AltView Newsletter
Over the past few weeks, one pattern has come up again and again in parent conversations.
By Class 9 or 10, the list starts growing. A course here, an activity there, maybe a competition, maybe a summer program, maybe something added because another parent mentioned it.
After a point, families are not really asking what the child cares about. They are asking whether the list is long enough.
That is where I think a lot of profile-building starts going wrong.
We published a new piece this week on something I keep returning to with families:
profile-building is often more about elimination than addition.
Not eliminating exploration too early. That would be a mistake.
I mean eliminating the things that make the student’s story harder to read. The activities that are thin, scattered, half-owned, or there mainly because they seemed useful at the time.
That usually matters more than families expect. A weak activity does not just sit there quietly. Sometimes it blurs the stronger parts of the profile.
If this is a question your family has been wrestling with, here is the piece:
Profile Building Is Mostly About Elimination
I have also started a small WhatsApp space where I will share occasional short notes like this on admissions, profile-building, essays, and related decisions. Low volume, mostly one-way.
If you would like to join, here is the link:
AltView Admissions Notes on WhatsApp
Best,
Apoorv & Sanjeeta
AltView Education