Duggan Foley Explains What Hillsdale College Admissions Really Wants in an Applicant
The complex world of college applications can stress even the most formidable applicants - and their parents. Our Director of Curriculum reached out to Hillsdale College Admissions to get the insider’s perspective on what it takes to get into college today.
My name is Duggan Foley. I’m a 2024 alumnus of Hillsdale College where I double-majored in Politics and French. I live in Hillsdale with my wife, Abby, and work for the College as an admissions counselor, recruiting students from the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
At Hillsdale, this means that I’m the person who works from start to finish with students from my territory who are interested in Hillsdale. I travel in my territory to meet with interested students and families, interview applicants, and visit high schools where I present to students and high school college counselors.
Once I’m off the road, I serve on the application review committee and have a part in reviewing applicants from my territory. Finally, once students are admitted to the College, I help them navigate the financial aid process and recruit them to deposit at and attend Hillsdale College.
At Hillsdale, we offer a deeply personal admissions process where an applicant gets to know their admissions counselor throughout the entirety of applying. This helps us as counselors to make highly informed admissions recommendations on each application and helps the students to feel known, valued, and guided through what can otherwise be a daunting and mysterious process.
It’s immensely rewarding work. I’ve had so many amazing relationships with students where I first meet them on-campus for an information session as a junior, interview them regionally as a senior, read their application, and help them make their way to Hillsdale as an incoming freshman. It’s an immense joy to help find the next generation of exceptional Hillsdale students and play a small role in their matriculation to this great place.
It’s really never too early to start, but I would say that students should begin researching colleges during the fall of their junior year. At this point, students generally have an idea of the big picture aspects of college. Do they want a smaller school with small class sizes and a tight-knit community? Do they want a larger school? Are the classical liberal arts important to them, or do they seek a more vocational track?
Once a student has their initial list of schools, spring of junior year and summer before senior year is a great time to visit those schools. Until a student has visited a campus – met the faculty, students, and admissions team – it’s impossible to get a full picture of what life would be like at any given school.
That’s what I encourage students to consider. More than any major or minor, dormitory or dining hall, college is a place to live, a place to grow, a place to be formed. It’s vital to go see the life of the place before making a decision.
The resume is a central component to the admissions application at Hillsdale. Although I can only speak more specifically for Hillsdale, all colleges look for students who are not only excellent fits in the classroom, but also strong community fits. Good colleges want students who will be contributing and impactful members of their campus communities. Especially at a school like Hillsdale where campus life is so vibrant and robust, the resume is where we see how involved an applicant has been and hopefully will be if admitted to our community.
First, an important distinction: Hillsdale College, and most colleges, are not looking for box-checkers, those who participate in extracurriculars to appear involved. Accordingly, we don’t have a set list of clubs, activities, or specific extracurriculars an applicant must be involved in. Rather, we want to see what our applicants love. What do they spend their time doing? What have they been deeply involved in, not just for one month senior year, but throughout high school. High school is a notoriously busy time – how do they spend it? Whether it’s athletics, the arts, volunteering, youth group, employment, or something else, we want to get to know who each applicant is and what they love.
We also like to see applicants who step into leadership roles. For a rising junior, that means we’d love to see you go for team captain, club president, or shift leader at work. If you love it, show us that commitment. Leadership goes a long way in speaking to one’s character and dedication to the things they do. And of course we hope that, if admitted, our applicants will bring that same level of commitment, involvement, and care to our campus.
One of the most common mistakes students make is not interviewing and more broadly not interacting with their admissions counselor or the admissions office. Anytime a college gives applicants an opportunity to interact with it, they should. Even if an interview is optional or recommended, do it. Colleges want to get to know each applicant as much as possible, so it’s only going to help a student to email their admissions counselor, interview with their application, and show the college they mean business.
Another common mistake comes in the writing portion of the application. At Hillsdale, we require students to submit a response to the Common Application 650-word personal essay, in addition to three short answer responses. One of the biggest mistakes we see is when students don’t take the writing seriously, especially the short answers. I can only speak for Hillsdale here, but in our application process, every word a student submits to us will be read by several people, so it’s important to take the writing seriously. Through the essay and short answers, we’re giving our applicants the opportunity to share more about themselves – the things, people, experiences, and places that have shaped them.
Students should take that as a moment of serious reflection to understand themselves, the college search, and why they’re applying to that particular college. Edit your writing. Have a teacher or homeschool co-op leader read over it. Read it out loud. Make sure that every word has been chosen carefully. I promise, I’m going to read every word. Make them count!
Each office is different, but at Hillsdale we have a holistic review process wherein every aspect of the application factors into our admissions decisions. Now of course, there are certain aspects of the application that we emphasize. We’re a college – and quite a rigorous one – so our first area of interest will be the student’s academic record. We’re going to evaluate the transcript and the standardized test score. We want to see what a student’s grades look like but we also want to know how rigorous their high school curriculum is. Was the student challenging themselves with AP classes, dual enrollment credits, IB classes, or a strong classical curriculum? We also want to see a strong test score that’s within our midrange. Our first question with an application is, does this student have the academic and intellectual horsepower to grow and be successful here?
