How Admission Officers Evaluate Your Application: Academic Profile

Till now we have looked at the process of self-assessment from an internal perspective answering questions like what do you want and what do you want. Now, we will look at self-assessment from a practical perspective, which is through the eyes of the admission officer.

The admission officers at all foreign universities are trained in understanding how educational systems of different countries function. Often they are required to visit many countries, schools and universities. They understand the strengths, weaknesses, and reputations of the education boards and the quality of students from those education boards.

From the NACAC State of College Admissions report, it has been clear throughout the years that the top factor that influences admission decisions is the academic profile. This one factor consists of further factors like strength of syllabus, admission test scores like GMAT, GRE, SAT etc., and marks in all subjects. Other than these, a few more factors affect international students’ profile. These are the English language test scores like TOEFL or IELTS.

Now, let’s pretend you are an admissions officer. So we will evaluate your application using these factors as an admissions officer.

Let's start with the curriculum. It means the courses you are required to take, the subjects you will or have completed to get your degree. This evaluation criteria takes into account challenging were those required courses. At Indian schools, you can choose some of your subjects after 10^th class. So the question admission officer considers is did you challenge yourself by taking the harder subjects or did you take the average or easy subjects?

So these are your options - is it better to get low scores in a harder subject or high scores in an easy subject? If you were to ask an admission officer, the diplomatic answer will be ‘It is better to get high scores in a harder subject.’

The next thing they consider is the reputation of your educational system or board. Some boards like ICSE are considered tougher than others. There have been a few instances in the past where certain foreign universities did not accept Indian students’ applications if they had done 12^th from some certain state boards. So it is all about how reputable your exam board is.

The second evaluation criteria is scores on standardized exams like SAT, GRE or GMAT. These exams are considered harder than class subjects. That is why many universities require applicants to take one of these exams to get admission.

So now, look at your academic documents and don't just look at scores. Look at how difficult your subjects were. How did you do on these subjects? These could be math classes, or science classes, or even English literature classes.

In India, scores of non-academic subjects are also factored in, like physical education or home science. These cores may not be considered at all foreign universities.

Look at any individual scores that stand out. It could be because they are either very high or they are very low. What are your scores in the subjects that relate to your chosen course at the university? For example, if you are applying to a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, and math), then what are your math or science scores?

So, when it comes to your academic profile, what does it show to the admission officer?

Complete Series: How to Apply to Universities Abroad