Perfect your Extra-curricular Resume

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Hi Everyone. My name is Katherine Miklosz and I’m an Admissions Counselor here at The College of New Jersey. This week, I’m going to provide you with some pointers on putting together an extra-curricular activity sheet or resume. For those of you who have already started the CommonApp, you’ve seen that there is a section devoted to this area as part of the application. However, we find that students sometimes struggle with fitting all of the activities they’ve been involved with, or all of the details about these activities, into the space provided. This is why we encourage all students to submit an additional extracurricular activity sheet to TCNJ. When compiling your list of activities, feel free to arrange it in the way that you feel best emphasizes your experiences outside of the classroom – this may be a simple list format for some of you, while others might want to create a more formal resume.

Regardless of how you decide to compose your list of extracurriculars, there are a few tips that will help you best convey your involvement and your passions to our admissions committee.

Don’t abbreviate. I usually tell students that there is only ONE organization or activity that you can safely abbreviate and still be sure that anyone who reads it will know what it stands for…and that’s NHS. If it isn’t NHS, then don’t assume we know it means. Take the time to write out any acronyms.
Likewise, even when you’ve given the full name of the organization or activity, don’t assume that everyone knows what that group entails. While some are more obvious, organizations such as “Heroes and Cool Kids” or “Interact,” aren’t always self explanatory. Be sure to not only explain YOUR involvement in each activity, but what the organization as a whole is all about.

It’s one of the oldest clichés – but your extracurricular activity sheet should be about quality, not quantity. We’d rather see a student who is passionate about a few organizations and becomes highly involved within them, than a student who is a participant in a dozen different activities but never does more than attend their monthly meetings. One way that I describe this to students, is that your activity sheet should be wider than it is long. Where you need the extra space should be going across, because you need to list so many things you’ve done as a member of a specific organization, rather than long because you have so many activities to list.

Don’t be afraid of sounding like you’re bragging. Make sure you highlight the times you’ve gone above and beyond what is asked of a general member. A good example of this is Relay for Life. We see many, many students who have participated in Relay for Life in one way or another and we like to see students getting involved for a great cause. But…there’s a big difference between someone who walks in Relay for Life once a year and a person who was on the planning committee, who met weekly all year to get set up, work with sponsors, etc. If all you write on your resume is Relay for Life, we will have no way of knowing how involved you were. Make sure we know the true level of your involvement. If you held a leadership role, this should be more obvious….make sure you list the positions you held. But even if you didn’t hold a formal title, don’t be embarrassed to tell us about the ways you took your involvement to the next level.

Don’t sell yourself short. I can’t tell you how many times I read a recommendation letter from a teacher or a guidance counselor where they share a story of a special extracurricular accomplishment the student achieved, only to search everywhere through the student’s activity sheet and see it mentioned NOWHERE. Don’t think that any involvement, activity, or experience is too small or not relevant enough to mention. As long as you accomplished it in high school, we want to know about it! And that holds true whether it was school-sponsored or not. It also holds true for those activities that seem less “official” – feel free to share it all with us, even if “it’s only” how many languages you speak, that you’re in a rock band, or that you spend your afternoons helping an elderly neighbor down the street.

I hope this information will help you create an extracurricular activity sheet that truly highlights all that you do and what makes YOU special. When you start working on yours, just remember this: When in doubt, tell us about it! Stay tuned for upcoming webinars on how to make every part of your application the best it can be. And, if you have any questions, you can always feel free to get in touch with me at miklosz@tcnj.edu or at 609.771.3204.

Katherine Miklosz

Katherine Miklosz graduated from the University of Delaware in 2006 with a major in English. While at UD, she worked for 4 years as a Blue Hen Ambassador in the Undergraduate Admissions Office. She began working at The College of New Jersey in March 2007 and has coordinated the In-State Merit Scholarship program for the past three years.

Letters of Recommendation

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Hello there, my name is Germaine and I am really excited to help you understand more about your Letters of Recommendation.

To begin, there is no way to express to you how important your Letters of Recommendation are. This vehicle for your college application is a great way Admissions Counselors become more acquainted with who you are, not only as a student, but as a person too.

When you speak to people you ask to write about you, make sure to have them include in-depth aspects about your personality. For example: your high level of motivation toward pursuing your goals, your enthusiasm of working with youth, or your dedicated attitude toward being an effective leader, just to name a few.

You see, when you talk with the people who will write to colleges on your behalf, make sure you request that they share about your nonacademic ability, as well as your academic. Although many colleges do offer “interviews”, make sure to keep in mind that other colleges do not offer interviews (like us at The College of New Jersey), leaving the Letters of Recommendation to be an alternate component for Admissions Counselors to learn more about you from a third party.
When you have come to a point that you want to select the people who will write on your behalf, here are a few suggestions to consider:

• Gather a total of 2-3 Letters of Recommendation!


• As you think about your recommendations, your goal is to think quality, not quantity.
  Ask people who know you! Examples of people who you may choose to write about you are your guidance counselors, teachers, athletic coaches, employers and/or spiritual leaders.


• But be aware that recommendations from family members will not be considered for your admissions decision.


• Thank the people you have chosen!
  

Once you have selected the people who will write your recommendations, and give them the deadline that is needed, make sure not to forget to thank them. Perhaps you can send a small “Thank You” note in the mail, a sincere email of gratitude or even a “Thank You” internet e-card to just show your appreciation of taking the time out to help you pursue your goals.

In conclusion, I hope this segment of our webinar has been helpful. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your Letters of Recommendation, feel free to contact me via email at ghill@tcnj.edu.

Have a Great School Year!

Germaine N. Graves

Germaine N. Graves is currently the Assistant Director of Admissions for On Campus Recruitment. Being a part of The College of New Jersey Admissions department for over eleven years, Germaine has gained valuable experience working with hundreds of students and their families helping them attain their academic endeavors.

