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[quote=Anonymous]Interesting and depressing. On the whole, I'm inclined to agree with the writer: these days, the common wisdom among parent, schools and the media is that elite colleges prize the highly polished, does-it-all kid more than the great, smart, interesting, carve-out-your-own path kid. It often feels like a kid who hasn't learned Mandarin, played the violin at the Kennedy School, been captain of the tennis team, gotten a National Merit Scholarship AND founded a clinic for HIV+ children in Malawi doesn't stand a chance at Harvard or Princeton.

I wonder, though, how much this perception is a product of our own over-heated and over-anxious parental imaginations. Indeed, I wonder if the writer of that article didn't do her (normal, smart, kind, hard-working) daughter a disservice by steering her away from applying to elite schools. I don't know this for a fact, but I have a feeling that smart admissions officers DO value applicants who have had paid jobs... DO value applicants with real family and life responsibilities... and DO value applicants who show the strength of character not to follow the herd.

I was somewhat encouraged last year by the success of a close friend's son in college admissions. This kid was (is) a good kid: thoughtful, kind, a little introverted, smart. He got terrific grades at a top DC private school, and he did a small number of extracurricular activities (mostly drama-related), but nothing over the top. Most days he just went to school then came home. He plays no sports. He spent one summer at a drama camp, but didn't do any fancy overseas things, didn't produce his own documentary at age 14, didn't do much of anything except be a decent kid who was thoughtful and smart, who tested well and got good grades. He got into Yale, Chicago, Brown, Williams and Stanford.

Give me hope![/quote]

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