courses available to them at their school, such as honors, Advanced Placement (AP), or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes. Opting to take easier courses could suggest that a student isn’t prepared for the academic challenges of collegiate study—particularly at Ivy League and other top-tier institutions. It is critical that underclassmen not only maintain good grades, but also deliberately select courses that will push them intellectually. This is especially important with regards to courses in a student’s area of interest—if you intend to study engineering but have not taken any advanced physics or chemistry courses throughout your high school career, admissions officers will likely assume that you lack adequate training in the discipline or that you are not aware of the demands of the subject. Starting sophomore year, identify and enroll in classes that will demonstrate your academic expertise and deepen your knowledge of your subjects of interest.
If you are in the height of the application process and fear that you lack the necessary course rigor, consider how you might highlight your pursuit of further learning outside of the classroom. Have you conducted independent research? Participated in a prestigious summer program? Taken an online course? Use your supplemental essays to highlight the academic value of these involvements and how they have uniquely prepared you for the demands of university study.
2. Lack of Extracurricular Engagement
The majority of your time in college will be spent outside of the classroom, and admissions committees want to understand the kind of community member you will be on their campus. Top schools want to admit students with a history of contributing positively to their communities—those who will continue to use their skills and knowledge to enact positive change in the world after they graduate. Therefore, a lack of activities or involvements outside of the classroom will be a red flag to admissions officers, conveying a lack of interest in helping your community or a dearth of experience leading and working with others. Keep in mind that you can show your commitment to bettering your community in both large and small ways—and that admissions officers will evaluate your application in relation to the resources available to you. In other words, you don’t need to petition before Congress, found a nonprofit, or invent a groundbreaking technology in order to make a difference; what matters is that your engagement in your community stems from your genuine passions and unique perspective on problems that impact those around you.
Starting freshman year, seek ways to connect with community members (whether your peers, teachers, or industry leaders in your field) and get involved with volunteer organizations or clubs that align with your interests. Junior and senior years, serve in leadership roles or found your own initiatives to address needs that you have identified through your engagements early in high school. Finally, as you craft your applications, be sure to highlight these community-oriented activities and articulate their impact on your perspective and values. However big or small, you should provide compelling descriptions of your contributions and their impact on your worldview.
3. Unrelated Extracurricular Activities
Your extracurricular involvements should tell a story about your interests, skills, and growth. While students should use their freshman year to explore and experiment with activities and organizations outside of the classroom, their goal should be to hone their involvements around their core passions over the course of their high school careers. A resume filled with diverse, unrelated extracurriculars that are not connected by any narrative thread will confuse admissions officers and ultimately hurt your application.
Instead of joining a bunch of clubs for the sake of padding your resume, be intentional about selecting activities on the basis of your passions and interests. As you engage with these activities over time, seek to make a tangible impact that will be evident to admissions officers, whether by taking on leadership roles, mentoring younger students, or starting your own club or initiative. Additionally, when it comes to crafting your application, be sure to connect the dots for admissions officers—even if your extracurricular involvements reflect the diverse or interdisciplinary nature of your interests, be sure to show admissions officers how you have (and will continue to) draw creative connections between your interests that will enrich your intended field of study.
4. Inappropriate Social Media Presence
Admissions officers are looking for students who will positively contribute to their campus culture and reflect their institution’s values. Given that 67% of admissions officers “believe that checking out applicants’ social media posts on apps like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Threads to learn more about them is “fair game” to help them make decisions about who gets in” (according to a 2023 study), what you post has the potential to influence your odds of admission. Inappropriate content—whether it’s offensive language, inflammatory comments, or evidence of risky behavior—will raise concerns about your character and maturity, and can impact your admission status even after you get in.
Be sure that you are not posting anything you would not want Ivy League admissions officers to see. Additionally, avoid linking your social media accounts on your application unless they directly pertain to work you have done during your high school career (a small business you founded, a volunteer opportunity, an educational TikTok, etc.).
5. Unpolished and unprofessional Essays
Finally, students should keep in mind that the personal and supplemental essays are their most direct opportunities to speak to admissions officers on their application. This means that the essays are critical components of your applications, and both their content and their execution can convey a lot about you as a person and applicant. Given the pressure that comes with these essays, many students fall into traps that can lead to unprofessional writing. First, in their desire to stand out, some students choose to write about ideas or experiences that they consider “edgy,” but these topics are often unnecessarily divisive and can place them out-of-step with the values or mission of the institutions to which they are applying.
Another trap that students can fall into is oversharing about personal experiences. While it’s important to share challenges you’ve overcome, there’s a fine line between vulnerability and trauma-dumping—going into excessive detail about traumatic or tragic circumstances in the hopes of gaining admissions officers’ sympathy. Everything you share in your essays should convey something about who you are now—how you have grown, developed, and introspected through your life experiences—rather than simply listing the difficult experiences you have gone through.
While applying to college can be stressful, some of the anxiety of the process can be relieved by understanding what top colleges are looking for—and what they seek to avoid. Students should take these red flags into account as they build admissions profiles that they will be proud to submit when the time comes.
Originally Published on Forbes.
