ILUMIN SEMINAR: HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD DURING COVID-19?
Elton Lin
In light of unprecedented current events, ILUMIN Education is hosting a presentation to help students and families navigate this uncharted territory.
Read MoreILUMIN Blog
Helpful tips about college admissions, test preparation and just being a better student, leader and person from ILUMIN Education.
OUR RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Elton Lin
Dear Students and Families -
Our mission has always been to help students reach their full potential. With that, making sure our students are safe and secure is of utmost importance.
Read MoreCONGRATS TO OUR 2019 ADMITS
Elton Lin
We wanted to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to our seniors this past year! They worked tirelessly on their applications and we’re so proud that they were recognized and admitted by so many amazing colleges and universities!
Read MoreHEAR HENRY WANG’S RADIO SHOW FROM FM 96.1 AND HOW HE HELPS STUDENTS REACH THEIR DREAM COLLEGES
Elton Lin
ILUMIN Consultant, Henry Wang, recently appeared on Chinese radio FM 96.1 to discuss how he got involved in educational consulting and how he helps students reach their college goals (in Chinese).
Read MoreSUMMER WORKSHOP SERIES // 2019 COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TRENDS -- JUNE 9TH AT 2:30PM
Elton Lin
Curious about why 2018 was such a competitive year for college applications?
Want to know how to best prepare for the 2019 application season?
If so, we invite you to attend ILUMIN Education’s 2018 College Trends presentation on Sunday 6/9 at 2:30pm.
Read More5 QUESTIONS FOR ILUMIN CONSULTANT, ALICE HO
Elton Lin
Alice joined ILUMIN Education's team in 2016 after discovering her passion for college admissions as an ILUMIN client. She speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and works with international and transfer students. Alice has a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford University and has worked in the biotech industry for over 25 years.
Read More5 QUESTIONS FOR ILUMIN CONSULTANT, HENRY WANG
Elton Lin
Henry has been providing college admissions counseling in the Bay Area since he graduated from UC Berkeley in 2013. He has worked with a diverse pool of students and is an expert in undergraduate admissions. We are excited to have Henry on board!
We asked Henry five questions to help you get to know him better.
Read MorePROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP FOR ILUMIN STUDENTS >> APRIL 27TH
Elton Lin
REGISTER >> HERE by April 20th! (currently only for existing ILUMIN students)
Hi Students (and Parents)!
Do you ever feel stuck writing an email to a teacher?
Do you worry about saying the wrong thing in an interview?
Are you confused about how to start and maintain a conversation with an adult?
Come join us for our first Professional Communication Workshop!
You'll learn about how to speak, email, AND text appropriately and professionally to teachers, bosses, professors, and interviewers. You'll practice with real conversations in order to build up your communication toolbox! You'll also meet other peers and work together to be better communicators.
We'll prepare you for different professional settings and help you overcome your fear of communicating with adults!
AND... it is FREE for ILUMIN students BUT you need to register below by April 20th!
Location:
ILUMIN Education
4701 Patrick Henry Drive, Building 3 (Redwood Room)
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Date/Time:
April 27, 2019 >> 10 am - 12 pm
REGISTER >> HERE by April 20th!
NOTE: Currently only for existing ILUMIN students - keep a lookout for more student success workshops open to the public coming soon!
THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CHANCES SEMINAR >> SEATTLE, WA
Elton Lin
Register HERE by April 20th!
Hello!!! Seattle!!!
We’ll be hosting our first seminar in the great Pacific Northwest! We’ll be covering three ways high school students can improve their admissions chances and reach their dream schools. We will share more about the current landscape and provide practical insight on how students can stand out from the pack.
We will be covering the following topics (and more):
What type of essay is most effective for the college application?
What is "Early Decision" and how important is it to apply early?
How important are extracurricular activities, AP courses, or test scores?
What are admissions officers looking for when reviewing a college application?
"Three Ways to Improve Your College Admissions Chances"
Location:
Lake Hills Library Meeting Room
15590 Lake Hills Blvd, Bellevue, WA
When:
Saturday, April 27, 2019 - 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Speakers:
Elton Lin, Founder/CEO of ILUMIN Education
Yii-Shyun Lin, Expert College Counselor, ILUMIN Education
Attendees will also have the option of signing up for a FREE 1 hour consultation with our consultants.
Register HERE by April 20th!
