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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
So the Asians need to be exceptional at sports and academics? Are they getting the message?[/quote]

I think the idea is, EVERYONE needs to be exceptional at sports or to have won the regional oboe competition ... whether you're Asian, White, or even URM. (Or so I've heard. Apparently, even being URM isn't the bump it used to be. I'm not in admissions, though.)

Here's the problem: at the most competitive colleges, the applicant pool is already overflowing with kids with great GPAs and SATs. As a result, great GPAs and scores have basically become a threshold, and don't bother applying with SATs below 2100-2200 and a high GPA. If you're over this threshold, your next task is to make yourself stand out from the rest of the pool of kids who look just like you, SAT-wise and GPA-wise. Colleges are no longer looking for "well rounded" kids like they were back in the days when you and I applied. These days, colleges are looking for a "passion" and exceptional talent.[/quote]

Sounds like grade inflation needs to be stopped and a new standardized test created. Statistically, there cannot be that many outliers. If you make it so so many can achieve in the outlier range, the outlier range is meaningless. Maybe this is what colleges realize.[/quote]

You're right of course. Still, this is never going to happen, because parents will complain to the school if precious DC doesn't get enough As.

And it does beg the point: do colleges really want kids who nail their butts to the chair to get top scores on some improved, harder SAT? [b]Or do they want smart but also interesting kids who started a not-for-profit?[/[/b]quote]

C'mon, how hard is it to start a non-profit? And once word gets around this worked, the following year tons of applicants will have - you guessed it - started a non-profit. :roll:
 
I think the poster above got it right about the admissions people (hopefully) being able to spot real passion and talent.[/quote]

I'm the same poster - re spotting real talent, and starting a non-profit. I was just trying to vary my examples. If claim to have a passion for social justice, and then you actually start a non-profit to send money to Somalia, this is worth something I think. In DC's school, and among DC's friends at different schools, there are a handful of kids who have single-handedly started meaningful projects. By "meaningful" I don't mean the student club that together organizes a charity open-mike night, it takes them 3 months to agree on a charity, and then each individual kid has a small piece of the work, like hanging the posters. [/quote]

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