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For many families, the journey toward top U.S. schools and even the Ivy League begins much earlier than high school. Increasingly, parents start planning as early as when their child enters middle school. Students who are ultimately admitted to highly selective schools gradually develop a balanced and authentic profile across four core areas: academics, skills, activities, and character.
Below is a comprehensive breakdown of what middle school students and their families need to focus on to stay competitive and confident in their future college applications.
1. Academics
First, a student’s academic performance remains the most important baseline in any U.S. school application. Middle school is the foundation period that often determines a student’s performance in high school, indicating how well they adapt to this academic rigor. Highly selective schools, including Harvard and Stanford, clearly state in their admissions criteria that intellectual vitality, rigorous academic performance, and standardized testing play essential roles in evaluating a student’s readiness for advanced study.
Top schools value students who challenge themselves appropriately in their current academic environment. Admissions officers look for students who choose rigorous courses and excel in them, not those who simply collect perfect scores in different classes.
Ivy Talent Consultant Advice:
Students should aim for the most advanced courses they can realistically handle while strengthening their overall performance.
For U.S. middle and high school applications, core academic assessments include GPA, SSAT, and English proficiency exams such as TOEFL Junior or TOEFL iBT. More than the results or the score itself, these exams help families understand the student’s standing within the broader applicant pool.
SSAT
To prepare for the SSAT, begin preparations as early as Grades 6 to 7. Take practice mock exams by the end of Grade 7 or early Grade 8, and aim for scores above the 90th percentile for competitive schools such as Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter Academy, and The Lawrenceville School.
English Exams
Many families begin with the TOEFL Junior Test and eventually transition to the TOEFL iBT Test. Starting from Grade 5, these annual assessments can effectively track progress in the student’s listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
For International Student Families
If you are an international student, you may strengthen your foundational reading comprehension and writing skills. In subjects like math and science, focus on English comprehension rather than only solving problems mechanically with numbers.
2. Skills
Beyond report card grades and test scores, what truly differentiates top applicants from the rest are their soft skills: writing, communication, analytical thinking, creativity, and the ability to express their ideas clearly. The ideal period for them to build these skills is in middle school.
Writing Skills
Amidst final exams and laboratory experiments, writing still sits at the heart of American education. Students who apply to competitive high schools or colleges must excel in both academic writing and personal narrative writing.
Ivy Talent Consultant Advice:
We recommend that students begin practicing academic writing as early as Grade 6, including argumentative essays, comparative essays, and expository writing. This will help them learn more about essay structure and logical reasoning.
Students should start building and writing a “personal story bank” to collect their experiences for future application essays. Through writing these essays, they can learn to reflect on their motivations and extract meaningful insights from their personal interests, challenges, decision-making, and even failures.
Thinking & Communication
To become clear thinkers and confident communicators, students must have a structured, logical, and emotionally regulated expression.
Ivy Talent Consultant Advice:
For Grades 5 to 7: Practice a structured and organized expression. Learn how to describe experiences clearly using a sequence such as “cause, process, result, reflection.”
For Grades 6 to 8: Build your confidence in public speaking through class presentations, school clubs, or hosting events. Parents can encourage their children to take small leadership roles.
For Grades 7 to 8: Strengthen your interview-style communication skills by collecting personal stories and learning how to incorporate them naturally into your spoken responses.
3. Activities
Developing a Storyline
Extracurricular activities are ways for students to demonstrate their interests, values, and personal identities. Admissions officers focus less on the number of activities they have and more on the consistency, depth, and impact of each one.
Important Note: A student’s activity lists should reflect their authenticity, not quantity. Strong applications often come from students who follow their passions and develop them over time.
| Interest Area | Main Interest | Activity Options |
|---|---|---|
| STEM | Programming or using AI tools | Competitions, summer programs, and independent coding projects |
| Creative Expression | Writing, filmmaking, designing | Writing competitions, short films, and creative portfolios |
| Social Studies | Global affairs or politics | Volunteering, public speaking, and community projects |
Important Note: A student’s activity lists should reflect their authenticity, not quantity. Strong applications often come from students who follow their passions and develop them over time.
Ivy Talent Competition Support
At Ivy Talent, many of our students pursue writing and creative competitions such as:
- Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (for students ages 13 and above in North America)
- New York Times Writing Contests (open globally for ages 13 to 19)
We match students with mentors who have previously coached international winners of these competitions. Our mentors guide students in both their craft and creative thinking so they can transform genuine passion into polished work.
Sports or Arts
Many families wonder whether middle school students should focus more on sports or the arts, and whether these activities truly matter for their future high school and college applications. In reality, both sports and arts play a much deeper role than simply adding experiences to a student’s resume. They help students build their personal strengths, develop long-term interests, and shape qualities that selective U.S. schools value the most.
Middle school is a formative stage where students develop habits, values, and self-awareness that they carry through high school and beyond. This is the ideal time for them to try out different activities before their academic and social pressures start building up.
