In the course of being the Program Manager for the (CDB), I鈥檓 often asked, 鈥淗ow do you evaluate a CDB application? What do you look for?鈥� With the 2019 CDB application season in full swing, I thought this would be the perfect time to address these questions and speak candidly about my process.

To first present a broad overview, all of the annual CDB applications come to the scholarship@educationaladvancement.org mailbox when they鈥檙e submitted online. The CDB staff initially makes sure all of the component parts are included in each application, and if anything is missing, we routinely鈥攁nd promptly– email the applicant to inform them what鈥檚 needed before the deadline. Every CDB application is read thoroughly multiple times, always by me and at least one other member of the CDB staff. After our initial in-office evaluations and team discussion, the highest ranked applications are then sent to our four selection committees throughout the United States comprised of deans and directors of admission from high schools, colleges and universities; heads of schools; educators familiar with gifted educational programs; members of organizations that work with gifted students; and CDB alumni who are represented on each committee. The CDB Finalists are selected from the four committees and will be interviewed in person or via Skype over the summer by the CDB team and CDB alumni who travel from June-August to cities throughout the United States. Each annual CDB class is selected early in September.

The first aspect of any CDB application that I look at is the applicant鈥檚 photo. While this is not a requirement, I highly recommend submitting a photo to go along with your application. When hundreds of applications are received, it鈥檚 common sense to personalize YOUR application as much as possible. For me, this means early on being able to put a face to an applicant鈥檚 name. The photograph you choose is totally your choice, but personally, I always enjoy seeing a photo that shows something unique about an applicant鈥攎aybe your picture at a landmark that means something to you or doing an activity that鈥檚 directly related to a passion of yours or just an offbeat look at what makes you, you. There鈥檚 a lot of truth to the adage about a picture speaking louder than words. Really, there is no downside to including a photo of yourself. The only 鈥渕essage鈥� you鈥檙e conveying by not doing so is that for whatever reason, you don鈥檛 want the reader to see you.

Next, I look at an applicant鈥檚 statistics to get an overall sense of the person I鈥檓 about to read in his/her home and family environment. I also pay attention to an applicant鈥檚 birthdate to get a sense of where they fit in age-wise as a current seventh grader. Has he or she been accelerated? (Btw, you don鈥檛 get 鈥渂onus鈥� points for moving forward in school; it鈥檚 just one of many aspects of learning about you that we are interested in knowing and if you are being academically served by your current educational program). Then I look at where an applicant goes to school. If the applicant is or has been home-schooled, here鈥檚 an opportunity to let us know more details about your educational path.

I then move on to the ACT or SAT test scores to make sure the eligibility requirements have been met by at least one section of either test. While the numerics do matter鈥擟DB is a merit-based application鈥攅ach individual section of the entire application is taken into consideration as we evaluate the whole person who has applied. We know that each applicant is an individual who is way more than the sum of his or her GPA and test scores.

From here, I look at the various honors, achievements and activities that occupy your time outside of school. All of the application readers want to see what matters enough to you that you spend time and expend effort doing an activity in your discretionary free time, whether it鈥檚 sports, music, community service, a job, robotics, tutoring, competition or anything in between that rounds you out as a multi-dimensional person.

On to the Quick Takes section. I hope that you as an applicant enjoy completing this section as much as we enjoy reading it. This is really the first part of the CDB application where your originality and unique self come through and where, on this end, we want you to have fun filling out the questions in brief. Full disclosure– there are (often) times when I find myself doing a Google, Dictionary.com or Wikipedia search based upon your entries鈥� and I don鈥檛 mind at all.

We always include a mandatory essay prompt to level the field, as every applicant will be expected to complete this particular essay which allows us to get to know your writing style and addresses a specific part of your personality, home life, background and what makes you the person鈥攁nd student鈥攜ou are.

We then provide several options for additional essays that can either be written or expressed in another form that helps you display a more rounded view of yourself and how you feel about certain aspects of your life and the world you live in.聽 It seems unfair to us to only limit an applicant to the written word if writing is not your particular forte, so we want you to have the option of expressing yourself in other ways that you鈥檙e comfortable with and give you a full choice of alternate approaches to several prompts.

