Standing out from the crowd

I am a high school senior in the midst of my college applications.   I was struggling to find a unique way to capture the attention of college admissions officers.  How will I stand out amongst the thousands of other applicants?

I found my answer at MyFaceIcons.com. I ordered an icon that features my personalized caricature. I figured not too many high school students had something as unique as that. I decided to take it a step further and created a business card to promote myself. On the front is my personal information such as phone number, e-mail address, street address, name, etc. On the back I listed my various extracurricular activities.

The idea is to make the admissions counselors remember me. Every college I visited stressed the importance of making connections and contacts so that the college can connect a name to a face during the application process. An icon with my personalized caricature was a unique (and somewhat comical) way to capture their attention.

I decided to send letters to the people I’ve met during my various college visits with my business card included. The response was incredible! I received a call from one of the admission counselors at my top college choice, after he received my card, and he loved it! I have remained in contact with him ever since and he answers any questions I have. I also received similar responses from my other contacts. I include my Icon as my e-mail signature as well when I am in contact with these people so that they continue to remember my creative tactic at grabbing their attention.

I never thought of purchasing an icon for myself, because I didn’t see any use for it before. But now, I wish I had done this much sooner! I definitely think my business card will increase my chances of admissions to my top colleges.

UPDATE:

As of today (11/22/2010) I’m 3 for 3 – accepted (and merit scholarships received) for three of the colleges to which I applied – including my top choice!  I don’t know if my icon business card made a difference – but it sure didn’t hurt!  I recently stopped by the National College Fair held at the Oregon convention center, and spoke with a couple of the representatives from the colleges that I’ve been accepted to – one of them remembered me when she saw my card and made a point of mentioning that she and another admissions counselor had had lots of discussions about me.