Reply to What tips an AO's decision for a cusp candidate

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there is a lot more to algorithms and scoring (fake standardization) of subjective items like essays and ECs, along with factors affecting yield that may weigh more heavily in the algorithm, than about being "compelling." And yes, I would assume that institutional priorities would be very heavy factors in said algorithm.

I think being "compelling" goes only to the subjectively scored factors and makes AOs feel like they're doing a good job, but the algorithm is the actual decider. Somewhere on that Slate application view, there will be numerical scores.[/quote]

How would they score essays, ECs and LOR? Who is scoring it? AI?[/quote]
In most cases, I think humans do the scoring. Some colleges (UNC, see a recent article from their student news) have AI score the writing of the essay, such as grammar, etc., but I don't think most explicitly consider writing quality anymore. It's more about getting to know the student, all very subjective stuff.[/quote]

I think someone put together a summary of some of the scoring rubrics on this site. It talks about scoring for various parts of the application. This link explains how it is scored - for Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Duke, Northwestern, and Cornell.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1224166.page

The last page of that thread defines "compelling" for most T10 (copied below), I think. It helped my kid prepare for the last round of interviews.

Found this about Duke (on Reddit from the email from AO to alumni interviewers) which gives insight into what they are looking for:

We know that almost all of our applicants have the academic preparation and extracurricular accomplishments to be successful Duke students. The Admissions Office's challenge is sometimes understanding which students might add something that would particularly benefit the Duke community. Some of these qualities might include:

[b]a particular maturity or depth of thought
a striking accomplishment or unusual and authentic depth of commitment to an interest
a notable sense of imagination, curiosity or creativity
a perspective or experiences atypical of the student body
a demonstrated sense of compassion or concern for others
a resilience in response to challenging circumstances or events.[/b]

How thoughtful or reflective is the applicant compared to their peers?
How engaged is the applicant in their commitments and why do they matter to them?
Is there a personal quality of the applicant that stands out even among the most high-achieving and engaged applicants?
Is there anything specific you think they might add to the university community?
What is their sense of Duke, and how well do they know us?

[/quote]

Are Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford not looking for these things? Only Duke?

a particular maturity or depth of thought
a striking accomplishment or unusual and authentic depth of commitment to an interest
a notable sense of imagination, curiosity or creativity
a perspective or experiences atypical of the student body
a demonstrated sense of compassion or concern for others
a resilience in response to challenging circumstances or events.

[/quote]

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