Asking because I am really curious which schools that don't value these things: maturity, curiosity, creativity, imagination, unusual experiences, resilience, compassion and striking accomplishment. |
Lies they tell themselves often enough that they start believing it. They also say that writing the two essays are completely optional and would have no impact on admissions. Do you believe that? |
I'd imagine all selective schools do. Have you seen them lay it out like this? Duke did in an alumni email to their interviewers - maybe the others do something similar? Its interesting if they are "scoring" for these categories. AI can probably do a search of all submitted materials and create a score for each category based on submitted materials. |
No that's for the athletes. Its a Div 1 school. Do a little digging about Duke and you'll find out what they want to see. |
You are wrong. Just look at common app or their website. Two essays are optional for everyone not just athletes. From Duke website: "We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer one or two if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. Five optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected." |
Yes. If you dig enough you will find. I found for 4 of the HYPSM, because my child had interviews at 4 and they all boil down to the exact same thing. |
omg. ofc they are optional for "EVERYONE." They can't say it's only optional for Div 1 athletes! Why do you think Northwestern does the same thing? Also, Div 1. It's the classic definition of institutional priorities (and Duke has a new priority with NC/SC). The athletes have the option (and many do) to do just the 1 required essay. My DC is good friends with recruited athletes who committed to both NU and Duke - they did a minimal amount of essays for ED. Speaking of Duke - you can see a ton from all of their tableau visualization charts. For example, I saw that the 1st choice major my DC applied to had only 4 graduates in 2024 and 1 in 2025..... I know everyone goes into Trinity undecided, but strategic positioning is extremely important at Duke (for any junior parents out there). |
Eh, don’t really buy the “undersubscribed major gets you in” argument. My high stat dc applied for an undersubscribed major with ECs, national awards, recommendations, etc. WL at Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, WashU. Rejected Princeton and Vandy. Ended up at her first choice ED/deferred Ivy but still. |
This is a bunch of admissions counselors goobledock! To make it seem like hiring them would unlock these secrets. |
I’ll let you know how it goes. |
Good YCBK episode from this week dealt with some of this:
“And I said, you know, what has really stood out to me this year is that the students who leave a real lasting impression and the ones who I am really motivated to advocate for are the ones who are really authentic. They are just themselves, and they are a person who no one else could be.” “It was who she is as a person and that she's just engaged in a really interesting mix of things, and she reflects on those things that she's doing in an interesting way and in a way that nobody else could do exactly the same things that she's doing or speak about them in exactly the same way that she's speaking about the” “Because when students just lean into who they are, that really stands out in the application. And we want to get to know students who are all going to bring something different and something interesting.” “Even more than impressive test scores or great transcripts or fantastic essays, colleges are looking for authenticity. Not the appearance of authenticity, not the packaging of authenticity, not the strategy of authenticity, just authenticity. Plain and simple. “So you've mentioned the word reflective several times. How much of this is coming through in the personal statement or in the writing portions of the application? Is that where you feel you see it the most? I'm sure it's consistent with everything, though. It's a consistent pattern throughout the application. But is that where you're most likely to have it grab you? Yeah, for sure. Like, there are so many times when we will write in the comments on an essay that this was all narrative, no reflection, right? They told a story, but they didn't tell us what the story meant to them.” From Your College Bound Kid | Admission Tips, Admission Trends & Admission Interviews: How To Know If a College Cares About Supporting an Unorganized Kid, Feb 20, 2025 |
Even more than impressive test scores or great transcripts or fantastic essays, colleges are looking for authenticity. Not the appearance of authenticity, not the packaging of authenticity, not the strategy of authenticity, just authenticity. Plain and simple. Of course! They can totally figure out who is authentic in less than 10 minutes that they spend reading essays God knows which consultant has edited however many times! If they are really able to do that, they should be getting paid millions of dollars advising companies for this kind of skill. |
bumping this up for others on the thread re: college consulting. |
Helpful. Where's this post? |
One day we learnt that private counselors’ tailored essay guide helped kids get into T10. On the second day, we have to unlearn that. Now kids writing “authentic” essays will stand out. |