What tips an AO's decision for a cusp candidate

[Anonymous]

Based on some of the other questions, what tips an AO decision for a borderline candidate? I saw this post on Reddit today, and this response made me pause - this seems like they are filtering for personality.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i7z43z/what_is_that_one_factor_that_pushes_kids_over_the/

"Often, it’s just the sense that the applicant is a good egg who will likely be highly involved in and contribute to campus life: a considerate roommate, an intellectually curious and conscientious student, and an enthusiastic community member who will join clubs, serve on executive boards, perform improv, write for the student newspaper, lead hikes for the outdoors center, and otherwise contribute to a welcoming, fun, and varied campus community."

this other thread also had some surprising responses from former AOs:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i4mr89/whats_up_with_the_aos/

[Anonymous]

Yep.

This is one of the reasons essays are important. And should NOT be written by AI!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on some of the other questions, what tips an AO decision for a borderline candidate? I saw this post on Reddit today, and this response made me pause - this seems like they are filtering for personality.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i7z43z/what_is_that_one_factor_that_pushes_kids_over_the/

"Often, it’s just the sense that the applicant is a good egg who will likely be highly involved in and contribute to campus life: a considerate roommate, an intellectually curious and conscientious student, and an enthusiastic community member who will join clubs, serve on executive boards, perform improv, write for the student newspaper, lead hikes for the outdoors center, and otherwise contribute to a welcoming, fun, and varied campus community."

this other thread also had some surprising responses from former AOs:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i4mr89/whats_up_with_the_aos/

In that second link!:


Honestly, I can tell you from working with students myself that sometimes - but not always - it's the slightly lower SAT students who go TO who stand out in terms of character, leadership, and other intangibles.

Just because you have great stats doesn't mean that you have the strongest personal qualities, the kinds of things AOs and other people in the education field can pick up in essays and LORs.

[Anonymous]

Not an AO, just a parent of a T5 early admit this cycle, but DC’s quantitative factors are fairly indistinguishable from any other “high stats, max rigor” student. From the individualized note the AO sent after admittance, it seems DC’s personality, as evidenced by ECs, essays, and presumably LOR, was indeed the difference-maker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not an AO, just a parent of a T5 early admit this cycle, but DC’s quantitative factors are fairly indistinguishable from any other “high stats, max rigor” student. From the individualized note the AO sent after admittance, it seems DC’s personality, as evidenced by ECs, essays, and presumably LOR, was indeed the difference-maker.

what parts of your DC's personality? Curious about what character traits you think were difference-makers?
Waiting for decisions for my current senior - so not much they can do now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on some of the other questions, what tips an AO decision for a borderline candidate? I saw this post on Reddit today, and this response made me pause - this seems like they are filtering for personality.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i7z43z/what_is_that_one_factor_that_pushes_kids_over_the/

"Often, it’s just the sense that the applicant is a good egg who will likely be highly involved in and contribute to campus life: a considerate roommate, an intellectually curious and conscientious student, and an enthusiastic community member who will join clubs, serve on executive boards, perform improv, write for the student newspaper, lead hikes for the outdoors center, and otherwise contribute to a welcoming, fun, and varied campus community."

this other thread also had some surprising responses from former AOs:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1i4mr89/whats_up_with_the_aos/

Personality is part of the admissions picture. Universities are communities, and healthy communities require a healthy mix of personalities. But I don’t think it’s accurate to say they’re “filtering” for personality; rather, among the many candidates who meet their academic thresholds, they are looking at what each student will bring to the campus community. Kindness, engagement, conscientiousness, curiosity are all qualities that might make a candidate stick out because of the positive impact they’ll have on the broader community.

[Anonymous]

First link is just parents. No AOs.

Second link is mostly parents and students. I don't see an AO flair. That reddit makes AOs email proof to get the flair since it's anonymous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First link is just parents. No AOs.

Second link is mostly parents and students. I don't see an AO flair. That reddit makes AOs email proof to get the flair since it's anonymous.

Someone was former AO. Read through

[Anonymous]

It's likeability, which of course is problematic since different people define it differently. But positive, curious and kind are the qualities that feed into it. It's compatible with driven, but not the same thing. Too many people use the essays to show how driven they are. That's evident in the high stats. You want to be likeable.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t read the links, but I absolutely believe this to be true and many have said it. They want to know what you’re going to do to add to their campus and what resources you’re going to take advantage of on campus. It does the school no good to have a brainiac that never leaves their dorm. They want contributors that are engaged to make a dynamic campus who then become engaged alumni and financial contributors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's likeability, which of course is problematic since different people define it differently. But positive, curious and kind are the qualities that feed into it. It's compatible with driven, but not the same thing. Too many people use the essays to show how driven they are. That's evident in the high stats. You want to be likeable.

Doesn’t this favor extroverted popular social kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t read the links, but I absolutely believe this to be true and many have said it. They want to know what you’re going to do to add to their campus and what resources you’re going to take advantage of on campus. It does the school no good to have a brainiac that never leaves their dorm. They want contributors that are engaged to make a dynamic campus who then become engaged alumni and financial contributors

This. If you read Reddit, you'll see that many of the STEM kids only have things like Science Olympiads, external internships and volunteer work on their resumes. They've contributed next to nothing to their own high school communities. They don't tend to do well in admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's likeability, which of course is problematic since different people define it differently. But positive, curious and kind are the qualities that feed into it. It's compatible with driven, but not the same thing. Too many people use the essays to show how driven they are. That's evident in the high stats. You want to be likeable.

Doesn’t this favor extroverted popular social kids?

Maybe. But one of my daughter's friends is at a HYP this year. He's truly one of the sweetest kids I know. A total introvert, very shy and a bit anxious. But once he gets comfortable, he's incredible. Some AO must have seen that. (His stats were great, but not perfect.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's likeability, which of course is problematic since different people define it differently. But positive, curious and kind are the qualities that feed into it. It's compatible with driven, but not the same thing. Too many people use the essays to show how driven they are. That's evident in the high stats. You want to be likeable.

Doesn’t this favor extroverted popular social kids?

Not necessarily. It favors collaborative, liked kids. Not the same thing. They do want people who are going to engage - in class, on the quad, in the cafeteria, etc. So shy and insular is not good, but introverted is fine, if it's truly just the "like alone time to recharge" type. Again, three key traits are positive, curious and kind. Sometimes, the traditional "extroverted, popular kids" do not have these qualities. (Sometimes they do, of course.) Popular kids are not always popular because they're well liked.

[Anonymous]

this is a super helpful thread. Feel like this is the essence of a strong application (outside the academic hook/application narrative or persona).

Often overlooked personality traits matter the most.