Undergrad Admissions Tips & Tricks

most extracurriculars are boring. And if they’re boring, you become what admissions officers call LMO—“Like Many Others.” That’s the kiss of death in elite college admissions. Especially if you’re aiming for the top 15 U.S. universities as an international student, your extracurricular strategy needs to be sharp. Grades alone won’t cut it.

Doing the Bare Minimum? Here’s What That Actually Looks Like in U.S. College Admissions. Let’s be honest: not everyone is aiming for Harvard or Stanford. Some of you are aiming for strong U.S. colleges with a 30% to 50% acceptance rate—and you’re wondering, “What’s the bare minimum I need to do to get in?” That’s a fair question. But here's the truth.

Harvard—like other top U.S. colleges—isn’t looking for one specific type of student. They’re crafting a community, not building a leaderboard. A student who led a rural sanitation project in Africa might be just as desirable as someone who plays piano in retirement homes or ranks first in the All-India Board Exams. Welcome to the world of holistic admissions—where who you are matters just as much as what you’ve achieved.

After all, with thousands of applicants boasting near-perfect grades and test scores, how do you truly stand out? Is there a formula, a strategy that actually works? And for the students we’re about to talk about, that strategy was crystal clear: international competitions.