From the first time we meet our students through the entire journey of mentorship with them, we continue to emphasize the importance of building a profile. With the ever-increasing competition in our country, marks are no longer criteria to gauge the caliber of a student, and rightly so.  There should be other parameters that are defining factors for admission.

Some students have gone ahead with the tedious task of making a resume, albeit unwillingly, thinking what a waste of time it is! “Will it even be looked at? How does it matter when I’m presenting all my documents?”, someone once asked.  Well, for starters, your profile is simply a reflection of who you are! Universities are simply looking for well-rounded individuals who are creative and have stories to share with the world.

What’s important to note here is that this is rather an amazing opportunity for you to highlight your certified achievements and interests in the way they can do best! Some of the elements that can be included in your profile are:

• Academic awards, publications, honors, and other achievements
• Coursework (summer programs, college courses, or other specialized workshops that do not appear on your high school transcript)
• Extracurricular activities
• Community service and volunteerism
• Leadership roles
• Work experience, if any

In addition to your grades and tests, over the years  colleges have come up with innovative ways to know a student better beyond just academics, like:

• Video essays tell a story or make a point. The process for creating a video essay isn’t that different from creating a traditional essay—at least in the beginning. The only difference is that you’ll be working with a lot more technology as you put your essay together.
• Interviews help the universities see through the candidate. Do you appear well qualified only on paper? How do you express your genuine interest in a subject? Have you researched about the college you’re applying to? What did you read? Your likes and dislikes. An interview can tell so much about you.
• On-the-spot essays are evaluated on the basis of content, originality of ideas, sequence of presentation, and writing skills. The idea is to see your clarity of thought and creativity in a given amount of time with minimal preparation.
• College unique Aptitude tests generally test a student’s logical reasoning, verbal aptitude, quantitative aptitude, data interpretation through a series of multiple-choice questions. It is not a test that you necessarily need coaching or extensive preparation, even though going through sample papers is a must.
• Portfolios highlight and showcase samples of some of your best work, along with life experiences, values, and achievements. It’s an opportunity for you to go all out and be creative.
• Personal Projects that Matter

All in all, universities are looking at the child’s journey holistically and want to know their overall achievements. So if you haven’t started building your profile yet, now is the time to start! Better late than never, right?