Making up things in common app activities and awards

[Anonymous]

my kid started a YouTube channel about cooking with his grandmother. hoping to tie in his love of culture and chemistry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my kid started a YouTube channel about cooking with his grandmother. hoping to tie in his love of culture and chemistry.

Where did he get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my kid started a YouTube channel about cooking with his grandmother. hoping to tie in his love of culture and chemistry.

How many non family or friends views?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid started a YouTube channel about cooking with his grandmother. hoping to tie in his love of culture and chemistry.

How many non family or friends views?

Don't think colleges get that granular....they really don't care who the views are coming from. That's why this works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid started a YouTube channel about cooking with his grandmother. hoping to tie in his love of culture and chemistry.

How many non family or friends views?

Don't think colleges get that granular....they really don't care who the views are coming from. That's why this works.

Unless it is a lot…who cares. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about wording for newfound interests:

If you say you are a birder and joined a group at a few state parks junior year, worked in an arboretum for the summer, is it a stretch to add in some seasonal volunteering with senior citizens (if only done for a few weeks)?

Thinking kid writes EC essay about this….

Check Reddit. So many birding stories in college apps. It might be the new beekeeping so perhaps overdone?

Cicada carcass collecting is a really timely thing this summer.

Birding is definitely the new hot EC. Will not work another cycle.
My kids are at ivy/ivy+ and they did not have these trendy ECS. They both had non-school big ECs they had been doing since elementary schools and continued into high school. They also had school ECs that mattered to them , and community volunteering that mattered to them. One had extensive outside of HS intellectual pursuits, other had a small amount of that but had more musical pursuits outside of school. These were all opportunities pursued by them. And they are excellent writers and had top stats/rigor/got selective school awards from teachers, etc. They did not exaggerate any activity or EC. One cannot fabricate or plan ECs. Students who follow their genuine interests will have plenty to write about and be able to show impact. Students who have that plus true intellectual vitality as evidenced by LOR and coursework/stats will get in top places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school requires a sit down with the college counselor to go over the activities list prior to submission. Yes, they make them edit it if there is some exaggeration going on. This is a local private school.

Heh, what the counselor should do is brutally shame the kid for having ECs that mommy and daddy obviously thought up and paid for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Process question:

Does the school counselor sign off on the application/list of ECs (making it harder to lie)? Or does the student submit the application directly and the counselor doesn’t see the whole thing, just the part they fill out and submit with school profile?

I dont think this happens at public schools. I’m a teacher and club sponsor. The counselors or colleges never verify anything with me. I’ve posted this before but I’ve never been contacted to verify hours or engagement in over 20 years. No, we don’t have a website for clubs that lists members or officers.

I'd venture to guess that at a public school with 600 seniors, the counselor just isn't going to verify the claims of each kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Process question:

Does the school counselor sign off on the application/list of ECs (making it harder to lie)? Or does the student submit the application directly and the counselor doesn’t see the whole thing, just the part they fill out and submit with school profile?

What? No! Maybe at a private school with 20 kids or something, they can pretend to show that level of interest, but not at a public. They should don't mind looking over your list and suggesting changes but they don't get to approve. None of their business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about wording for newfound interests:

If you say you are a birder and joined a group at a few state parks junior year, worked in an arboretum for the summer, is it a stretch to add in some seasonal volunteering with senior citizens (if only done for a few weeks)?

Thinking kid writes EC essay about this….

Check Reddit. So many birding stories in college apps. It might be the new beekeeping so perhaps overdone?

Cicada carcass collecting is a really timely thing this summer.

Great idea! Use an LLM to generate and publish a book on Cicada Cuisine. Stand out.

[Anonymous]

ECs don't really matter once you get past, maybe, T30s.. Rutgers is ranked 40. They don't give a rat's a** about ECs. Many schools in that ranking neighborhood and lower are likely similar. They will all pretend to care though so you don't really know.. Focus on grades and test scores. Those are the deal breakers. ECs can be made up.

[Anonymous]

There are dishonest/unethical people in this world. They lie and cheat. You see evidence of poor character even posted by parents on this forum.

So yeah, sometimes they raise kids like themselves. Those kids may get caught. They may go on to lie on their resumes and cheat in business.

Just be proud if your kid is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about wording for newfound interests:

If you say you are a birder and joined a group at a few state parks junior year, worked in an arboretum for the summer, is it a stretch to add in some seasonal volunteering with senior citizens (if only done for a few weeks)?

Thinking kid writes EC essay about this….

Check Reddit. So many birding stories in college apps. It might be the new beekeeping so perhaps overdone?

Cicada carcass collecting is a really timely thing this summer.

Great idea! Use an LLM to generate and publish a book on Cicada Cuisine. Stand out.

Or better yet a short fiction story on “a day life of a cicada”…

[Anonymous]

LinkedIn profiles, resumes, board member and executive profiles all contain hyperbole. At least the kids are applying to Harvard instead of making up the fact that they went to Harvard!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about wording for newfound interests:

If you say you are a birder and joined a group at a few state parks junior year, worked in an arboretum for the summer, is it a stretch to add in some seasonal volunteering with senior citizens (if only done for a few weeks)?

Thinking kid writes EC essay about this….

Check Reddit. So many birding stories in college apps. It might be the new beekeeping so perhaps overdone?

Cicada carcass collecting is a really timely thing this summer.

Birding is definitely the new hot EC. Will not work another cycle.
My kids are at ivy/ivy+ and they did not have these trendy ECS. They both had non-school big ECs they had been doing since elementary schools and continued into high school. They also had school ECs that mattered to them , and community volunteering that mattered to them. One had extensive outside of HS intellectual pursuits, other had a small amount of that but had more musical pursuits outside of school. These were all opportunities pursued by them. And they are excellent writers and had top stats/rigor/got selective school awards from teachers, etc. They did not exaggerate any activity or EC. One cannot fabricate or plan ECs. Students who follow their genuine interests will have plenty to write about and be able to show impact. Students who have that plus true intellectual vitality as evidenced by LOR and coursework/stats will get in top places.

Beekeeping must be one of Harvard's fave ECs. I know 2 girls who started beekeeping groups that got in. Crazy!