Be a good example for your kid.

Tell the truth.

Everything will work out.

Anonymous wrote:No way my kid is going to have 10 activities. Very few at school beyond the sport they play and one school club. He has one regular service commitment and a regular teenager type summer job. Can you list hobbies or does this just make you look self-centered? Do all your activities have to be for a greater good or to make an impact in your community? Outside of schoolwork, my son spends his free time at the river fishing or playing golf for hours on the weekend. Do colleges want to know about time consuming hobbies like that? He isn’t playing video games, but he certainly isn’t changing the world either. Honestly, I sort of get the temptation to exaggerate activities because colleges don’t seem to want a kid like mine.

What type of schools does he want to apply to? Prob not necessary for anything other than selective/competitive schools (T75??) Is your kid interested in Enviro Science or Ecology or anything like that?

For advice on EC language, take a look at how this guy describes his ECs from the link below:

ECs:

Ultimate Frisbee fanatic, played all 4 years for my high school and played for my state's YCC team in 2022, at which we placed 6th. They don't really do JV/Varsity but I am on the travel team.

JV cross country runner

Captain of the alpine ski team, scored in the upper quarter in Slalom at state in 2022.

Lots and lots of volunteerism at local arboretum, volunteer about 30 hours a month doing restoration projects.

Jazz Band president, bass player. (I also play the accordion and I put that down as part of the band EC in case colleges are looking for the quirky factor lmaoo)

Math Circle member at local university, guided discussions from professors about advanced math like topology and abstract algebra.

Created a huge tabletop-RPG style geopolitical simulator game over quarantine to play online with my friends. I know this is kinda silly but it was a massive time commitment so i wanna put it down.

Designed and built 2 meter aperture radio telescope to read emissions from the hydrogen line in the milky way. Not doing research or anything, just wanted to do a passion project while the world was frozen from COVID.

Was a volunteer instructor for 5 outdoor camps over the summers, taught kids whitewater kayaking skills, how to fish, and be good stewards of nature.

Paid lifeguarding job for 1 summer after sophomore year.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/zpwoqa/chance_me_swarthmore_wesleyan_colgate_carleton/

Anonymous wrote:No way my kid is going to have 10 activities. Very few at school beyond the sport they play and one school club. He has one regular service commitment and a regular teenager type summer job. Can you list hobbies or does this just make you look self-centered? Do all your activities have to be for a greater good or to make an impact in your community? Outside of schoolwork, my son spends his free time at the river fishing or playing golf for hours on the weekend. Do colleges want to know about time consuming hobbies like that? He isn’t playing video games, but he certainly isn’t changing the world either. Honestly, I sort of get the temptation to exaggerate activities because colleges don’t seem to want a kid like mine.

Anything your kid does outside the classroom can be an EC. Its how you frame it. What types of schools is he aiming for? If not T50, it likely doesn't matter.

If he is aiming T50, and has competitive GPA, I'd see how you can help strengthen his 2 main hobbies.
- Is there a fishing club he can join in your town? Something he can volunteer with? That would be great and make for a unique spin/essay. Is there a club at school he can join for outdoor enthusiasts? Can he create one?

- Can he teach golf over the summer to low-income kids or just at a camp?

Suggesting these types of things might bring the picture in clearer for an AO and they can then envision how he'd contribute on their college campus.

No way my kid is going to have 10 activities. Very few at school beyond the sport they play and one school club. He has one regular service commitment and a regular teenager type summer job. Can you list hobbies or does this just make you look self-centered? Do all your activities have to be for a greater good or to make an impact in your community? Outside of schoolwork, my son spends his free time at the river fishing or playing golf for hours on the weekend. Do colleges want to know about time consuming hobbies like that? He isn’t playing video games, but he certainly isn’t changing the world either. Honestly, I sort of get the temptation to exaggerate activities because colleges don’t seem to want a kid like mine.

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Anonymous wrote:the thing about this that makes me mad is when college AOs say, "We have people call our school to complain than X kid got in when Y kid did not. But the thing is, they don't know why they were admitted, they didn't see their application or read their essay. We know what we're doing. We dont make mistakes." (The Dartmouth dean says this a lot).

I'd never call a school to rat a kid out, but .. no, Dartmouth, you don't know a kid better than his/her classmates do. Some of these kids have known each other for 12 years .. and you spent 12 minutes reading their app. There are certainly things on the application that their classmates don't know, of course. But they also know that little Larla was not the lead author on that journal, did not start a NFP, didn't play varsity tennis, and did not organize the clothing drive that was the essay topic. There was no clothing drive.

THat's the part that bugs me.

