If every kid is doing the same damn EC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my coworkers' wife, who is an AO at an Ivy, said this to me at the company last year Christmas party:

How to get rejected by Ivies:
- I have 4.0 GPA with 12 AP classes
​AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I am the violin first chair in the orchestra,
AO response: There are 1200 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I score 1570+ on the SAT
AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same score as you

- I am an accomplished pianist
AO response: There are 800 Asian kids that can play piano just as good as you, if not better

- I found a nonprofit to help the homeless:
​AO response: There are 500 Asian kids that also do the same thing like you

How to get accepted by Ivies:

- I can play guitar like Slash of Guns 'n Roses. I can show you how I play "November Rain" or "sweet child o mine"
AO response: Now that's unique. We would love to have you at the university

- I have a TikTok influencer with over 2M followers
AO response: Amazing. You know how to monetize your influence. It means more exposure for the university. Welcome to the university.

You get the idea...

Asian friend's kid is the lead singer of a punk band that booked over 50 paid gigs in smallish hometown. Very active band instagram page so easy to see the gigs they were playing to confirm.

Now at Columbia. Accepted at other Ivy schools as well. Great grades and what not, but this was basically the EC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my coworkers' wife, who is an AO at an Ivy, said this to me at the company last year Christmas party:

How to get rejected by Ivies:
- I have 4.0 GPA with 12 AP classes
​AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I am the violin first chair in the orchestra,
AO response: There are 1200 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I score 1570+ on the SAT
AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same score as you

- I am an accomplished pianist
AO response: There are 800 Asian kids that can play piano just as good as you, if not better

- I found a nonprofit to help the homeless:
​AO response: There are 500 Asian kids that also do the same thing like you

How to get accepted by Ivies:

- I can play guitar like Slash of Guns 'n Roses. I can show you how I play "November Rain" or "sweet child o mine"
AO response: Now that's unique. We would love to have you at the university

- I have a TikTok influencer with over 2M followers
AO response: Amazing. You know how to monetize your influence. It means more exposure for the university. Welcome to the university.

You get the idea...

And this is why schools like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Duke, and Northwestern prioritize “individual achievement, notoriety, success, or ranking” in non-academic areas.

These kids with some sort of fame, including an individual random “hobby” that will garner continued national recognition or achievement matter a lot more than a perfect scores and perfect grades.

A university wants successful accomplished and famous alumni.
A larger predictor of that is this exact type of individual drive/creativity and success in HS.
Test scores and grades do not get you there.
This is the entire point or reason behind holistic admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which EC is everyone doing?

NP: varsity sports (non-recruit), club leader, Debate/Model UN, student gov, music/band, robotics/science fair, volunteering (animal shelters, church, or hospital)

None of those are impressive.
Kid at Ivy.

Your Ivy kid doesn't impress me. As far as my career goes, they make great subordinates.

[Anonymous]

So now we are going to have tiger parents curating their kids’ punk rock insta pages? 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I feel like the kids all do the same ECs because parents push them there and because of their own anxiety do not let their kids pursue their own interests. My DD had a friend who wrote songs in mandolin. His parent forbade it and told him he was wasting his time and needed to be practicing violin. A score on the violin exams that was good but similar to everyone else, stands out way less than a kid who writes his own songs. The parents were fools. My kid had several unusual interests and had won an award for a documentary film she had made. She did not do traditional school ECs but pulled out samples on her phone of a graphic novel she was writing when the subject came up at an interview. It worked for her.

Model UN is fine if that is what your kid loves and they can excel, but otherwise, find something they think is fun where they can excel.

I disagree. Mandolin is not a good instrument. those songs were likely not good. Sure, it could look "interesting" and impress a clueless AO, but to understand and appreciate music violin is vastly superior. It's really sad that kids need to be weird instead of pursue things that are beautiful and enriching.

Not really. Mandolin and fiddle would be very interesting to an AO.
Unless you are nationally ranked, no one cares about violin....dime a dozen.

