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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Curious how these kids differentiate themselves in their essays. If it were me, I would choose the common app question of a hardship I overcame, to balance the nearly perfect stats.[/quote]

Don't do this!  If you are an average middle class kid, your hardships would be laughable and you'll get docked for not knowing what a real hardship is.  If you've actually been through some hell, and you give a tiniest bit of impression that you may still be wounded, you'll be docked for being a potential mental health disaster.  You basically have to have Malala's level story - something horrific happened, but no one doubts that you are marching onwards.  [/quote]

+1.  Please do not overstate some hardship you overcame.  I am glad to hear from the PP above that this would not go over well with admissions committees.

My DS (high school class of 2021) was advised by his college counselor to answer the COVID question on the Common App, about how COVID has created a hardship.  (In fact, the college counselor advised all seniors to write that essay, as suggested by admissions deans.)  At the time, my DS refused to write that essay.  I respected him for doing that.  He genuinely felt that he had no hardship as a result of COVID (compared to people with elderly relatives at home, or people with dangerous jobs where they were exposed to COVID, etc)
[/quote]

+1 same. DS refused. In fact, he had more time to continue interning virtually, and as an essential worker. His essay was very humble. But for those in this thread whose kids are deferred, I say one thing that may or may not help , but it worked for my son. Your kids shouldn’t just click the button to accept deferral/waitlist, there’s an opportunity here to stand out by emailing their admissions advisor. Don’t waste their time. Student needs to write a brief, stellar email that it’s their top choice with an additional grab. Critical thinking skills to find one thing and state it in a few sentences. I can ask DS to send me that email. It’s what he did because he had a unique reason to email advisor. It wasn’t about stats or anything like that. He respectfully asked her to read something that he promised was vey short, and mentioned the friendships he’d already made with current students on Reddit. He closed with IIRC that he understands this may not make a difference, but… (can’t remember). She responded very kindly that she’d do her best to get it in front of the team, but no guarantees. He was admitted 2 or 3 weeks earlier than the date he was given. [/quote]

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