The college admissions process is not only stressful, time-consuming and bureaucratic but also extremely competitive, especially for international applicants. It is also an undisputed fact that undergraduate admissions are far more competitive than graduate admissions for international applicants, especially in terms of funding and placements.

In 2019, Harvard accepted just 1,950 undergraduate students out of the 43,330 who applied. This was an all-time low acceptance rate of 4.5 percent. Of the 4.5 percent who were accepted, only 11.8 percent were from the international pool of applicants. Most esteemed colleges in the United States, over the years, have become even more exclusive, with their acceptance rates dropping every year.

Columbia’s acceptance rate dropped from 5.5 percent to 5.1 percent from 2018 to 2019. Yale’s acceptance rate dropped from 6.3 percent to 5.9 percent from 2019 to 2020. With the onset of the global pandemic, there’s no telling how further down the acceptance rates of these colleges will go, considering that most universities now have to contend with massive setbacks when it comes to funding. This makes the situation even grimmer for international applicants, most of who can only afford to go to college abroad with financial aid or merit-based scholarships.

According to the Institute of International Education’s 2019 Open Doors report, Pakistan is one of the fastest growing markets for higher education in the US. Over 8,000 Pakistani students (not counting the diaspora) are currently studying in different colleges all over the US. However, given that Pakistan is only a recent competitor in the US college admissions process, Pakistani students are not as prepared as other high-schoolers across the world.

While many elite Pakistani schools have expanded their counselling services over the last couple of years, and many educational consultancies have also sprung up, profile-building remains a shadowy affair. I would argue that is primarily the case because of the severe lack of opportunities to compete at the international level.

A college counsellor advises how high-schoolers can align their academic passions with their extracurricular initiatives to become well-rounded candidates for prestigious foreign colleges

High schools in India and China have several international competitions. Chinese Bridge, for instance, is one of the most credited international public-speaking competitions, which students from all over the world take part in. Similarly, India hosts several international mathematics and science Olympiads, where their students get a chance to compete with students from all over the world. The Albert Einstein Scholarship Test is the most reputed and renowned among science students in India, as it gives them quite an edge when being considered for admissions at the international scale.

While many national-level Olympiads, public-speaking tournaments, Gramathons, and Model United Nations (MUNs) have become a norm in Pakistan over the years, international competitions are very few, and access to them is entirely exclusive. The only international competitions in Pakistan that come to mind are Kangaroo and Hippo. These competitions, though great initiatives, are also very limited in their scope as very few schools have registered to take part in these competitions. As a result, the vast majority of schoolchildren remain unable to access such opportunities.

Over the last year, however, there has been a considerable change in the number of international competitions happening in Pakistan and access has also become fairly public. The Canada-based Caribou Math Competition, the UK-based WeVOI Public Speaking Contest, the KGL contest — which is organised by the International Testing Authority, also responsible for administering TOEFL and IELTS — are among the few new competitions.

The list goes on, including the UK-based Knowledge Competition Owlypia, which has participants from over 81 countries, the Bulgarian Creative Writing Competition, the US-based Future Problem-Solving Program International and, of course, the US-based Quill & Scroll Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest, have all been brilliant additions. Access to these competitions is also not hindered by cost as their rates are highly subsidised.

However, what further increases the accessibility of these competitions is the fact that a student can register for them independently of their schools. This essentially reduces the students and parents’ reliance on schools as the primary medium of opportunities, which will add to their profile-building exercise.

Pakistani high-school students who wish to build a strong profile should take note of all these competitions. Most US college applications have an entire section devoted to the applicant’s international competitions and this section is particularly important in setting the applicant apart from the thousands of other potential students.

It is also, however, of particular importance that the student’s extracurriculars align well with the student’s academic passions; most esteemed colleges all over the world are looking for focused individuals as potential students — those who know what they want and go after it. Therefore, it is necessary for students to start taking part in multiple competitions as early as the 9th grade, in order to not only build a profile but also be aware of their own academic passions so that, in their later years of high school, the two are aligned. The ambit of extracurricular activities should not, however, be limited to participation in competitions. As mentioned earlier, college admission committees are looking for well-rounded individuals.

Unfortunately, Pakistan doesn’t have a very vibrant culture of high school students doing internships. There, again, has been a change in the last couple of years, but opportunities remain scarce. However, this is precisely where students get the room to be creative.

Ethan Sawyer, a renowned US-based counsellor, encourages students to ‘hack their own internship’. He writes in his College Admissions Essentials Guidebook, “Don’t feel limited if a company doesn’t have a formal internship available. Ask yourself: ‘Can I create my own?’ Generate a list of a few small- to medium-sized companies near you. Find a contact there, either through their website, referral or LinkedIn. Outline your background, why you are interested in working with the company, and how you can see yourself contributing to their organisation in a cover letter. Email it to your new contact along with a great resume.”

Moreover, it is essential for students to realise that their internships and volunteer experiences should coincide with their areas of interest. While SOS Children’s Village is a great place to volunteer at for students interested in teaching, it is not the place for students who may be interested in, say, economics. Students interested in economics will fare much better if they intern in organisations such as Akhuwat, an NGO working towards poverty alleviation by providing interest-free microfinance services.

Similarly, students interested in medicine should be thinking about volunteering opportunities in places such as Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre. Students interested in politics and policymaking should be thinking about volunteering or interning at the Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) or South Asian Free Media Association (Safma). Students interested in science should actively reach out to any local professors for whatever research opportunities may appeal to them. This is the work that is essential for students aiming for the stars, so to speak.

The college admissions process is arduous and tricky but not impossible. With the right kind of motivation and aligned extracurricular and academic activities, most students have a shot at getting admitted to the finest colleges in the world, regardless of the scarcity of opportunities provided to them by their respective schools.

The writer is an education counsellor at Eye on Ivy

Published in Dawn, EOS, January 31st, 2021