More Than a Test Score

As colleges begin to search for students using Zinch, it's hard to predict exactly what they will be searching for. This is why it is so important to fill in all the categories. Certainly, some categories are more likely to be used in a search than others. For example, it may be fun to list your favorite quote in the Hodge Podge, but that will not help you get discovered by colleges.

I'll briefly run through three points about your profiles.

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This is Part 1 of the All-Star Series. Recently, USA Today came out with their annual All-Academic team, showcasing 20 of the most talented and accomplished high school seniors in America. I was able to catch up with a bunch of them, interviewing them about their high school accomplishments, asking about their college admissions experiences, and begging them to share some of their nuggets of wisdom with y'all. Read my introduction post.

Quick facts: Meredith just graduated from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. She will be attending Harvard in the fall. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA (unweighted out of 4.0).

Accomplishments: She built a computer-controlled electromagnetic shaker to study the Brazil Nut Effect, or why the larger pieces of granular material rise when shaken, winning the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award and placing ninth in the Intel Science Talent Search; Siemens Competition semifinalist; varsity cross-country and track captain and all-state in both; AfricAid Club co-founder and co-president; National Honor Society treasurer; Knowledge Bowl team; French Club treasurer; Volunteer Mafia board member.

Tell us about your research on the Brazil Nut Effect? Any ground-breaking discoveries? Explain it to us as if I were 8 years old. Cuz if not, it'll probably be way over my head.
Well, the Brazil nut effect (BNE) is an interesting phenomenon that occurs in granular materials. Basically, when a container of mixed-size granular particles is shaken the larger particles end up rising to the surface. The name was inspired by a can of mixed nuts. When you pop off the lid, all of the large Brazil nuts are on top. The BNE is actually a fairly common phenomenon.

Real world examples include avalanches, rock slides, and really anything involving granular particles. My research was essentially an attempt to study the BNE in detail and determine what mechanisms are behind it. In the end, it seems that it is produced by a combination of convection and air pressure.

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Recently, USA Today came out with their annual All-Academic team, showcasing 20 of the most talented and accomplished high school seniors in America. USA Today states that this "Academic Team honors seniors as representatives of all outstanding high school students in the country who not only excel academically but also extend their abilities beyond the classroom to benefit society."

Yup, these cats are for real–got game in and out of the classroom. 20 of the top.

Anyway, I was able to catch up with a bunch of them, interviewing them about their high school accomplishments, asking about their college admissions experiences, and begging them to share some of their nuggets of wisdom with y'all. Most of them were kind enough to take the time out of their busy schedules to sit and chat with me.

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A recent study at the University of California finds high school GPA a better predictor of college success than SAT test scores.

The study examined 80,000 students in the school system, building on an earlier study correlating these same factors (high school GPA and SAT scores) with students' freshman GPA in college. Like the previous study, findings show that high school GPA is a consistently stronger indicator of overall college performance than SAT scores.

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Two quick tips for your profiles.

1. Since this profile will only be viewed by admissions officers at colleges and universities, you want to make sure to fill in the fields that they'd be interested in. The more concrete, thorough, relevant information you fill out, the more likely you will be found in their searches.

2. No typos. Proofread your profile as if you were handing in a paper to a teacher. Admissions officers don't want to see sloppy work.