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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Several folks (here and on Reddit) have mentioned the giant NACAC college counseling conference that took place earlier this month. Then I heard Lee Coffin (Dartmouth AO's podcast) yesterday refer to the meeting as well.

Found the agenda. Look at the role AI
https://nacacconference.org/education/preconference-seminars/

They had sessions with the founders and CEOs of 2 college AI tools that I learned about on this site: 
Athena AI and Kollegio

[/quote]

This conference is the talk of the town right now in the college counseling world. I haven't seen any writeups about it yet, other than this one on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/1nmsuxz/i_went_to_nacac_2025_the_largest_national/[/quote]

really great nuggets hidden in there:

In terms of opportunities: It’s been interesting to hear so many admissions officers talk about wanting more humanities students. Engineering and AI are still super popular (as always), but there’s this under-discussed desire for more kids—especially boys—to apply as humanities majors.

On the other hand, within STEM and engineering, there are niche areas with more demand: systems engineering, materials science, environmental engineering, even things like water management. So if you’re applying to a STEM field and you have a supplemental essay about your interests — it’s really helpful to point toward a specific and less-common area of interest. Give them a vivid picture of not just what you want to study, but also why — and how that connects to something tangible or helpful in the world.

__________

Extracurriculars are not as important as most families think. An admissions presenter at NACAC shared results from a survey where families were asked to rank the top 5 most important factors in college admissions. [b]Families ranked extracurriculars as #1, ahead of everything else (even above things like grades and test scores). But in reality, for most admissions officers, it’s closer to #10. It’s not that extracurriculars don’t matter... it’s just that other things matter way more.[/b]

Also a reminder: Summer programs hosted by colleges don’t give you an edge. That’s a common myth some parents believe. But they don’t offer preferential treatment just because you paid to attend a summer program on their campus. What actually tends to matter more is whether a student shows specific, niche interests (I think this is especially the case in STEM... so many AOs I talked to had their eyes glaze over when talking about so many general biology or chemistry major interests. Show some indication that you have a specialized interest). You don’t need tons of “pay-to-play” programs. Some might help introduce an interest, but what’s far more impressive is initiative and resourcefulness (like one AO really liked hearing about a student cold-calling professors to work with them on projects).
[/quote]

This is very interesting but I wonder what it means for "holistic" admissions, the colleges harping on that is why families think EC's are heavily weighted.  [/quote]

And it’s extra weird parents think EVs are #1 bc virtually every college’s CDS lists GPA & rigor (sometimes test scores) as Very Important whereas ECs are mostly listed as Considered or,  occasionally, Important [/quote]

Agree. And Talent/Ability is often scored MUCH higher than ECs....so they are telling you they don't care about your 10 ECs UNLESS there's a national recognition or something truly remarkable (recognized by an outside body). You could just spend your days reading, doodling or in book clubs and it might count for as much as MUN, robotics club, Mu Alpha Theta, and Relay for Life.[/quote]

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