How to Use a College’s Mission to Find Your Deep-Fit & Increase Your Chance of Acceptance
Thirty years ago, when I was an electrical and computer engineering graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, I attended a talk by the dean of Mellon College of Science, Dr. Susan Henry. Her message was that to understand an institution, you must look at its roots because these founding principles thread through every aspect of the institution to the present time. Her remarks left a profound impression on me. I did not know then the direction my career would take. At the time, I was focused on my master's thesis on induction motor control or my Ph.D. thesis on software fault-tolerance for control applications—I cannot remember which. But, I pondered her remarks, which sowed seeds for my future work in higher education administration and admissions.
Why was Johns Hopkins University founded?
I remember thinking about my alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. I knew a bit about its roots—more than the average undergraduate—because I gave admissions tours while there. I shared with prospective students that Hopkins was founded as the first modern American research university after the German model of education. With Dr. Henry’s remarks as a lens, I began to see how Hopkins’ foundation had manifested in my experience. I had often heard it rumored wryly that the University's first president, Daniel Coit Gilman, said that undergraduates were a necessary evil. I don't know if this is actually true, but students repeated it for a reason. We understood, as undergraduates, that our professors' priority was research, not teaching. While some faculty welcomed an office visit from an undergraduate, there were those who didn't, and many of us were reluctant to seek help from our professors.
Why was Carnegie Mellon University founded?
I thought about my then-current institution, too. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) was founded on very different principles! American industrialist Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Mellon as a place of practical problem-solving to address societal needs. Like the wry rumor at Hopkins, there is an oft-repeated "fact" that the halls in two of the main buildings of the campus, Baker and Porter, are sloped because Andrew Carnegie wanted to turn the campus into a factory if the school failed. It turns out that this is NOT true. However, the fact that the rumor endures reflects that it resonates with what we know to be true of CMU - it is a practical place of "doing things." This pragmatic orientation threads throughout the institution, including its well-known engineering, applied science, and business programs and its fine arts programs, too. As a graduate student at CMU, it was exciting to attend performances by drama students who later went on to Broadway and television success.
Why was Wellesley College founded?
When I graduated from CMU and became a professor of Computer Science at Wellesley College, I was surprised to see so many female faculty members and campus leaders. I was surprised to have to wait in line for a stall in the women's restroom of the science center, which housed my office! I was used to being one of a few women - or the only one - in academic spaces. But then, I was reminded of Dean Henry's remarks. Wellesley College was founded in 1870 to educate women when women were denied access to many universities and colleges—as students, faculty, and administrative leaders. So the prominence of women at Wellesley was to be expected. During my 21 years as a professor and dean at Wellesley College, every Commencement speaker was female, while I had never heard a female commencement speaker before my time there! While at Wellesley I heard so many inspirational women speak, including Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Nora Ephron, Cokie Roberts, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie! For several years, each iconic Lantern that lined the main drive through campus hung the name of a famous Wellesley alumnus. I remember an international Wellesley student once saying to me during a conversation in my office, "One day, I will either be President of my country or this College." And I bet she will.
What will you learn at an institution?
I was lucky to have these experiences; CMU's more practical approach was a valuable balance to my research-based Hopkins education. At Hopkins, I learned to prove and research things. At CMU, I learned to build them. I used machines new to me and collected data on hardware platforms I had built rather than simulated environments. I gained many important skills and confidence in my identity as a "real" engineer. At Wellesley, I learned how it felt not to be underrepresented in an academic space and that things could be different from how I had always experienced them. I learned that I had the power to create an authentic, unscripted, successful future for myself. At all three of these institutions, I gained the tools I needed to do so.
How can you know what and how you will learn at an institution? Look at its mission statement!
One of the first things I suggest students do as they research colleges and universities is examine each school's mission statement. A school's mission is its "north star" guiding its decisions and will inform you about what you could expect to experience at the school. It helps you understand what the school seeks and values and if it matches what YOU seek and value.
How to Use a College’s Mission Statement to Support your College Search & Application Process?
