How to be different

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take up a country club sport

Or even better, realize it doesn’t really matter if your kid goes to a T20.

It does though. Prestige and connections are worth a LOT.

Numerous studies show this is not true. Especially for STEM.

OK--then why are people posting on a next door thread that the best way to get in from a WL is to have a donor make a call for your kid? if that isnt a connection i dont know what is.

signed
no donors in my cell

Huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First they need to love STEM and have intense Intellectual curiosity and passion. Get a jobs as a research assistant at a local university. Discover and patent a new idea. Join a competitive STEM club at your high school and win or place high in national competitions. Enjoy high school and be a well rounded and kind person. I know this is almost impossilbe for most students, but we had one at our high school a few years back who did just this and won a full ride to a T-10 college.

For those in the back: the student did not win a full ride into a T10 school. The student was admitted into a T10 school and received a full ride based on their family’s financial circumstances. Which, given the size of the award, might have had something to do with the admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First they need to love STEM and have intense Intellectual curiosity and passion. Get a jobs as a research assistant at a local university. Discover and patent a new idea. Join a competitive STEM club at your high school and win or place high in national competitions. Enjoy high school and be a well rounded and kind person. I know this is almost impossilbe for most students, but we had one at our high school a few years back who did just this and won a full ride to a T-10 college.

For those in the back: the student did not win a full ride into a T10 school. The student was admitted into a T10 school and received a full ride based on their family’s financial circumstances. Which, given the size of the award, might have had something to do with the admission.

No sorry, this student won a full ride to a T10. It was a merit based scholarship covering full tuition + room and board, not based on financial need. They do exist at T10 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take up a country club sport

Or even better, realize it doesn’t really matter if your kid goes to a T20.

It does though. Prestige and connections are worth a LOT.

Numerous studies show this is not true. Especially for STEM.

OK--then why are people posting on a next door thread that the best way to get in from a WL is to have a donor make a call for your kid? if that isnt a connection i dont know what is.

signed
no donors in my cell

Huh?

I was lost by that transition too.

The existence of development admits doesn’t deny the existence of studies showing that, for most, selectivity of their college doesn’t significantly alter earnings after other variables have been controlled.

But on the topic of development admits, I feel sorry for those kids. Such a weird message for a parent to send. I think it would undermine the child’s confidence in their own ability to become self-sufficient. Tracking development admits would be an interesting longitudinal study of its own. Would not surprise me if the practice causes more harm than benefit, even for the student getting in. The few times I’ve seen it happen those students and their parents seemed uneasy at graduation festivities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First they need to love STEM and have intense Intellectual curiosity and passion. Get a jobs as a research assistant at a local university. Discover and patent a new idea. Join a competitive STEM club at your high school and win or place high in national competitions. Enjoy high school and be a well rounded and kind person. I know this is almost impossilbe for most students, but we had one at our high school a few years back who did just this and won a full ride to a T-10 college.

Nope.

For those in the back: the student did not win a full ride into a T10 school. The student was admitted into a T10 school and received a full ride based on their family’s financial circumstances. Which, given the size of the award, might have had something to do with the admission.

No sorry, this student won a full ride to a T10. It was a merit based scholarship covering full tuition + room and board, not based on financial need. They do exist at T10 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great post:

The type of ECs I wish I saw more of as a Vanderbilt AO:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/s/t156y0LIfc

Lots of instruments, metal bands and truly random activities?!?

Some interesting tidbits in all of these links….im getting ideas.
Keep sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are some ways for a stem kid to separate themselves from the thousands of other high schoolers who do research, aime, “internships”, isef, etc?

Found this on Reddit…search A2C for their posts but could help you?

https://reach4.college/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have an interest most stem kids don’t have.
Get licensed to be a paramedic?
Fisheries & wildlife?
Birding?

Any more tips on birding?

[Anonymous]

Put your dad in prison.

[Anonymous]

Look at the "chance me" posts on Reddit where kids post their stats. 99.5% sound like the same kid, albeit some with a larger degree of prestige to their accomplishments.

Research, internships, STEM awards, blah, blah, blah.

Be different. Be the kid who sets up an origami club at your school and gets 100 kids to attend each week. Make a giant origami mural for your school.

Then also have the top grades and rigor and scores. But be different outside of this.

[Anonymous]

Separating yourself from the pack:

1. Become a bagpipe virtuoso
2. Start a chapter of the Flat Earth Society at your high school
3. Win the Junior Miss title for your state, regardless of your sex
4. Lead a movement to ban Breaking in all future Olympic Games

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are some ways for a stem kid to separate themselves from the thousands of other high schoolers who do research, aime, “internships”, isef, etc?

Sports. Not an individual sport, but a true team sport where you have to be committed to the team and your teammates.

Shows ability to put others before yourself and also shows ability to maintain high academic success while spending hours per week doing something completely non-academic.

Really, any time consuming activity that is totally different from STEM. But sports fills this need particularly well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some ways for a stem kid to separate themselves from the thousands of other high schoolers who do research, aime, “internships”, isef, etc?

Sports. Not an individual sport, but a true team sport where you have to be committed to the team and your teammates.

Shows ability to put others before yourself and also shows ability to maintain high academic success while spending hours per week doing something completely non-academic.

Really, any time consuming activity that is totally different from STEM. But sports fills this need particularly well.

Disagree on team sports.
My kid's individual sport (national ranking/medals) was extremely helpful for Ivy.
Look at the scoring rubrics and how at certain schools (esp Stanford, Northwestern and Duke) the highest possible points go to individual national awards for EC (including sports).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some ways for a stem kid to separate themselves from the thousands of other high schoolers who do research, aime, “internships”, isef, etc?

Sports. Not an individual sport, but a true team sport where you have to be committed to the team and your teammates.

Shows ability to put others before yourself and also shows ability to maintain high academic success while spending hours per week doing something completely non-academic.

Really, any time consuming activity that is totally different from STEM. But sports fills this need particularly well.

Forgot to add to above, this is what my child did and he went to and graduated from a highly ranked STEM school and is working successfully in a STEM field now. His team sport experiences set him apart from many others and they have been useful to him through college and even now in his work.

[Anonymous]

I think an intense passion for a subject (or subject area) is an excellent start. But then its not just about joining or starting a club, playing an instrument or a sport for a long time (tho that doesn't hurt).

Join a club and transform it somehow - this is key, be a rainmaker rather than just another cog.

Take your talent (music or sport) and bring it into the community somehow. You decide how, who to approach, where to get sponsorship and do it with positive effect.

These are the things.