Skip to content
Apply Now
Free Webinar and Live Q&A
Sunday, October 18, 2026 · 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET

How To Stand Out in College Admissions When Everyone Looks Impressive

Advice from Former Ivy+ Admissions Officers.

When high grades, advanced coursework, leadership titles, and packed activity lists are common, what actually makes an application memorable? Selective admissions readers are not simply counting accomplishments. They are looking for a clearer picture of how a student thinks, what they care about, how they contribute, and how their choices fit together. Join Thomas Caleel and Kirsten Sharett, former admissions professionals from Wharton and Princeton, for a candid conversation about helping a strong student turn real achievement into a clear, credible, and memorable application story.

Reserve Your Free Spot

What We'll Cover

This is a practical session for families who are tired of generic advice to do more. Thomas and Kirsten will pull back the curtain on how admissions readers distinguish a long list of credentials from a file that feels specific, substantive, and memorable. They will explain how academics, activities, essays, recommendations, and context work together, then share a more useful way to identify the next best step for a strong student. A live Q&A at the end will give families the opportunity to ask their questions directly.

Why Some Impressive Profiles Blend Together

Learn the difference between a list of accomplishments and an application that gives admissions readers a compelling understanding of how a student thinks, contributes, and grows. Thomas and Kirsten will explain which signals make achievement feel specific rather than generic.

How a Coherent Application Story Takes Shape

Understand how coursework, extracurricular choices, essays, recommendations, and additional context work together. Learn how students can create alignment across the application without forcing a manufactured persona or narrowing every interest into one label.

How to Make an Application More Memorable

Discover how students can demonstrate initiative, sustained commitment, intellectual curiosity, and impact. The focus is not on adding activities. It is on clarifying the substance and direction already present in a student's profile.

Your student does not need a longer résumé. Register below to learn how to make the strengths they already have clearer, more coherent, and more memorable.

 

Meet Your Hosts

Thomas Caleel

Founder and CEO, Admittedly; Former Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Kirsten Sharett

Senior Counselor, Admittedly; Former Admissions Reader, Princeton University

Make What Matters Clear

Standing out is not about becoming more impressive than everyone else. It is about helping an admissions reader understand what makes your student's choices, growth, and contribution meaningful.

Before your student adds another activity or chases another title, give your family an admissions-reader framework for identifying what is already working and what deserves more intention. Join Thomas and Kirsten for a more thoughtful answer to one of the biggest questions in selective admissions: how does a strong student become memorable?

Reserve Your Free Spot
Thomas Caleel

Thomas Caleel has spent more than 20 years shaping admissions strategy at the highest levels of education. As the former Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Wharton, he reviewed tens of thousands of applications and made final admissions decisions for one of the world's most selective business schools. Today, he leads Admittedly and helps students and families make thoughtful admissions choices grounded in authenticity, intellectual curiosity, and long-term growth.

kirsten

Kirsten Sharett brings more than seven years of admissions insight, including application-reading experience at Princeton University. She has reviewed thousands of applications and guided ambitious students toward Ivy League, Ivy+, and other highly selective institutions. With a professional background in communications and branding, Kirsten helps students make their achievements, curiosity, and character legible through a narrative that is compelling, honest, and distinctly their own.