Contact us at info@ilumineducation.com or 408-479-4742 for more info! More information on ILUMIN Education and flyer below!
WHAT ACTIVITIES WILL HELP ME GET ADMITTED TO COLLEGE?
Guest User
How to Craft Your Extracurricular Resume
At every college admissions presentation we’ve given, we are approached with one very popular question, “What extracurricular activities are good for college admissions?” Our one sentence answer, “Anything you love and can commit to” can be understandably frustrating for parents and students seeking a silver bullet to elite college acceptances (spoiler alert—there is no “silver bullet” activity, unless participating in the Olympics is within your reach AND even that isn’t going to get you in everywhere). This article will explore that principle in greater depth and give you some examples on how to take what you’re already interested in and build upon it to help you stand out on your college application.
When admissions officers review extracurricular resumes, they are looking to see what kind of student emerges from the activities and descriptions. Is this applicant someone with a long-standing commitment to animal welfare? Someone who spent much of his time on the tennis courts? Someone who explored her interest in astronomy? All those tabulations of hours and dates reflect choices that you’ve made during high school. What story will your choices tell about you on your college application?
Find a Focal Point
“I’m just another boring Asian girl who volunteers and plays piano!” Katie (not her real name) wailed dejectedly as I scanned her extracurricular resume. Key Club? Check. Piano up to CM Level 10? Check. Hospital volunteering? Check. While clearly in possession of a sense of humor and a lot of intellectual curiosity, her personality didn’t really come across on her resume. Fortunately, as a 10th grader, Katie still had time to shape her extracurricular profile. And my first advice to her was to find a focal point. We explored the following questions:
What is the one activity you would focus on if you had to give up the rest? Why is it important to you? How can we highlight that activity and do what we can to formalize the interest? Are there other activities that you would be interested in trying?
Some students might not be able to pursue their quirkier interests in an established club. One of my students loves investing and watching his stock portfolio grow. Another spends all his free time mountain biking. Katie devoured novels at a rate of several books per week and had also started writing short fiction pieces on her own. But it wasn’t something that she felt like was a “legitimate” interest or anything outside of a private hobby. As we talked, she began to see how her writing could be a focal point of her resume and something that would help her stand out despite her choice of stereotypical activities up to this point.
Look for Ways to Formalize Interests
One of the easiest ways to pursue an interest in a more formal way is to take classes or lessons related to that interest. My student who was interested in investments enrolled in a finance-related university-sponsored summer program. Another student who loved to bake took a series of cooking classes in her community and then organized a bake sale as a fundraiser. Students interested in marine biology can get scuba diving certifications. And, of course, there are a myriad of learning options for those interested in science research or computer programing.
You might also want to think about starting something on your own in order to explore your interest. Students interested in creative writing can start a blog or a literary magazine at their high school (if there isn’t one already). A former student with an interest in judo started a free self-defense workshop to help women in his community gain some basic skills in crisis situations.
As for Katie, she decided to take a creative writing course over the summer, submit several of her shorter pieces to a fiction-writing competition, and to join her school newspaper as a staff writer to polish her writing skills.
Build Cohesion
On a more advanced level, you might want to think of ways to connect the different activities that you’re involved in. Not only will this help you take a more holistic approach to your out-of-school time, it will also help to paint a more cohesive picture of who you are for admissions officers.
What does building cohesion mean? It means finding the overlap between two or more of your interests: music and math, swimming and cooking, or psychology and running. Well, let’s take Katie’s example again. She loved to write, but she also has a budding interest in medicine. She decided to combine both of these interests in a club she became involved in that centered around public health. She used her creative writing talents to write and illustrate a children’s book that explained this particular disease and encouraged testing in a way that even kindergarteners could understand. She also wrote articles about this public health issue for her school newspaper.
What are admissions officers looking for? They are looking to see how you use your time. Remember that they are looking not necessarily looing for a well-rounded candidate but to build a well-rounded class. They want to see what you’re passionately devoted to. They’re looking to see what YOU would uniquely bring to their campus. We encourage you to take steps to discover that now!
Do you have more questions about extracurricular activities? Feel free to submit a case study on your extracurricular resume, and we’ll pick one entry and try to give you our best advice on how to improve your activities from an admissions standpoint.
We have many more tips for students as they work on their college essays. Contact ILUMIN Education for more suggestions: info@ilumineducation.com OR (408) 479-4742.