Do you want your college application to stand out? Build a website
Let’s be clear: building a website for your college application does not guarantee a golden admissions ticket, and we’ve seen many students get into Tier 1 schools even without. But if you’re of the mindset that you would like to do everything possible to showcase who you are, then having a website is an awesome option.
This is because at the best schools, perfect GPAs, high standardized scores, and glowing recommendations are all, unfortunately, part of the “uniform.” Building out and growing a site is not something you’ll see done in all packages, but the most competitive packages will have a site or two throughout almost universally.
From scholarships to Tier 1 admissions, leading programs love to see students who have done more than just study. They want to see someone who is driven to apply not only the things they’ve learned in school but also to integrate their vision into the world around them. Drama club doing a play for charity? Chess club using math to teach younger students in the community about math concepts? These things belong on a website anyway, but if done well will boost your application tremendously.
This whole endeavor may feel very daunting if you’re not into coding and computer science, but it doesn’t actually take a long time, often you can do it for free or a very small payment, and the benefits will far outweigh the effort that has gone into it. If you’re a freshman or sophomore, you have years to build up content and learn how to present it in a way that is considered professional for your field. For tips on how to actually get started, check out our other post here.
There are three major parts that you can showcase through your website.
1) How you write
If you have a club or group in a field you are passionate about, show that you care through your website. The content is going to come from these activities, and it’s where you get to demonstrate that you can write well. It’s not just about the grammar or diversity of sentence structures; it’s about the planning behind your content, how you make it stand out, and how you speak to your audience. What you can showcase here would be much greater in scale than anything you would be able to do within the confines of your college essay. As your website will naturally track what you’ve done, it will also serve as an excellent piece of primary evidence of your commitment to your extracurricular activity.
2) The great things you’ve done
There is only so much that can go into your Common App essay, so having your website as another platform to convey everything else is a great option. To make sure that you can present a list of personal or group accomplishments, be strategic. There are hundreds of competitions, challenges, fairs, contests, and etc. You need to be able to approach everything with a bird’s eye view, and be selective and strategic about what you participate in. After that, comes the packaging and delivery on your website about what you did, why it mattered, and what the takeaway was. In many ways, your website can help provide a mental map of what will go into your Common App essay down the line.
3) How you engage with your community
Every competitive school likes to talk about having well-rounded students who are active in their community. There are so many things that a club or group could do. We’ve seen students do toy drives, reading sessions with younger students, performances, clothing drives, food drives, elderly assistance, and the list goes on. Top schools want students who show compassion and empathy on top of their area(s) of excellence, be it academics or athletics, or all of the above. Your website is another vehicle to demonstrate this.
The best way to prove you write well, have a detailed record of everything you’re doing outside of school, and demonstrate that you care about the community around you is to package all of that up into a neat website.
So, in the end, do you really have to do all of this work? If you’re looking at a competitive application environment, then having a website offers something more. It shows initiative, time-management, outreach stories, and basically everything you can’t put into your transcript. Your website will offer everything up in compelling blog posts, pictures, and other great content.
