Universities employ creative new ways to choose the entrants with the greatest potential.
The competition for limited seats at prestige universities in Canada and around the world has reached fever pitch. With so many applicants each year, admissions departments are employing increasingly creative methods to find the students offering the highest potential for success.
At the same time, students looking to secure a place at a brand name school must constantly strive for an edge that will put them ahead of the pack.
How are universities and grade schools addressing the challenges of getting it right?
“While traditional metrics such as grades and standardized tests are still the most important components of an application, universities are now looking to evaluate candidates more holistically,” says Robert Astroff, founder of Toronto-based Astroff Consultants.
“Two of the more creative tools being used are CASPer (computer-based assessment for sampling personal characteristics) and online video essays.”
CASPer was originally developed at McMaster University as an admissions test for its medical school. Today it is used by universities around the world. CASPer helps universities assess skills such as problem-solving, innovation, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. “It is a very rigorous online test that involves both video and text-based problems,” says Astroff, who helps students prepare for post-secondary opportunities.
Rotman Commerce upped the ante about five years ago when it added supplemental application requirements to the admission process. “We realized it was more than just marks that we needed to assess when looking at who could be successful here. We started using essays, but the big change came when we introduced online video,” says Jeff Trapp, associate director of recruitment and admissions. “It’s about interpersonal communication skills: Within their first year, Rotman students will be sitting across a table with a corporate partner. We want to ensure they can carry on a conversation with that partner.”
Trapp says the most common mistake made by applicants to Rotman is not responding to the question asked. “They may have put together a nice paragraph but it has not answered the question. That often speaks to the fact they have prepared an answer in advance, but that is not what is required in business.”
The biggest misstep that Astroff sees is leaving it too late to start the process. “Students and parents assume it is a simplistic process but it is highly complicated,” he says. “Interviews are very different today and increasingly involve multiple mini-interviews (MMI), where students visit a series of stations to answer questions, role play and debate. It takes training to prepare for this rigorous activity.”
At Havergal College, students begin preparing for university application in grade 10 with course selection guidance to ensure prerequisites are met early on. Grade 11 students attend group and individual guidance meetings throughout the year.
“Workshops during September and October cover some of the specialized applications required by universities such as the Ivy School, Queen’s and the University of British Columbia,” says Heather Johnstone, Havergal’s head of guidance. “To help students keep on top of deadlines we also run an Instagram account and website, and have a bulletin board outside the guidance office so all of the bases are covered.”
Gaining first-hand knowledge of universities and career opportunities is a key component of the guidance process, notes Johnstone. Each year, grade 11 students are given a campus tour of four local universities (Guelph, Laurier, McMaster and Waterloo) to gain a sense of school and university campus environments.
To help students experience aspects of the workplace and gain a glimpse into the various fields they might want to study, Havergal offers a micro-internship program and, every two years, hosts a career networking event where students interact with working professionals.
“We want our students to understand that university is a launch pad. It is not designed to give students jobs but to teach them to think. We want them to be engaged at university because that is how they do well and what will open doors for them down the road. That’s why we find something that they enjoy rather than a program that simply looks good on paper,” Johnstone says.
And when it comes to writing applications essays? “Think about the main thing you want the reader to know about you. If you start with that, you can write a pretty concise piece.”
Clearly, Havergal’s guidance program is having results. Most of its students are accepted to their first or second choice of university. “They go far afield, are adventurous and the programs they enter run the gamut from pharmacy, business and architecture to engineering, humanities and fine arts,” says Johnstone. “They make good choices that are right for them, and we work hard to help them achieve that.”
We want our students to understand that university is a launch pad. It is not designed to give students jobs but to teach them to think. We want them to be engaged at university because that is how they do well and what will open doors for them down the road. Universities are evaluating candidates more holistically