A hint about the essays鈥攑lease, please, please proofread your essays, or have another person assist here. This is not to say that anyone but you should be responsible for the meat and substance of your essay material, but the grammar, syntax and spelling are absolutely ok to have another pair of eyes scan.聽 Nothing stops a reader more abruptly than a poorly proofed essay.聽 Your writing should be your voice, period.聽 Don鈥檛 feel you need to pepper an essay with 鈥渂ig words鈥� if the vocabulary is clunky or isn鈥檛 in keeping with how you verbalize your thoughts. If English is your second language, we do take how you formulate your essays into consideration. When I or a member of the CDB team approach an application, we do so out of a genuine desire to want to get to know and view you in a positive light, so help us help you by providing us with interesting, engaging responses that encourage us to keep reading.

Data-wise, your sixth and seventh-grade transcripts and nationally-normed standardized test scores paint a further picture of the academic side of the person you are that helps round out the whole person within each application.

From here, I move to what I refer to as the cheerleader part of the application鈥攜our recommendations. First and foremost, be mindful who you approach to be your recommenders鈥攁cademic and extracurricular. Make sure these are people who not only know you well but who want to be supportive advocates for you. In fairness, there are recommenders who don鈥檛 tell an applicant otherwise and commit to submitting an application that is negative and can honestly derail your application. While as far as I鈥檓 concerned, this is unconscionable on the part of the recommender, it鈥檚 still up to you to know who and where to turn to for this portion of the application and to make sure that your recommenders are cognizant of deadline dates for them to submit their letters and that they have the time and inclination to 聽be ready, willing and able to meet the application deadline鈥� and let you know when they have submitted their portion so you don鈥檛 have the awkward responsibility to keep asking them if they鈥檝e done so. While not every recommender is going to say that you鈥檙e 鈥渢he best student they鈥檝e ever taught in 30+ years of teaching鈥� or that you 鈥渄efine what it means to be the epitome of a CDB Scholar鈥� (yep鈥擨鈥檝e received those exact words in a recommendation), a personalized, detailed account of both the person and student you are from an adult other than your parent is a definite plus to any application, CDB or otherwise.

On to the parent statement.聽 We hope that your parents understand that keeping their statement to one page double spaced is an important aspect of following directions which, on our end, we take seriously.聽 It also should come as no surprise that when reading hundreds of applications, the smallest font and virtually no margins are not going to start us out in great stead if we have to squint to read a parent statement. The best parent statements by far are those that don鈥檛 repeat information we already know from other parts of your application such as awards and honors you鈥檝e received, your grade point average or test scores. In almost all cases, there鈥檚 no one who knows you better than your parent, so our hope is that they are going to tell us aspects about you that we don鈥檛 already know or have ascertained from other parts of your application. And since even the most stupendous applicant also might have a few foibles or vulnerabilities that make you human, we welcome these admissions and certainly don鈥檛 hold it against an applicant who comes across as a mere mortal in spite of the superstar you understandably are in the eyes of your parents.

In the area of submitting a work sample, I鈥檓 going to let you in on a little secret. If you鈥檝e spent an essay or two writing about a particular interest or passion you have, LET US SEE IT! If you wrote about being a dancer or an artist, a musician or a singer, a robotics aficionado, it鈥檚 almost a tease to not support this with a sample that shows you participating in something that鈥檚 clearly meaningful to you and which we would also love to see demonstrated. It鈥檚 fine if there鈥檚 a particular school essay or science fair project you鈥檝e done that鈥檚 significant and you want to showcase as your work sample, but please also consider adding the afore-mentioned passion piece in the Additional Information section which should not be a recapitulation of your resume or honors you鈥檝e accrued and duly noted previously in the application.聽 When we read data that is repeated over and over throughout an application, it makes us wonder 鈥淚s that all there is?鈥� to a particular applicant.

Without question, the rewards of being selected as a Caroline D. Bradley Scholar or Finalist can be life-changing and transformative, but simply being eligible to apply for– and complete– so extensive an application is beyond commendable.聽 My hope and that of the entire CDB team is that you come away from the experience with a positive sense of yourself and how extremely capable and accomplished you already are. It is a privilege for myself and the staff to have the opportunity to get to know YOU, so thank you for taking the time and making the effort to introduce yourself to us.