Where can you find a school’s mission statement?
A school's mission statement is on its website, usually under an "About" or "About Us" tab. Sometimes, it is listed under "History and Mission," "Mission and Values," or "Mission and Vision." Sometimes, typing "mission" into a browser's search bar can be helpful, but be careful to navigate to the mission statement for the institution as a whole, not a particular unit at a university, such as a specific school, library, or other administrative office.
Find Your Deep-Fit™ School to Apply With Strength
Once you determine that a school is an excellent fit, fantastic! Now, that YOU know it is a fit, it is your job to demonstrate this fit to the school through its supplemental application components. By doing your research to see if a school is a Deep-Fit college for you, you are sowing seeds for writing strong supplemental essays.
Students who do NOT deeply research their schools and programs, who rely only on superficial factors (such as rankings, prestige, sports scene, location, etc.) to build their list, will not be able to demonstrate a fit to admissions officers and will risk having POOR admission outcomes.
In this article Rick Clark, Assistant vice provost and executive director of Undergraduate Admission at Georgia Tech, makes these points succinctly by saying Mission Drives Admission.
If you aren't able to show that a school is a Deep-Fit college for you, that tells you something! It tells you that it isn't a good fit for you AND that you'll have a hard time showing a school that you are, which you'll likely see reflected in admissions results.
Mission helps Predict Fit: The University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame's 2023-2024 application includes a set of five questions, and asks students to respond to three of them, one of them being: How does faith influence the decisions you make?
One September, a Tufts student who transferred out of Tufts called me up two weeks into his first semester at Notre Dame to ask if he could return to Tufts. When I asked him why, he said he had no idea that Notre Dame's engineering requirements included two theology courses. It’s unfortunate that he did not do his research about Notre Dame before transferring to it! It should surprise no one that an institution with a mission like Notre Dame requires its students to study theology.
The University of Notre Dame is a Catholic academic community of higher learning, animated from its origins by the Congregation of Holy Cross. The University is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake. As a Catholic university, one of its distinctive goals is to provide a forum where, through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity.
Want to Increase Your Odds of Acceptance to a College? Consider its Mission. Understanding a institution's mission is essential for finding fit, and demonstrating a place is a Deep-Fit school in your applications is essential for having your best odds of acceptance. A school's application requirements and components provide opportunities to understand their values and demonstrate that they fit your own.
What is Tufts University’s mission statement?
Tufts is a student-centered research university dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge. We are committed to providing transformative experiences for students and faculty in an inclusive and collaborative environment where creative scholars generate bold ideas, innovate in the face of complex challenges, and distinguish themselves as active citizens of the world.
Neither a small college nor a large research institution, Tufts is a medium-sized university providing undergraduate students access to the best of both worlds - the undergraduate student-centered experience of a college and the resources and experiences of a research university. Indeed, it is the only university in the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference), and all the others are small liberal arts colleges. When I came to Tufts after 21 years at Wellesley College—a small liberal arts college—I was excited by the administrative opportunities of a larger, more complex institution, yet expected to find a less undergraduate-focused environment. However, this wasn't the case—I was surprised to see that, in so many ways, Tufts maintains the small college "NESCAC" feel of its sister NESCAC institutions. For instance, Tufts professors take their role as undergraduate faculty advisors just as seriously as Wellesley College's.
Tufts University's mission statement also highlights active citizenship. Civic engagement is a cornerstone of the Tufts experience. Tufts has an entire college dedicated to civic engagement, the Jonathan M Tisch College of Civic Life, with many impactful efforts, such as the Tufts in Prison initiative and funding of students who do community service. Tufts community members are active and engaged citizens. The term "creative scholars" is also in Tufts' mission statement, which acknowledges that the fine arts are alive and vibrant at Tufts. Indeed, Tufts is the only university affiliated with a major art museum—the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—and includes a school at the museum (SMFA) where undergraduate students can earn a BFA degree.
Students who understand Tufts offers the advantages of a small college and a research university, who are active citizens, and who show this in their application will stand out in the Tufts pool.
