The Curiosity Key 

April 2025

What’s the Number One Distinctive admissions officers want to see?

High GPA?

Soaring Test Scores?

Voted “Homecoming King” by your classmates?

Admissions staff value those achievements. But what their hearts hunger for is a student with intellectual curiosity. 

They yearn to see students who go above and beyond to pursue a topic or question, even at the expense of regular coursework (goodbye, perfect GPA).  They want students who do more than cram all summer for fill-in-the-bubble tests (so-long, SAT prep). They want students who don’t settle for the most popular clubs (the King is dead).

Admissions officers are looking for fire– the fire of authentic curiosity.

Curiosity: A Case Study

What are effective ways to demonstrate that fire?

First, show some curiosity about yourself. What problems gnaw at you?  What questions get under your skin, pondering possible solutions?

That’s the spark of your curiosity.

For example, last year I advised a high school student who had always wondered about the brownish water in her school’s drinking fountains.  She began asking questions of those around her – science teachers, school janitors, the local water department.  She learned to measure water purity.  She developed an app that others could use to know the water quality at playgrounds and school fountains.  She traveled abroad with a church group that built water pumps in poor villages.

But then, she went further, onto issues of poverty and injustice. She correlated her water department's water quality data with neighborhood income data.  She discovered that lower-income neighborhoods routinely experienced lower water quality.  

Why? Who's responsible? What do other communities do?

She kept asking questions and pondering solutions.  Now she’s a Stanford University student, pursuing civil engineering.

How You Can Start

Here are some suggestions for how to grow your curiosity and demonstrate it in college admissions.

1. Conduct Independent Study or Research

2. Take Online Courses & Earn Certifications

3. Participate in Academic Clubs & Competitions

4. Create a Blog, Podcast, or YouTube Channel

5. Get Involved in Summer Programs at Universities or Institutes

6. Pursue Personal and Creative Projects

7. Submit Your Work for Publication

8. Tutor or Teach Others

9. Organize a Seminar or Speaker Series

10. Volunteer at a Museum, Library, or Science Center

How You Can Finish

Finally, showcase your curiosity in all contacts with your application schools.

• Write About Your Curiosity in Your Application – Share personal experiences of deep exploration in a subject.

• Link Activities to Future Academic Goals – Show how your curiosity and projects align with your intended major and career aspirations.

• Email Professors with Questions– Research what professors at your application schools are working in your topic area.  Email them, asking questions about their courses and research. Mention this outreach in your application. (The professors might even tell Admissions about you.)

Connect with Others; Connect with AdMissions

What’s the unifying thread in all these endeavors? Networking and learning from other students, adult experts, and mentors.  If you’re not talking with others and testing your ideas, Curiosity is just a Daydream. 

Genuine Intellectual Curiosity will connect you with others.

Do you feel a little unsure about all of this?  Need some help with the “who,” and “what,” and “how”?  Need sustained encouragement and troubleshooting?

Be in touch with AdMissions College Counseling. Together, we can spark that ember of curiosity into a brilliant flame!