Winning College Admissions: A Fencer's Guide

This episode focuses on strategies for high school fencers to excel in the college application process. The webinar features experienced former admissions officers from InGenius Prep, who provide insights on how to make a college application stand out.

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Key topics include:

• Understanding the college application process, emphasizing the importance of regional selection and academic performance.
• The impact of course selection, highlighting the need for rigorous courses that align with a student's interests and career goals. Colleges evaluate challenging courses over easy A's. Students should plan for future academic years to meet graduation requirements and college readiness.
• The evaluation of GPA, grades, and patterns, emphasizing that colleges consider course difficulty in addition to GPA. Colleges recognize patterns of grades over time, focusing on improvement or decline.
• Class rank and its influence, noting the importance of class rank even if schools don't report it, and the difference between weighted and unweighted GPAs.
• The significant impact of teacher recommendations, where quality and detail can greatly influence admissions.
• The importance of extracurricular activities, noting that colleges look for meaningful community involvement beyond academics. The depth and impact of extracurriculars are evaluated more than the activity type. It is suggested that students should explore interests in earlier high school years and narrow their focus as they progress, taking on leadership roles.
• Strategic planning for student activities, with examples for both humanities and STEM students.
• A case study of a successful student who improved extracurricular depth by fusing interests in STEM and fencing, supported by mentorship and targeted projects.
• An overview of counseling programs such as competency building and academic mentorship, leadership, and application counseling.
• The need for genuine and personal expression in essays. Students should start on personal statements by junior year and leverage experiences for essay inspiration.
• Including all significant fencing achievements in applications, especially national and international competitions.
• The importance of diverse experiences and contributions beyond sports. Non-recruited athletes should highlight additional qualities that enhance their application.
• Balancing athletics and academics is a personalized process, with emphasis on honing strengths outside of sports to strengthen applications.
• Students can pursue fencing at various levels in college, not always at the D1 level.
• College counseling from 8th or 9th grade provides opportunities for strategic planning.
• Parents should support their children's interest in sports, as it contributes to holistic development and college applications.

Sources: https://go.ingeniusprep.com/usa_fencing-recordings