AltView Newsletter
This has been a quietly encouraging year for some of the students we worked with at AltView.
They have received admits from places like UCLA, UNC Chapel Hill, UIUC, Warwick, UCL, KCL, Bristol and Bocconi.
I am happy about the outcomes, of course. But what I keep coming back to is something else.
One mistake families make is assuming that all top colleges want roughly the same thing, so the job is simply to build a generic “strong profile” and send it everywhere.
The admits this year were a useful reminder that this is too blunt a way to think about applications.
Different colleges really do emphasize different things. Some care deeply about character and personal qualities. Some want strength across the board. Some are much harder to read and need more careful interpretation.
That is the problem I was trying to unpack in this piece:
What Do Admissions Officers Actually Look For?
It is about the Common Data Set, which is one of the few places where colleges tell you, fairly directly, what they care about in admissions.
Of course, no table captures everything. But it is still a much better place to start than generic advice, rankings, or panic.
If your family is trying to build a sensible plan rather than just keep adding things, the article may be useful.
I have also started a small WhatsApp space where I share occasional notes like this on admissions, profile-building, essays, and related decisions. Low volume, mostly one-way.
You can join it here:
AltView Admissions Notes on WhatsApp
Best,
Apoorv & Sanjeeta
AltView Education