Things I Wish I Knew Before Applying for Undergrad in the US

When I first started looking at colleges in the US, I thought the process would be simple: get good grades, participate in a few extracurricular activities, write a good essay, and apply. 

I was wrong.

The US college application process is very different from what many Indian students are used to. In India, admission to many colleges and professional programs is heavily influenced by academic scores and entrance examinations. In the US, colleges often take a much more holistic approach. They want to understand not just what you scored, but who you are outside the classroom. Leadership, public speaking, teamwork, athletics, volunteering, community involvement, creativity, and independence can all contribute to how an admissions committee sees you.

The department head for international admissions at my alma mater, Centre College, once told me that colleges want to admit students they believe will be a good fit for their community and are likely to thrive in that environment. That completely changed how I thought about my application.

Don't just collect achievements. Show who you are.

When I began applying, I took the advice about extracurriculars very seriously. Maybe a little too seriously. I overloaded my Common App with Olympiad medals, sports achievements, volunteering experiences, leadership positions, and every other co-curricular activity I could think of.

There was nothing wrong with these experiences. In fact, they helped demonstrate several of my strengths. But looking back, I realised that my application was missing something important: evidence of independent curiosity.

I had participated in many activities, but I had fewer experiences that showed me identifying a problem or question on my own and deciding to do something about it. And that distinction matters. There is a difference between saying, “I was the captain of my school team,” and being able to say, “I noticed a problem in my community, came up with an idea to address it, and built something around it.” The second tells a college something about how you think.

You don't need to have access to a fancy laboratory or expensive program

One thing I wish I had understood earlier is that an independent project doesn't have to be extraordinary. You don't need to publish a research paper in high school. You don't need to build the next big startup. You don't even need access to a laboratory. An independent project can start with something as simple as a question you're genuinely curious about.

Maybe you are fascinated by how artificial intelligence works, so you build a small AI project. Maybe you're interested in climate change, so you research water usage in your city and create an awareness campaign. Maybe you love psychology, so you conduct a literature review and present your findings. What matters is that you went beyond being told what to do.

For me, this was an important realization because many conventional schools in India don't always provide high school students with the opportunity to independently design and lead projects. That doesn't mean those opportunities don't exist. It means you sometimes have to look for them yourself.

Your extracurricular activities should tell a story

Another thing I wish I knew was that colleges aren't necessarily looking for the student who has done everything. They are trying to understand what makes you, you. Instead of thinking, “How many activities can I add to my application?”, I wish I had asked myself, “What do my activities say about me?”

If you love biology and spend your free time reading about biotechnology, conducting independent research, and volunteering at a science organization, those experiences tell a coherent story. If you play cricket, run a school club, tutor younger students, and organise sports events, that tells a different story. Neither is necessarily better.

The goal isn't to manufacture the “perfect” profile. It's to build experiences around the things you genuinely care about.

Start thinking about your application before Grade 12

This is probably one of the biggest lessons I would give any student considering studying in the US. Don't wait until Grade 12 to start thinking about your application. Your application is not something you can build in a few months. Your grades, activities, interests, relationships with teachers, projects, and experiences accumulate over several years. 

Starting early also gives you something much more valuable: time to explore. You can try things, discover what you enjoy, abandon things you don't, and eventually find areas that you genuinely want to pursue.

That is much better than trying to suddenly create an impressive extracurricular profile because application deadlines are approaching.

Don't underestimate the importance of your essays

I initially thought the essay would just be another way of explaining my achievements. It isn't.

Your activities section tells colleges what you did. Your essays can show them how you think. A strong essay doesn't necessarily need a dramatic story. Sometimes the most interesting essays come from ordinary experiences that reveal something unusual about the person writing them.

Instead of asking, “What will impress an admissions officer?”, ask yourself: “What can I tell them that they won't learn from the rest of my application?” That question can completely change how you approach your essays.

This is perhaps the biggest lesson I took away from my own application experience.

I was fortunate to have plenty of opportunities to participate in competitions, sports, volunteering, and other activities. But I wish I had spent more time developing the ability to identify questions, explore them independently, and turn my curiosity into projects. That is one of the reasons I was excited when I came across Futurowise.

What I especially like about Futurowise is that it doesn't stop at encouraging students to explore their interests. Students can take an independent project they have worked on, document their process and findings, and publish their project report on the Futurowise website. This gives students something tangible to show for their work, a published piece of work that they can share with others and include as part of their portfolio. More importantly, it gives students the experience of taking an idea from curiosity to completion and putting their work out into the world. And I think that is an important mindset for students considering US universities. An admissions application becomes much more meaningful when it reflects not just the activities you participated in, but the things you cared enough about to explore and build yourself.

Don’t chase achievements to build your profile. Find your passion, build on it, and let the achievements become a byproduct of doing something you genuinely care about.

By Mehak Mittal, Centre College class of 2026 www.linkedin.com/in/mehak--mittal