What Top Universities Want

[Anonymous]

Our public high school sent a student to Stanford. Top 10 in his class, varsity swimmer, great test scores. No national recognition, no high level passion. Just a very smart guy.

[Anonymous]

Our public high school sent a student to Stanford. Top 10 in his class, varsity swimmer, great test scores. No national recognition, no high level passion. Just a very smart guy.

[Anonymous]

I really have no clue.

What I see around me is where parents do all the volunteering work. A few weeks back, our neighbor had his parents over. The kid's grandparents baked/cooked food, the mom put up a website and used social media to promote and get friends to buy the food, and the father delivered the food to all who bought it. The kid is not in the picture and is only vaguely aware of what is happening. The kid is actually in a picture in the local newspaper with a photo of a check being presented to the charity.

This is pretty common around here, and I do not think admissions officers can tell who really did the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Authenticity is a big factor as well. AOs can se through bullshit wording and embellishments

It’s better to pursue a few passions deeply rather than join a ton of clubs.

Same with essays and planned major - are you demonstrating actual, sustained interest or are you just chasing the big shiny ones?

I’ll also add cohesive narrative. Does the application highlight the student in a well-rounded way and does the story tie together strongly the characteristics and traits that make the student unique and attractive?

I find this saddening. Adolescence is the time to explore varied interests, not being pigeonholed into pursuing narrow and sometimes esoteric so-called “passions” in the name of getting into Twhatever colleges.

[Anonymous]

Every top school likes leadership. It's not just Vanderbilt. Unhooked, you generally don't get into T20 schools as the the vice president or assistant captain or deputy editor. There might be some exceptions for academic superstars, but generally, you'll need to be president or editor in chief and so on for nearly all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really have no clue.

What I see around me is where parents do all the volunteering work. A few weeks back, our neighbor had his parents over. The kid's grandparents baked/cooked food, the mom put up a website and used social media to promote and get friends to buy the food, and the father delivered the food to all who bought it. The kid is not in the picture and is only vaguely aware of what is happening. The kid is actually in a picture in the local newspaper with a photo of a check being presented to the charity.

This is pretty common around here, and I do not think admissions officers can tell who really did the work.

This is what interviews are for though. If an interviewer asks about this, I think it would be clear if the kid did the work or not.

[Anonymous]

They want the boy from Arkansas who spent every summer milking his family's cows.

They want the girl from inner city LA who witnessed her father's stabbing.

They want people from far flung places with buckets of cash.

And they want the privilege few with the grades from the usual places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really have no clue.

What I see around me is where parents do all the volunteering work. A few weeks back, our neighbor had his parents over. The kid's grandparents baked/cooked food, the mom put up a website and used social media to promote and get friends to buy the food, and the father delivered the food to all who bought it. The kid is not in the picture and is only vaguely aware of what is happening. The kid is actually in a picture in the local newspaper with a photo of a check being presented to the charity.

This is pretty common around here, and I do not think admissions officers can tell who really did the work.

This is what interviews are for though. If an interviewer asks about this, I think it would be clear if the kid did the work or not.

A family that went to so much trouble would also prepare the child for this interview extensively. They would have had several hours of mock interview practice. These kids do end up in T10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really have no clue.

What I see around me is where parents do all the volunteering work. A few weeks back, our neighbor had his parents over. The kid's grandparents baked/cooked food, the mom put up a website and used social media to promote and get friends to buy the food, and the father delivered the food to all who bought it. The kid is not in the picture and is only vaguely aware of what is happening. The kid is actually in a picture in the local newspaper with a photo of a check being presented to the charity.

This is pretty common around here, and I do not think admissions officers can tell who really did the work.

This is what interviews are for though. If an interviewer asks about this, I think it would be clear if the kid did the work or not.

The interviewer does not have access to your Extracurricular list. You tell them what you want to. There is no vetting throughout the entire process.

[Anonymous]

Many schools don’t interview anymore - they use glimpse (brown; northwestern; Duke; Vanderbilt l).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every top school likes leadership. It's not just Vanderbilt. Unhooked, you generally don't get into T20 schools as the the vice president or assistant captain or deputy editor. There might be some exceptions for academic superstars, but generally, you'll need to be president or editor in chief and so on for nearly all of them.

Some schools like it more than others.
This maybe matters more for ED?

It’s also the only reason to use a college counselor - don’t pay money for anyone that’s never been in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think colleges go around looking for a “type” and it’s hard to guess what each college “wants”. When you look past the “name brand” obsession and the kids who shotgun the T-25’s, many college applicants do tend to self-select. Not many pure humanities people applying to MIT. people who want a big time sports scene aren’t applying to Emory. people who want easy access to a city won’t apply to Dartmouth. People who want to be at an undergrad business school won’t apply to Williams.

Colleges tell you what they’re looking for though. People don’t read between the lines. Or even read enough.

Like if you’re applying to Penn and never thought about the values Franklin embodies and how you can showcase that in your application, well, then that’s a miss on your part.

In only matters insofar as tailoring essay and EC responses.

For some schools you’ll choose certain essay topics over others. It’s helpful to know what a school values so you choose topics accordingly. That part does matter.

A good counselor can tell you what a school values.

[Anonymous]

Many want to know how the applicant will be an asset to the campus community. Not - I really want to go here - more of a here’s how I will be additive. What I will bring, not what I will take. IMO

[Anonymous]

OP - you've already posted this months ago and was made fun of for spending so much time compiling sophomoric comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think community service is overrated.

Colleges want nice kids who will get along with other kids. So if you can show you're a well liked babysitter in neighborhood or "glue" kid in friend group, that works.

And they want impact. So doing something at school or PT job with measurable impact also works.

Sure, you can play violin at nursing home but it's not impactful and it doesnt show much about your personality

It’s weird to single out community service as a thing that doesn’t demonstrate the qualities you note: impact, social cohesion. Going weekly to play violin at a nursing home shows both of these things. So does working weekly in a food pantry. So does helping kids learn to read.

Choosing to serve your community in a regular, committed way is the definition of social cohesion and impact.