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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Appreciate all the feedback from folks in the admissions world.  I had a couple of questions:

How can you tell whether a child has "grit" vs. being a parent-piloted drone?  I'm sure in some cases it's obvious, like fleeing a war torn country and finding success here despite the odds, kids achieving in very low performing schools, etc.  But are you going to assume that every child in a wealthy suburb has no grit just because they've been fortunate enough not to have encountered a lot of the worst of life?[/quote]

PP who's posted earlier.

There are a few things. First, we look at school profiles, which contain a ton of data, including student performance and safety data. I am more impressed with a student who managed to do well on the SAT and got good grades while living in a dangerous city and attending failing schools. Because that student literally had to invent the wheel to the achieve. It requires much, much more initiative than simply attending a good school district that is well funded, performing well in classes and getting a similarly impressive SAT score while doing basic ECs that are just common across the applicant pool. Between these two kids, I am going to take the kid who managed to do well in spite of the obstacles because that kid has shown perseverance.

I do remember a student with a learning disability get into our school. His essay and recommendations demonstrated that the student effectively managed the learning difference in a way where he was able to score over the 95th percentile on the SAT. The essay and recs talked about his experience, tools, and effort he took to get there.

I think when it comes from kids in a wealthyish area, they need to show how they were able to achieve while taking risks, learning from mistakes, and why they think they can grow on our campus and contribute to the community. Many of these kids do the same stuff, the same resume check boxes, the same overseas service trips, the same everything. That's not going to cut it.[/quote]

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