Application Advice – 4 Tips for Your Accomplishments

One key component that the Admissions Team uses to identify students who embody the qualities and potential essential for the Minerva experience is the Accomplishment section. This section provides you with the opportunity to showcase a range of activities that demonstrate your passion and commitment.

Accomplishments may extend beyond conventional definitions of “achievement,” encompassing a variety of pursuits both inside and outside the classroom. Examples include personal projects, participation in academic competitions like Olympiads or Model UN, literary or artistic endeavors, leadership in non-academic initiatives, work experiences, and any other activities of which you feel particularly proud. We invite you to share up to six of your accomplishments from high school and beyond.

Applicants are also required to submit evidence to substantiate their claims. Supporting evidence for your accomplishments can take several forms, including photographs, videos, social media content, newspaper articles, website links, certificates, or diplomas. Furthermore, we request that you provide a contact who can validate these accomplishments. Please ensure that the contact is not a family member or friend.

Successful applicants have often employed the following strategies in their Accomplishments section:

TIP 1. Elaborate on each accomplishment.

Give context for each accomplishment, and quantify the impact and/or significance of your work, when relevant:

• If you won a competition, award, or election, how many competitors did you face? What was the result of your success?
  ‍
• If you led an organization, how many people did you oversee, and/or how many individuals did your work impact?
  ‍
• If you raised money for a cause or oversaw a budget, how much did you raise? If this was a recurring activity, how did the role or budget grow over the course of your participation?
  ‍
• If you were in a performance or conducted research, what was your role? What venue or environment did this activity take place in?

ELABORATING ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TIP 2. Share Personal Achievements.

Achievements can also be very personal. Minerva gives you the opportunity to share personal accomplishments that are important to you. 

• Offer insight into moments in which you took great initiative, made an impact on your community, created something meaningful, overcame obstacles, or did something out of the norm for a greater purpose.

‍

TIP 3. Provide Evidence of Your External Achievements.

Be sure to include any documents that can help us validate your claims (e.g., money raised, club size, competition award,etc). 

• Good evidence can take a variety of forms: a link to a website (e.g., Youtube, blog, e-magazine, etc.); a newspaper article that mentions your achievement; a photo of the award you won or the piece of art you created, or a letter from a reference close to the project.

PROVIDING EVIDENCE

TIP 4. Submit at Least Four Accomplishments.

While it is mandatory to submit at least three accomplishments, successful applicants often provide a minimum of four accomplishments. The Accomplishments section is your chance to showcase the breadth of your interests and the work you have undertaken. By highlighting a diverse array of achievements, you can effectively illustrate your unique talents and commitments.

SUBMITTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

WHAT DOES A STRONG ACCOMPLISHMENT LOOK LIKE?

We understand that writing about an accomplishment might be challenging for some applicants. Here are some examples showing different versions of the same accomplishment to help you understand how to better illustrate them:

‍

Example: "OK" Version

Summary: Helped with school charity show

Detail: I was elected to my school’s student council. During that time, I helped out with Show Tunes for Shoes — a school-wide musical event that helped raise funds to buy shoes for local homeless youth. We reached our fundraising goals and even got news coverage.

Why isn’t this example strong?

This accomplishment is vague and there is not enough information on their personal contribution to the event. What was their role in putting on the show? How much funds did they help to raise? Which news coverage did they get? 

‍

Example: Great Version

Summary: Raised 33,000 rupees by organizing school charity show

Detail: I was elected as vice-president of the student council at my school, which has 950 students. During my time as vice president, I was the lead organizer of Show Tunes for Shoes — a school-wide musical event that helped raise funds to buy shoes for local homeless youth. I oversaw a group of ten people, and in the end, the event raised 33,000 rupees and was covered in my city’s most popular newspaper, The Bangalore Times.

Why is this example strong?

Here we can see in detail the leadership experience that this applicant had, their impact in the community, and the reach that this accomplishment achieved through the high level news coverage. 

‍

We hope that these tips were helpful. Remember, the Accomplishment section is your opportunity to show Minerva your passion, commitment, and community impact. 

‍

For any further questions, please contact the admissions team at admissions@minerva.edu.

‍