1) there is no national ranking in violin 2) who cares what some dumb AO is interested in? lets play the stupid mandolin because they have only saw 10 students every year do that. the opportunistic weirdness would be completely off putting to every normal person.

how about learn to play a beautiful instrument, the core of a vast majority of western classical reportere? who cares that there are "dime and dozen" such kids.

though, to be honest, there aren't. there aren't that many kids' orchestras and there aren't that many kids in them playing at a half decent level.

Who are you to say the mandolin is not a beautiful instrument?

Please. If it were a "beautiful instrument" there would be more music for it. Look at the instruments composers are writing for.

This trend of picking up obscure instruments (driven almost entirely by desire to be "stand out" as an applicant as one can't play violin or piano at the high enough level and zero actual interest) is so tiring.

What a snobby remark. There are so many accomplished violists. Universities don't need more, that's why some other instruments or even shifting or adding more of a fiddle approach might help a student. As for mandolin, you just don't know this instrument. Maybe it's your cultural ignorance talking. My Hungarian dad had 2. Also, Nancy Wilson plays a mean mandolin!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with regular high school clubs and activities? Kids are kids and not every kid (or family) has the wherewithal to pursue a passion project or start a nonprofit or do groundbreaking research. I’m wondering when there will be a backlash against the new admissions metrics and what it will look like.

The backlash is that fewer white males are motivated to go to college and Trump may be our next president.

[Anonymous]

DS focused on EC's that might be valued by his target his - CAP (finished as a C/Maj) and his private pilot certificate. Was accepted to both service academies he applied to. We didn't worry about about bulking his applications otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my coworkers' wife, who is an AO at an Ivy, said this to me at the company last year Christmas party:

How to get rejected by Ivies:
- I have 4.0 GPA with 12 AP classes
​AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I am the violin first chair in the orchestra,
AO response: There are 1200 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I score 1570+ on the SAT
AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same score as you

- I am an accomplished pianist
AO response: There are 800 Asian kids that can play piano just as good as you, if not better

- I found a nonprofit to help the homeless:
​AO response: There are 500 Asian kids that also do the same thing like you

How to get accepted by Ivies:

- I can play guitar like Slash of Guns 'n Roses. I can show you how I play "November Rain" or "sweet child o mine"
AO response: Now that's unique. We would love to have you at the university

- I have a TikTok influencer with over 2M followers
AO response: Amazing. You know how to monetize your influence. It means more exposure for the university. Welcome to the university.

You get the idea...

pathetic... and very mid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I feel like the kids all do the same ECs because parents push them there and because of their own anxiety do not let their kids pursue their own interests. My DD had a friend who wrote songs in mandolin. His parent forbade it and told him he was wasting his time and needed to be practicing violin. A score on the violin exams that was good but similar to everyone else, stands out way less than a kid who writes his own songs. The parents were fools. My kid had several unusual interests and had won an award for a documentary film she had made. She did not do traditional school ECs but pulled out samples on her phone of a graphic novel she was writing when the subject came up at an interview. It worked for her.

Model UN is fine if that is what your kid loves and they can excel, but otherwise, find something they think is fun where they can excel.

I disagree. Mandolin is not a good instrument. those songs were likely not good. Sure, it could look "interesting" and impress a clueless AO, but to understand and appreciate music violin is vastly superior. It's really sad that kids need to be weird instead of pursue things that are beautiful and enriching.

Not really. Mandolin and fiddle would be very interesting to an AO.
Unless you are nationally ranked, no one cares about violin....dime a dozen.

1) there is no national ranking in violin 2) who cares what some dumb AO is interested in? lets play the stupid mandolin because they have only saw 10 students every year do that. the opportunistic weirdness would be completely off putting to every normal person.

how about learn to play a beautiful instrument, the core of a vast majority of western classical reportere? who cares that there are "dime and dozen" such kids.

though, to be honest, there aren't. there aren't that many kids' orchestras and there aren't that many kids in them playing at a half decent level.