Germaine N. Graves graduated from Rowan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Studies and attained her graduate degree from the Philadelphia Biblical University, receiving her Masters of Science in Christian Counseling.

Stress Relief for your SAT/ACTs

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Ask any high school student what part of the college application process scares them the most, and the vast majority will reply: “standardized tests.” So much attention is paid to the SAT and ACT—by the media, by educators, by test-prep companies—that you may start to wonder if the rest of your application even matters. Well, I’m here to put some of those fears to rest and assure you that—while standardized tests are often an important part of reviewing your application—they are almost NEVER the most important part.

First, some logistical things to keep in mind… it is very important that you find out each college’s policy on standardized tests, especially as they relate to taking the tests multiple times. Some colleges average your scores together, while others look at the first two tests only. Some, like The College of New Jersey, always take your highest combination of SAT scores, no matter how many times you’ve taken the test.

You may want to try both tests, since some students wind up doing much better on one than the other. Depending on your college’s location, however, an ACT score may be given less weight than an SAT score… though more and more schools are following TCNJ’s lead and using whichever test you scored higher on when reviewing your application.

In regards to the SAT, you also need to find out their policy toward the Writing Section. Some schools use it, others don’t (or only use it for placement purposes, such as determining whether you can test out of an introductory writing class). Ultimately, I expect more and more schools to evaluate your Writing score in the years to come, once there is more data on how effective that section is in judging your writing ability. Regardless, it’s a key question to ask an Admissions Counselor, because when they tell you their college’s average SAT score, it will help to know if it’s for two sections of the test or all three! At TCNJ, we don’t weigh the Writing section in our admissions decisions.

Speaking of averages, pay close attention to the numbers college representatives offer when talking about standardized test scores! “Average” does not mean “minimum”; in fact, few schools have SAT or ACT cutoffs that you must meet to be considered for admission. I can’t tell you how many times a student has said to me, “I loved TCNJ and wanted to apply, but you said that the average SAT score for accepted students was a 1300, and I only scored a 1220!” That student had a good chance to be admitted, but they misinterpreted the numbers. I encourage you to ask for the “middle 50%” range of standardized test scores, which gives you an idea of what the majority of accepted students scored.

Now, some colleges have a policy of “optional reporting” when it comes to standardized tests. These schools may appeal to you if you weren’t happy with your test scores, but keep in mind that their applications may require additional supplements (an extra writing sample, for example). The reason why more colleges haven’t embraced this philosophy, like TCNJ, is that standardized tests are still the best—though hardly perfect—way of comparing students from different states and school districts.

The best advice I can share about standardized tests and college admissions is to relax… the time and effort you’ve put into four years of high school will always be more valuable to a college Admissions Counselor than how you scored on a random Saturday morning. TCNJ thoroughly reviews every application regardless of the standardized test scores, and in future weeks you’ll learn all about the other vital parts of your application!

Matt Middleton

Matt Middleton is a graduate from The College of New Jersey's class of 2000. He is now the Assistant Director of Admissions for Out-of-State Recruitment and a proud member of the Admissions Office for the past 10 years.

Sending your High School Transcript

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Hi there! My name is Jason Jacobs and I’m an Admissions Counselor at The College of New Jersey, where I also help coordinate the Merit Scholarship Program. Today I want to relieve some of your stress about an important part of your application, your High School Transcript. This is probably the part of the application that causes you the most stress; but, remember that we take a holistic approach to our application process and all parts of the application are reviewed and weighted in the admissions decision. That being said, there are a few basics that you need to know when it comes to your high school transcript.

First and foremost, we need an official copy of your high school transcript, meaning it needs to come directly from your high school. Most high schools have a procedure in place in order to release your transcript to colleges and universities. Make sure you talk to your Guidance Counselor to find out what you need to do in order to assure that your transcript makes it to us by your respective deadline!

I know what your next burning question is: “What is the GPA of the average accepted student to The College of New Jersey?” The truth is, we don’t know. There are so many different ways of calculating grade point averages out there and, to be honest, GPA isn’t the most important part of your high school transcript. Here at TCNJ, we are more concerned with the kind of courses that you took throughout your high school career. Most of our applicants are on an honors ,AP, or IB track, meaning they have taken at least some of their courses at an advanced level. A “B” in one of those courses is going to look better to an admissions counselor, than an “A” in a typical college-prep course. If you took all college-prep courses and got straight A’s as a freshman in high school, we will be looking for a more rigorous course load in the coming years. All we can ask of our applicants is that they take the most challenging course load that they can be successful at.

You will notice on our website that we tend to focus on class rank more than we focus on the GPA’s of applicants. This gives us a better understanding of where you stand compared to your peers who have attended the same school. I know, I know, not all schools rank their students. This is not a big deal, and, if we absolutely need your class rank, we can work with your high school to get that information. Most of the time, if your rank wasn’t provided, we’ll only need it when it comes to merit scholarship decisions.

Hopefully I was able to alleviate some of the stress that comes with applying to all colleges and universities, including The College of New Jersey. Stay tuned for the following sessions of our “Application Webinar” on the other part of your application. For any questions, comments or concerns regarding your High School Transcript, feel free to contact me via email at jjacobs@tcnj.edu or call 609-771-3408. I look forward to learning more about all of you when your application arrives!


Jason Jacobs

Jason Jacobs graduated from St. Lawrence in 2008 with a major in Economics. While at SLU, he worked for 4 years in the Undergraduate Admissions Office as a Tour Guide and Admissions Management Assistant. He began working at The College of New Jersey in January 2009 and has helped coordinate the In-State Merit Scholarship program. Jason is currently enrolled in a Masters program through Drexel University for Higher Education Administration.