THE CITIZEN SCHOLAR ADMISSIONS STRATEGY
Admission to highly selective colleges is the result of increasing the surface area for serendipity and telling a good story.
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INTRODUCTION
Highly selective colleges aim to shape a diverse class of students likely to excel academically and enrich both the intellectual and social experience of their peers. Admissions committees are therefore looking for students who will be prodigious citizens—active members of a diverse campus community who view forging strong relationships as a privilege and responsibility; and engaged scholars—students who are highly capable, intrinsically motivated, and exhibit a desire to apply what they learn toward the public good.
This is the educational ideal of America’s elite colleges and universities: a curated community of citizens and scholars preparing to lead a democracy (and a few that just might change the world!)—what we call “Citizen Scholars.”
The Citizen Scholar Strategy is an active approach to your high school career and the college admissions process based on developing and demonstrating three interrelated pillars: intellectual vitality, emotional acumen and civic engagement.
THE THREE PILLARS
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INTELLECTUAL VITALITY
A voracious appetite for the world of ideas and life of the mind; the creativity to make novel connections across traditional academic disciplines; a knack for asking questions that enliven a discussion; an interest in language and the ability to use writing to clarify thought and produce insight (and add stylistic panache). Ultimately, the initiative with which you seek out and commit to new learning opportunities.
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EMOTIONAL ACUMEN
Self-awareness and insight into your own character strengths and weaknesses; a growth mindset with a strong drive for personal development according to your values and goals; the ability to recognize and advantageously regulate your own emotions; the confidence to embrace uncertainty and make tough decisions; a heightened sense of empathy that engenders strong relationships.
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
An understanding of yourself as a member of multiple communities and a larger social fabric; the desire—a sense of duty—to use your skills and talents to make a difference in the lives of others; the ability to make and justify informed moral and ethical judgments; to take individual action / galvanize others to address an issue of public concern.
YOUR CITIZEN
SCHOLAR STATEMENT
Students who embody each of The Citizen Scholar’s three pillars are excellent candidates for admission to selective colleges, but you are a very specific individual, and admissions officers have a limited amount of time to summarize their evaluation of your application—their impression of you!
While “a citizen and scholar” is a description that carries weight on its own, to stand out in a sea of other well qualified applicants you must have a more specific, and memorable application persona. Think of it as your admissions pitch, or to paraphrase Rick Clark, the eminent Dean of Admissions at Georgia Tech, the one sentence you want an Admissions Officer to remember you by. At Benjamin College Consulting, we call this sentence your Citizen Scholar Statement.
UNLOCKING POTENTIAL & MAXIMIZING ADMISSIONS
The importance of developing your Citizen Scholar statement is two-fold. First, it serves as a North Star, an organizing principle empowering you to navigate high school and confidently make educational and personal decisions. It should be dynamic and refined over time, but ultimately, it will be an anchor for interweaving a coherent and highly compelling story throughout all aspects of your college application.
Entrepreneurial in the best sense, your Citizen Scholar Statement is an authentic means of developing and demonstrating your unique character. Jeff Bezos, the infamous CEO of Amazon, advises that before you spend a lot of time and energy attempting to create something significant, write the press release. In this case your Citizen Scholar Statement is the press release for a successful college application.