Who are you to say the mandolin is not a beautiful instrument?

Please. If it were a "beautiful instrument" there would be more music for it. Look at the instruments composers are writing for.

This trend of picking up obscure instruments (driven almost entirely by desire to be "stand out" as an applicant as one can't play violin or piano at the high enough level and zero actual interest) is so tiring.

What a snobby remark. There are so many accomplished violists. Universities don't need more, that's why some other instruments or even shifting or adding more of a fiddle approach might help a student. As for mandolin, you just don't know this instrument. Maybe it's your cultural ignorance talking. My Hungarian dad had 2. Also, Nancy Wilson plays a mean mandolin!

Universities need violinists every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS focused on EC's that might be valued by his target his - CAP (finished as a C/Maj) and his private pilot certificate. Was accepted to both service academies he applied to. We didn't worry about about bulking his applications otherwise.

No offense but the service academies are basically stalking DD. I’m fairly certain that she would be admitted if she had any interest. The service academies appeal to a very limited audience. You can definitely receive a fantastic, free, education but it’s a minority of HS graduates who want that lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my coworkers' wife, who is an AO at an Ivy, said this to me at the company last year Christmas party:

How to get rejected by Ivies:
- I have 4.0 GPA with 12 AP classes
​AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I am the violin first chair in the orchestra,
AO response: There are 1200 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I score 1570+ on the SAT
AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same score as you

- I am an accomplished pianist
AO response: There are 800 Asian kids that can play piano just as good as you, if not better

- I found a nonprofit to help the homeless:
​AO response: There are 500 Asian kids that also do the same thing like you

How to get accepted by Ivies:

- I can play guitar like Slash of Guns 'n Roses. I can show you how I play "November Rain" or "sweet child o mine"
AO response: Now that's unique. We would love to have you at the university

- I have a TikTok influencer with over 2M followers
AO response: Amazing. You know how to monetize your influence. It means more exposure for the university. Welcome to the university.

You get the idea...

This sounds like a made up story based on what is largely true in admissions…what school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS focused on EC's that might be valued by his target his - CAP (finished as a C/Maj) and his private pilot certificate. Was accepted to both service academies he applied to. We didn't worry about about bulking his applications otherwise.

No offense but the service academies are basically stalking DD. I’m fairly certain that she would be admitted if she had any interest. The service academies appeal to a very limited audience. You can definitely receive a fantastic, free, education but it’s a minority of HS graduates who want that lifestyle.

Check out the acceptance rates and then get to back to me.

[Anonymous]

Merging pilot license, interest in and history of war/military aircraft is an interesting "theme" or narrative that I've seen a lot of on reddit.

Seems to work at top tier (T10) schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my coworkers' wife, who is an AO at an Ivy, said this to me at the company last year Christmas party:

How to get rejected by Ivies:
- I have 4.0 GPA with 12 AP classes
​AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I am the violin first chair in the orchestra,
AO response: There are 1200 Asian kids with the same achievement

- I score 1570+ on the SAT
AO response: There are 1500 Asian kids with the same score as you

- I am an accomplished pianist
AO response: There are 800 Asian kids that can play piano just as good as you, if not better

- I found a nonprofit to help the homeless:
​AO response: There are 500 Asian kids that also do the same thing like you

How to get accepted by Ivies:

- I can play guitar like Slash of Guns 'n Roses. I can show you how I play "November Rain" or "sweet child o mine"
AO response: Now that's unique. We would love to have you at the university

- I have a TikTok influencer with over 2M followers
AO response: Amazing. You know how to monetize your influence. It means more exposure for the university. Welcome to the university.

You get the idea...

This sounds like a made up story based on what is largely true in admissions…what school?

The 2 kids in a "rock band" at our private got into EVERY T20 they applied to last year. Not top of class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now we are going to have tiger parents curating their kids’ punk rock insta pages? 🙄

Probably not...entire band is going to college in NYC in order to keep playing gigs.