Why Sports Matter
In U. S. school applications, sports play an important role not only when students reach varsity or competitive levels, but also when athletic participation helps them develop long-term, personal qualities that selective schools value.
Admissions officers often note that students who are involved in athletics demonstrate maturity, perseverance, and the ability to balance multiple responsibilities, all of which are strong predictors of future success in rigorous academic environments.
Why the Arts Matter
Creative interests, such as visual arts, creative writing, drama, and music, help students develop a wide range of valuable qualities that complement academic strengths. Through these artistic activities, students learn to express their emotions, perspectives, and complex ideas with clarity, while also honing creativity and innovation.
Participation in the arts also builds a student’s cultural awareness and empathy with their community, exposing them to diverse viewpoints and experiences. These pursuits often lead to strong application materials, whether through portfolios, performances, writing samples, or personal projects that demonstrate their authenticity and initiatives.
Students who engage in creative work typically have richer personal stories, clearer motivations, and stronger reflective skills, which naturally strengthen both their application essays and interviews. For example, a student who has journaled for years or participated in theater will be more confident in expressing themselves and crafting compelling personal narratives during their application process.
Why These Experiences Matter for College Applications:
Admissions committees are increasingly looking for students who demonstrate curiosity, long-term growth, and personal development; not those who simply accumulate awards and other achievements.
No matter which students choose, be it sports, arts, or both, these experiences will help them build the qualities that top schools look for in their applicants:
- Depth of commitment over time
- Personal interests
- Developing resilience, maturity, and emotional intelligence
- Leadership and collaboration skills
- Creativity and taking initiative
4. Character Development
Character refers to a student’s internal qualities, such as self-motivation, self-awareness, emotional management, responsibility, and empathy. These traits often determine whether they can thrive in high-pressure academic environments.
Although a student’s character is not easily quantifiable, it becomes visible in their interviews, essays, recommendations, and daily interactions with other people.
Self-Motivation
Admissions officers appreciate the students who take initiative to achieve their goals, not those who only participate when instructed to do so.
How parents can help:
- Encouraging their child to propose their own ideas, even if they are not perfect
- Asking them guiding questions rather than giving them answers, such as:
- What is your idea about…?
- What are your thoughts on…?
- How do you feel about…?
- Letting their child lead a family activity or a trip, from planning to actual execution
Self-Awareness and Self-Reflection
As early as middle school, students should learn how to reflect on critical-thinking questions. Developing self-awareness and self-reflection is a crucial part of their growth. As these students take on new activities, academic challenges, friendships, and responsibilities, they should learn how to pause and ask themselves these meaningful questions:
- Why am I choosing this particular activity?
- What aspects of it energize me or frustrate me?
- How did I respond when something didn’t go well, and what did I learn about myself from this experience?
These reflections help students to understand their motivations, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and make more intentional choices as they grow older. This habit of reflection becomes incredibly valuable over time, in high school and college applications.
Self-Management
The ability for students to handle academic and extracurricular setbacks is crucial. Whether it’s losing a competition or facing rejection, resilience matters more than perfection.
How parents can help:
- They can help their children accept imperfections in their outcomes instead of rushing to solve everything
- They can create a “safe space” in their home environment where they embrace failure, not criticize it.
Self-Management
The ability for students to handle academic and extracurricular setbacks is crucial. Whether it’s losing a competition or facing rejection, resilience matters more than perfection.
How parents can help:
- They can help their children accept imperfections in their outcomes instead of rushing to solve everything
- They can create a “safe space” in their home environment where they embrace failure, not criticize it.
Empathy and Responsibility
Empathy allows students to understand other people’s needs, perspectives, and emotions, while responsibility helps them take action with integrity and follow through on their commitments. Together, these qualities help students collaborate effectively, resolve conflicts, and build trust with their peers and teammates.
How parents can help:
- They can assign family responsibilities to their child, such as caring for their pets or helping their siblings
- They can encourage their child to take small leadership roles in clubs or group projects.
- They can allow their child to document their “impact stories” so that they can see how their actions have helped others.
Middle school is a time for students to have steady growth, and not pressure. Students who thrive in their future college applications do not rush into every opportunity, but gradually build strong academic and foundational skills, meaningful interests, and healthy character traits.
Families could make use of these middle school years to help their children explore new experiences, practice self-reflection, develop self-confidence, and strengthen essential habits with only minimal effort and a sense of curiosity. Taking small, but consistent steps will make a student’s high school and college application process feel more natural and manageable in the long run.
At Ivy Talent Education, we are here to guide each family and their children every step of the way. Our consultants can help your family design a personalized roadmap, build long-term academic and extracurricular strategies, and prepare your child for writing, interviews, school selection, and overall application planning. Feel free to contact us to schedule a free consultation. We are delighted to support your child’s growth and help you navigate the journey toward top U.S. schools with clarity and confidence.