Related to this question is the applicant’s writing. Hillsdale College is a challenging place. Our education isn’t easy or comfortable. We read a lot. We write a lot. We expect our students to dive head first into the classical liberal arts and undertake the oftentimes difficult process of formation that classical education has to offer. I can say as someone from a public school background, that wasn’t always easy, and it wasn’t always fun. But man was it worth it! We get a glimpse into a student’s willingness and ability to ponder the eternal and fundamental questions of a classical education in their writing, so the essay and short answers matter a lot to us.
All elements of the application are important, but to give one final example of how we weigh applications, I would be remiss not to mention the interview. The transcript and test scores will give us a historical account of a student’s academic record, as will the test score. The beauty and importance of the interview resides in the fact that it’s a living thing. Without preparation, an outline, or a rough draft, we want to see how students can engage with other people. The interview is integral to this. In the interview, we’re looking for a strong social and community fit. Can a student have an engaging, thought-provoking conversation?
Are they able to be genuine and authentic, balancing humility and confidence at once? Can they think on their feet? The interview is probably my favorite part of this job. I’m blessed to meet so many different kids, all of whom have slightly different stories that have led them to Hillsdale. I can’t stress it enough: complete an admissions interview. You won’t regret it.
It depends on the school and it’s a question worth asking the specific schools you visit. Some schools offer scholarships and a higher chance of admission if you visit campus, communicate with your admissions counselor, etc. At Hillsdale, we certainly appreciate students who have visited campus and developed a relationship with our office, but that doesn’t automatically gain points for the student in the review process. Visiting campus and reaching out to an admissions counselor can benefit an applicant by helping the student learn more about the college, prepare a strong application, and establish a personal relationship with the very people who will read their application.
But there are other ways to demonstrate interest within the application. Within a student’s short answers on the Hillsdale application, they should try to relate their responses to one central question: why Hillsdale? Of all the thousands of colleges and universities in this country, why apply to ours? The interview also provides an opportunity to express interest. Throughout the conversation, a student should mention why Hillsdale (or any college) appeals to them. Beyond a particular academic program or career prospect offered by the college, admissions offices want to know more deeply what a student is interested in and why they see themselves as a good fit for their particular school.
Test optional is really an excellent opportunity for students who believe their standardized test scores do not reflect their full academic abilities. Essentially, if a student applies test-optional, the weight from their academic profile that would have otherwise gone toward their test score is transferred across the rest of their academic materials. This means that test-optional applicants should be sure to strengthen their transcript, the rigor of their course selection, the quality of their writing, and their letters of recommendation.
Hillsdale offers a test-optional application, but I should note that we are a test-preferred school, meaning the vast majority of our admitted students submit a test score within our midrange. Although seemingly laborious or uninspiring, studying for and succeeding on the CLT, ACT, or SAT really does pay off in the end.
Always interview. Even if it is optional or recommended, always interview. Some schools do not offer the option to interview, but as I’ve already expressed, any opportunity to interact with a college is well worth it in the end.
I’m a big fan of students forgoing interview preparation and simply being themselves. I’ve conducted enough interviews to the point that I can usually tell if I’m talking to the real kid or a polished veneer. I can say with full confidence – we want the real student. I think it’s best to come prepared to chat about high school, hobbies, passions, interests, and let the conversation flow organically.
That’s not to say a student shouldn’t think about how to compose and articulate themselves and their ideas, but a genuine conversation will always be better than a prepared regurgitation of a resume.
A student should get involved in the things that matter to them! As previously stated, we don’t want box-checkers. We want students who are deeply involved in a wide set of activities because they love them. Whether that’s volunteering, music, baseball, youth group, or all of the above, we want to hear about it. And again, pursue responsibility in those activities. Students should pursue leadership roles in their extracurriculars and strive to make a real impact on the people and organizations they represent. We hope that you’ll leave our campus better than you found it, so start practicing that now in high school!
I’d also mention that sometimes students feel silly including all their extracurriculars on a resume. Don’t! At least at Hillsdale, we want to know about anything and everything a student has participated in. If it’s important to the applicant, it’s important to us. Tell us about the activity, the role you played in it, how many years you’ve been involved in it, and even how many hours a week the activity occupies. We want it all. We want to give students credit for the amazing things they’ve done.
I’ve already mentioned the importance of a strong academic profile, clear and eloquent writing, and conducting an interview for the Hillsdale College application. I suppose what I would add is that Hillsdale College is a very special and unique community. We’re a rigorous school. We’re independent of government funding. We teach a classical liberal arts core curriculum that spans all academic disciplines. We are a deeply Christian school with an overwhelmingly religious and moral student body. We are a self-governing, self-regulated school bound by a student Honor Code. These components are atypical for an undergraduate institution. But the fruits produced here are unparalleled.
This is a community of trust, hard work, relationship, transformation, and leisure. It’s a place where you will be shaped by big ideas, genuine friendship, and spiritual growth. Our faculty, students, and staff work together in all that we do to develop the minds and improve the hearts of all who interact with this place. If that’s attractive to you as a prospective student, I’d encourage you to come to campus for a visit. Apply to Hillsdale College. I can say as an alumnus and now someone working in higher education, we’re one-of-one. I walked across the graduation stage as a completely different man than the boy who arrived in August of 2020. Hillsdale offered me a world class liberal arts education, a community of lifelong friends and loved ones, and a deeper faith than I could have imagined. I want that for every single high school student in the country. That’s why I’m still here. And that’s what Hillsdale has to offer.
