Just doing the thing is not enough; you also have to be good at it for it to make a difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend of mine learned to do taxes and did volunteer work filing returns for the elderly.

She was admitted to Yale.

Is this her essay?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/your-money/college-essay-topic-money-social-class.html

Yes--what a surprise to see that her essay on her volunteer work was published.

Her father did go to Yale--per another PP--but legacy status doesn't get you that far these days, just a bit of a boost. The really smart daughter of a friend of mine with outstanding ECs who was a double legacy from Harvard didn't even make it to the wait list there.

Wow!!! That's great.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid should do activities that they like. Colleges will see passion if there is some. Don't try to manufacture it. Admissions officers see through BS faux non-profits and extracurriculars.

+1

Plus, you actually have to do that activity you are "passionate" about for years on end. That's not a way to live a life.

My son actually did have some obscure passion (sorry, his story not mine so no details). By the time he wrote his college essay, he'd been doing his sport for more than 12 years as a participant in youth activities, and later as an adult participant, a refereee, and a coach. No one has time fro this without an actual passion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend of mine learned to do taxes and did volunteer work filing returns for the elderly.

She was admitted to Yale.

Is this her essay?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/your-money/college-essay-topic-money-social-class.html

Yes--what a surprise to see that her essay on her volunteer work was published.

Her father did go to Yale--per another PP--but legacy status doesn't get you that far these days, just a bit of a boost. The really smart daughter of a friend of mine with outstanding ECs who was a double legacy from Harvard didn't even make it to the wait list there.

Fencing
Sailing
Equestrian

Your rich white people sports!

When I was younger I swam - good no where near great. My coach was the coach of a college water polo team and he tried to get me interested in water polo. There were bigger, stronger swimmers but I had something they didn’t - I was left handed so I could setup on the left side of the net. I never really pursued it but I’m sure if I had it would have been to my benefit. I was a thinly traded commodity (left handed) in a thinly traded market (water polo).

That would be my advice - find a niche in a niche.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend of mine learned to do taxes and did volunteer work filing returns for the elderly.

She was admitted to Yale.

Is this her essay?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/your-money/college-essay-topic-money-social-class.html

Her father went to Yale - that's why she got in.

I wish the media would stop pushing these stories - "if only your essay is clever enough, you too can get into Yale/Harvard/Stanford"

Anonymous wrote:Your kid should do activities that they like. Colleges will see passion if there is some. Don't try to manufacture it. Admissions officers see through BS faux non-profits and extracurriculars.

Very true! My older child fenced because it was a passion. You could tell who the kids were doing it junior year just for the apps.

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend of mine learned to do taxes and did volunteer work filing returns for the elderly.

She was admitted to Yale.

Is this her essay?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/your-money/college-essay-topic-money-social-class.html

Squash - not that hard to play if you know how to play tennis. I had a classmate in high school that was ranked around 500th in tennis for his age. That is pretty good, but not going to get you into an ivy or even Williams. Anyways, he got into an elite school in his own right & walked onto the squash team. He ended up in the middle of the pack & he had never played squash before. If he had picked it up a few years earlier, he probably could have gotten into Harvard.

This may have been true 10+ years ago, but definitely not today. It's true that someone who has little experience could still play at many schools, but not at the Ivies, Williams, Amherst, etc. The squash players at those schools are recruited from around the world and are essentially professional level.

Squash - not that hard to play if you know how to play tennis. I had a classmate in high school that was ranked around 500th in tennis for his age. That is pretty good, but not going to get you into an ivy or even Williams. Anyways, he got into an elite school in his own right & walked onto the squash team. He ended up in the middle of the pack & he had never played squash before. If he had picked it up a few years earlier, he probably could have gotten into Harvard.

bagpipes.

The daughter of a friend of mine learned to do taxes and did volunteer work filing returns for the elderly.

She was admitted to Yale.

Your kid should do activities that they like. Colleges will see passion if there is some. Don't try to manufacture it. Admissions officers see through BS faux non-profits and extracurriculars.

So we know that you can photoshop your child’s head on a photo and call them coxswain for a crew admit to USC or buy the coaches house for twice it’s price...

But, in all seriousness, are there certain sports, instruments, talents that are more obscure but might be a hook? Suggestions please!

Back “in the day” before the common app - I knew fencers, divers and tuba players (the dot to the “i” in marching band) who got a boost from being a needed, but less popular activity.