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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a question for the OP. I can tell why this kid didn't get into the schools he/she wanted. Can you?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1jks4bh/the_college_admission_process_is_so_unfair/[/quote]

And great commentary here from a responder on Reddit (the applicant was Hispanic):

"OP - really strong accomplishments & academics. Would be great if you copy this to r/collegeresults so others can find it and use it as a point of reference.

This is the modern college admissions game - I suspect you are the oldest in your family, and there was minimal admissions counseling (no hired admissions counselor and high school didn't provide strong guidance counseling).

Few specific points of feedback

Two instruments + Sports is a really tough path for admissions for a STEM major. They take so much time but don't have high admissions value. My oldest kid also did this (and also guitar + piano) with mixed admissions results (didn't get into top 3 choices, but did end up with two T20 accepts)

AOs may actually downgrade you for so many different clubs and being "Spanish Club" officer as it looks like a gimmick (listen to podcasts, they talk about this stuff). AOs would much rather see a crisp theme.

Two biggest in-school positions are Student Council President and Newspaper Editor-in-Chief. Harvard really focuses on these according to survey results of the Crimson (like 20-30% of Harvard students were council pres). If you could go back 4 years with 20/20 hindsight, taking that route for demonstrating leadership might have helped.

Best resource ever for admissions planning - profiles of previous graduates from your specific high school who were accepted at top colleges. Use linkedin, athlete bios on college websites, Scoir/Naviance, google searches, etc to piece together these profiles. I didn't do this for my oldest kid (again, mixed admissions results) but did utilize it heavily for my youngest kid and I think their profile will be stronger when they apply next year"

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Remember this is about playing the college admissions game and choosing higher impact or less common outlets to embrace culture would be advantageous. Mariachi would have been a natural fit (my kids did this and apart from the early morning practice time it was great). Social justice themes also seem to have more traction with AOs"[/quote]

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