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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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...[/quote]

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.[/quote]

A university wants[b] successful accomplished and famous alumni[/b]. 
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.[/quote]

Test scores a better predictor of success after college than almost anything else.
Everything from peer reviewed publications to financial success to scientific accomplishments.
If a 1600 SAT ukelele player is somehow more prone to success than a 1600 violin player, I would bet it has more to do with their risk tolerance and willingness to do new things.[/quote]

Test scores are a predictor of someone doing well in a middle management job and maxing out at $350k a year.
That is not "success" in a T20 college eyes. Sure, they need some of those poeple....but they are willing to take a bet/leap on the more interesting creative kids who won't play by the rules.

Let me guess which one is your kid.[/quote]

The jab at my kid aside, you are wrong about what tests measure.

My guess is your kid has crappy test scores and you are trying to cope.[/quote]

I'll bite.  Yes, my kid does have crappy scores (like REALLY crappy, like people on DCUM would have said go to community college crappy). Yet somehow, they are sitting next to your kid at a T25 and have had internships and leadership roles, so go figure.  They happen to have EQ off the hook and are above average intelligence (think IQ of 120 or so). And no, they are not an athlete (well, they are but not for the college and not olympic level or anything).[/quote]

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