Building a College Portfolio: How to Help Your Clients Get Started
A college portfolio is a collection of documents that exhibit a high school student’s achievements and accolades, providing an opportunity for the student to showcase their educational goals and objectives and their unique abilities, passions, and principles.
College portfolios can provide useful insight to prospective colleges and universities, higher education programs, and college scholarship and merit award committees on the diverse experiences and skills a student has to offer. A college portfolio should represent a wide array of a student’s personal accomplishments—both academic and extracurricular.
What is included in a college portfolio?
A college portfolio might include:
A résumé
A declaration of personal objectives or intentions
Articles, essays, or opinion pieces authored by the student for student publications
Artistic creations, like paintings, poems, or musical performances
A photographic or video essay detailing personal interests, clubs, or activities
Details about community service or leadership positions held
Stats about athletic achievements
Letters of recommendation or commendations
Copies of any awards, scholarships, or other honors earned
Insights or achievements derived from extracurricular activities, employment, internships, or industry certifications
Official transcripts and official standardized test scores
Any other documents or materials that can help put a spotlight on what makes the applicant unique when being evaluated as a candidate
When should high school students start creating their college portfolios?
Ideally, high school students should start creating their college portfolios from the start of freshman year.
Getting involved in school activities, extracurriculars, and volunteer work early will add a huge boost to their college portfolios. Starting early allows them ample time to add more depth to their portfolios and make sure that they are participating in activities that help round out their high school experience.
Additionally, it’s crucial for students to consistently collect and compile work samples. This should be started at the beginning of their freshman year. These samples will display the gradual progression of the student’s studies and provide an in-depth look at how the student has academically developed throughout their high school career.
Also, students who start collecting letters of recommendation during their freshman year will have a stockpile of teachers, mentors, coaches, counselors, and employers singing their praises and vouching for them.
While good grades and solid test scores carry much weight when considered by college admissions committees, they’re not the sole factors. A superior college portfolio will showcase a student’s individuality and highlight what makes them stand out from the rest of the applicant pool.
A solid college portfolio needs to illustrate that the student is a well-rounded individual with goals and interests that are a perfect match for their prospective college or university. A high school student’s academic portfolio can provide an admissions committee with a more holistic view of the applicant and show that the student is a suitable candidate and would be a welcome addition to that school.
Stay tuned for upcoming posts on building a college portfolio. Next time we’ll unpack helping students create a stellar college resume.
We Are Ready for the Digital SAT®! Are you?
As the SAT® and ACT® transition to all-digital testing, we are ready to support your tutoring business with the first and best custom-branded, fully digital test-prep courses. Our white-label, all-digital, adaptive Digital SAT® practice tests include accurate, algorithmic scoring. This gives your tutors and clients access to the actionable data they need for tailored instruction and score optimization.
Ready to take your test prep to the cutting edge? Schedule a free demo and try it for yourself!