A new report from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education details what universities are looking for in applicants now.
Recently, a student came to me, her college counselor, and told me she didn’t know how to answer a question on her application to an Ivy League university. This particular student was at the top of her class: she had taken every advanced course available to her and earned straight
As, she had over a 1550 on the SAT, and she had awards and accolades lining her bedroom shelves. There weren’t many questions she couldn’t answer, but this one had stumped her.
The question?
What brings you joy?
Students should reflect on what makes them happy or brings them fulfillment
My student checked every “box” in college admissions. Not only had she excelled academically, but she had engaged in activities both at our school and in the community, played on athletic teams, won widespread praise for her debate skills. But as we talked about the question at hand, it seemed she had never had reason to reflect about what made her happy or brought her fulfillment, what she loved or why she loved it. Many of the things she did probably did bring her joy, but it turns out she had never thought about why or to what purpose.
It is moments like this that stop me in my tracks, not just as a counselor, but as a parent. It’s so easy to get lost in the noise of social media and everyday life and to forget that there are questions that matter a lot more than “What’s your GPA?”
Do our children realize that they are (much) more than their grades and test scores?
As parents, we all know that our children are (much) more than their grades and their test scores. But do they know that? Are we reminding them enough? Are we encouraging them to consider what they love and what brings them a sense of purpose outside of their latest math test or cross-country meet? When all of the stats and assessments and measurements of high school are behind them, will they be able to identify what brings them joy?
The answer to those questions matters to me as a parent – but it also matters for college applications, as that supplemental writing question implied. Universities are hoping to find students who won’t just show up for lectures, but who will engage deeply in their coursework and be an active part of a campus that grows, inspires, and creates the future leaders of our communities, big and small.
Colleges want good teammates, good friends, and good citizens
Contrary to popular belief and what an Instagram creator might assert, colleges don’t want the perfect “college applicants.” They want good teammates, good friends, good citizens. Colleges want good humans.
Recently, the Making Caring Common Project at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education released a fourth installment of their “Turning the Tide” report, this time with the focus of “Preparing Students for Lives of Caring and Purpose.” For the new report, the researchers collaborated with college admissions leaders in an effort to champion a call for everyone involved in the lives of young people, including their teachers, parents, mentors, and community members, to guide them to “focus not only on their own well-being but also on our collective well-being,” to value the humanity of others and to learn better how to talk constructively across their differences, a skill increasingly critical to college campus ecosystems and cultures in 2026.
As our team builds a class, we are searching for students who would authentically engage in the campus community both inside and outside of the classroom. Key to this engagement is a sense of curiosity about others who have different views and lived experiences,” Princeton University’s Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Karen Richardson says in the report.
“As this report suggests, respectful engagement does not always mean agreement and, in fact, discussion of opposing viewpoints is a critical step in learning. It is the ability to hear and take into account those differing viewpoints that makes for the most successful Princeton experience.”
Karen Richardson, Princeton University’s Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Maybe more importantly, the researchers emphasize the fact that mental health issues like anxiety and depression have spiked both for teenagers and young adults since the last time they released the report in 2016 and point to “escalating achievement pressure” as the “main culprit.”
“Alarming numbers of teens and young adults also appear to lack energizing direction and struggle to find meaning day-to-day,” the report notes. “A whopping 34% percent of teens and 51% of young adults report experiencing little or no meaning or purpose in their lives.”
Our children’s lives need to revolve around more than academic achievements and goals
In other words, if our children’s lives revolve only around reaching certain academic achievements and goals without any other sense of what their lives mean or how much they matter to their families and communities, it is really easy for them to fall into the grasp of anxiety or depression.
But finding a sense of purpose is not the same as engaging in a “passion project” or finding a singular focus, the report warns. Instead, it means encouraging teenagers to develop an understanding of what they care about and “how those cares can connect to opportunities in the adult world.” Instead of just “achieving to achieve,” ask teenagers to think about what brings them fulfillment, what drives them, and what they value… in short, what brings them joy, and how they can continue to pursue that in college and in their careers.
A simple conversation with an adult about what ignites a teens interest can help steer them to find answers
Even simple conversations with the adults in their lives about what they find boring at school and what ignites their interests could steer our kids to find those answers, the report says. “In these conversations, teens can develop a process for exploring, discovering, creating, and committing to meaningful goals. And they can use this process as they transition through different life phases, given that what they find meaningful may evolve,” the report explains.
Here’s the good news: Everyone – parents, high school counselors and educators, and colleges and universities – wants the same thing. We all want to help young people grow into lives of meaning, purpose, connection, and yes, intentional joy.
And when they work towards that goal with intention, they are actually better (and healthier) college applicants.
More Great Reading:
Allison Slater Tate
Source link