What Indian Parents Get Wrong About College Admissions, And How Students Can Fix It
By Ishan Puri
Every year I sit across the table from Indian families who assume one more AP class or one more Science Olympiad will be the thing that finally moves the needle. Almost always, it isn’t.
I started asking “why?” in 2009, the year I got into Stanford for undergrad. I later returned for an MBA. Once on campus, I interviewed 30 classmates about how they actually got in, and I’ve been coaching students on the answer ever since, now through AdmitHero.
In 15-plus years of coaching, I’ve come to believe the biggest gap for Indian applicants isn’t ability. It’s that nobody has taught them how to turn a strong resume into a clear, honest story about who they are.
Here is the pattern I see most often.
A student has excellent grades, a packed activity list, and a stack of certificates. But when I ask, “Why this activity? Why this subject?” the answer is a shrug or “It looks good on my application.”
I call this kind of student a linear applicant: someone whose only real motive is the next checkbox, whether that’s a grade, a college, or eventually a job.
Admissions officers read thousands of applications and can spot a linear applicant instantly. They’re looking for someone who understands college is more than a pathway to a paycheck, someone who shows real curiosity and values.
That’s the idea behind what I call the Perspective Approach, which grew directly out of those 30 interviews.
Before a student writes an essay or picks an extracurricular, they need to sit with one question: Why am I doing this?
Not “Why should I go to college?” as an abstract idea, but the specific, personal answer.
Once a student finds that, everything downstream – which classes to prioritize, which clubs are worth the time, what to write about – gets easier and more honest.
Here is a simple exercise from the book any student can do tonight.
For one full day, log exactly how you spend your time, in hours, until it adds up to 24. Be honest. Then weigh the log against four categories, in this order of priority:
- Health
- Academics
- Extracurriculars
- Friends/networking
Most students are shocked at how little of their day goes toward what they claim matters most.
The point isn’t to guilt anyone. It’s to make the gap visible, so a student can close it on purpose instead of by accident.
Try the log this week, then ask your student one question: Not what have you done, but why did you do it?
That question, more than any extra class or activity, is usually where the real application begins.
One more thing: Indian and Indian American students especially tend to add more – one more class, one more test, one more competition – rather than go deeper on less.
Two activities a student genuinely cares about, sustained over years, tell a stronger story than eight picked to fill a resume.
Depth is what makes the “why” question answerable.
(Puri founded AdmitHero in 2009 and is the author of ‘The Applicant.’)
