How to Get into Elite Colleges – Marketing Yourself

Introduction

You do not have to be in business, economics or finance to need to market yourself like a Fortune 500 company. Just apply to college and you need to market yourself. This is a difficult concept for many. Have you ever noticed the smartest students are often stunned when the “lesser qualified” applicant gets into premier programs, and they didn’t? It’s not that colleges are being especially nice. They see the “lesser qualified” applicant as better meeting an institutional need, more capable of promoting the college’s mission. More often than not, the “lesser qualified” candidate marketed his assets and strengths better than the stellar student.

• You are the Product
• How to Market Yourself to top Schools
  • Plan
  • Determine your goals
  • Assess your competitiveness
  • Segment the market
  • Formulate an application strategy
  • Select a subset of programs for in depth research
    • Location
    • Culture
    • Size of Program/Classes/Campus
    • Academic offerings/Joint programs
    • Strength of Alumni Network
    • Teaching Style/Curriculum
    • Prestige
    • Social Life
  • Learn about the buyer: The Admissions Committee
    • Who makes the ultimate decision?
    • What is their process?
    • What do they value?
  • Marketing “You”
    • As in sports when the best player or team doesn’t always win, in the admissions process, sometimes the stellar applicant doesn’t gain admittance. Yet the underdog does. Why could this be? Often the reason is that the underdog marketed him/herself better, highlighting his/her strengths, addressed the institutional needs of the college better, and overall made a better case for admissions than the “stellar” candidate with better grades and scores.
    • Fundamental to any successful college admissions campaign is to treat yourself as a product or better yet as a company (of one). In addition, you should treat the college as a buyer (the customer). Can you convince the buyer to buy? It’s that simple. If you know the needs of the college, and exceed the needs of the college, you have chance. Your job is simple. It just isn’t easy.

• Step 1
  • Develop a Prudent Strategic Plan
  • Assess your competitiveness
  • Segment the Market
  • Formulate an Application Portfolio Strategy
  • Select a Subset of schools for in depth research
  • Learn about your buyer: the admissions committee
  • What is their admissions process?
  • Who makes the final decision?
• Step 2
  • Develop and Refine Your Brand
• Step 3
  • • Communicate your Brand across all media
      • Essays
      • Recommendation Letters
      • Interviews
      • Resume or curriculum vitae
      • Data Forms

• • Establishing what do elite colleges value!
    • • Excellence in Everything You do
        • Academic
        • Professional
        • Personal
      • Impactful Leadership – National Leadership Potential
      • Honesty & Integrity
      • Compelling reason for this school, this department, this major
      • Diversity in terms of values, background, experience and perspectives
      • Social Justice & Genuine Service to Humanity
      • Social Intelligence
      • Intellectual Curiosity
      • Exceptional Interpersonal & Intrapersonal Skills
      • Emotional Intelligence
      • Commitment
      • Growth & Progression over time in academics and activities
      • Ambition and Courage
      • Global Point of View
      • Fluency in at least two languages
  • Final Thoughts
    • Showcase your Talent
      • When you have talents, accomplishments, perspectives or experiences that help you stand out and distinguish you from the competitive applicant pool, don’t be shy. If you don’t brag for your accomplishments, perhaps no one will.
    • Show your Passion
      • The colleges want to know you on a personal level. They want to know what motivates you and what truly matters to you. Great grades and scores get you noticed. But, they don’t get you accepted.
    • Underdog
      • People love a great underdog, come from behind story. If you have one, tell it. Admissions committee members really want to root for you and support you.
    • Great Essay
      • Most of the application is pretty inanimate. To bring your story to life, write a great essay, showing and not telling a great story. Make the reader feel an emotion, whether it is to shed a tear, shout for joy, celebrate or whatever. If the reader finishes the essay without an emotion, you’ve lost.
    • Use your Connections or Make your Connections
      • If you or your family know someone of substance at that particular institution, tell them of your interest. Get their support. There are ethical and legal ways to use your connections to help you get in. Use them!
    • Campaign to Win
      • Like Google, Mercedes or Coca Cola, if you want to improve your odds of success, you must market yourself to the target audience. As an applicant, there is nothing shameful or dishonest in this.
    • Source: Stacy Blackman Consulting and “How they Got into Harvard” by the Harvard Crimson