Colleges are not new at this - they know how to verify certain information, and with whom, and they know when a parent starts a non-profit in their home country, and they absolutely know when a parent is jealous of the kid down the street, who was accepted, while their kid was not. Don't dig the hole deeper for your kid, parents.

Colleges didn't even verify kids played the sports they were recruited for - something I could google from my office in seconds.

If you are recruited to play a sport, you are recruited by the college coach, and he or she certainly knows whether or not you play the sport.

Exactly. The issue with the Varsity Blues scandal is that there were a few coaches who were on the take. And they paid the price for it.

I mean, a couple paid the price. The thing we learned for Varsity Blues is colleges are hackable. Nobody verifies shit.

They verify the parental finances and assets, that part they have down to a science.

But I’m ready to volunteer to do the resume audit on every parent here who is AGHAST that kids may do a little embellishing on their applications.

Surely YOU never exaggerate or leave things out of YOUR job applications. That would be dishonest!

I'm okay with embellishing. But these NFPs that are basically throw up and then dismantled 6 months later for the sake of college apps alone is a big problem with college admissions today. I wish a college would do an internal review, a year after they admit kids, to go back and check all those founder stories ... the blogs and podcasts and NFPs .. how many are still active. 80%? 50%? okay. but is it 3%? then , let's get honest about this whole thing

And what? Kick the kid out if the NFP isn't still up and running? What about the kids who played French Horn in high school and listed that as an EC, but stopped playing in college, do they get kicked out too?

A kid who played French horn for 6 months does not put that on their app.

So your snark has back you into a good example. A kid who does a passion project podcast for 6 months and quits the week apps are submitted should get the same leg up a kid who plays the French Horn for 6 months - none at all.

And no, I dont want anyone kicked out. I want the AO team who are all 26 year olds now to really think for a minute if the "story" on the app is truthful. If those passionate passions are all dropped and kids are switching into CS in November, take a look at your system and retool

Tell me you have never met an AO team without telling me that you have never met an AO team.

The PP was not wrong. AO are young. The work pays low, travel is required. Sure there are senior members running the show, but the bench is filled with people under 30.

.
There’s usually a handful of senior members and one very senior person at the very top. Everyone else is between 24 and 28.

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Anonymous wrote:the thing about this that makes me mad is when college AOs say, "We have people call our school to complain than X kid got in when Y kid did not. But the thing is, they don't know why they were admitted, they didn't see their application or read their essay. We know what we're doing. We dont make mistakes." (The Dartmouth dean says this a lot).

I'd never call a school to rat a kid out, but .. no, Dartmouth, you don't know a kid better than his/her classmates do. Some of these kids have known each other for 12 years .. and you spent 12 minutes reading their app. There are certainly things on the application that their classmates don't know, of course. But they also know that little Larla was not the lead author on that journal, did not start a NFP, didn't play varsity tennis, and did not organize the clothing drive that was the essay topic. There was no clothing drive.

THat's the part that bugs me.

Colleges are not new at this - they know how to verify certain information, and with whom, and they know when a parent starts a non-profit in their home country, and they absolutely know when a parent is jealous of the kid down the street, who was accepted, while their kid was not. Don't dig the hole deeper for your kid, parents.

Colleges didn't even verify kids played the sports they were recruited for - something I could google from my office in seconds.

If you are recruited to play a sport, you are recruited by the college coach, and he or she certainly knows whether or not you play the sport.

Exactly. The issue with the Varsity Blues scandal is that there were a few coaches who were on the take. And they paid the price for it.

I mean, a couple paid the price. The thing we learned for Varsity Blues is colleges are hackable. Nobody verifies shit.

They verify the parental finances and assets, that part they have down to a science.

But I’m ready to volunteer to do the resume audit on every parent here who is AGHAST that kids may do a little embellishing on their applications.

Surely YOU never exaggerate or leave things out of YOUR job applications. That would be dishonest!

I'm okay with embellishing. But these NFPs that are basically throw up and then dismantled 6 months later for the sake of college apps alone is a big problem with college admissions today. I wish a college would do an internal review, a year after they admit kids, to go back and check all those founder stories ... the blogs and podcasts and NFPs .. how many are still active. 80%? 50%? okay. but is it 3%? then , let's get honest about this whole thing

And what? Kick the kid out if the NFP isn't still up and running? What about the kids who played French Horn in high school and listed that as an EC, but stopped playing in college, do they get kicked out too?

A kid who played French horn for 6 months does not put that on their app.

So your snark has back you into a good example. A kid who does a passion project podcast for 6 months and quits the week apps are submitted should get the same leg up a kid who plays the French Horn for 6 months - none at all.

And no, I dont want anyone kicked out. I want the AO team who are all 26 year olds now to really think for a minute if the "story" on the app is truthful. If those passionate passions are all dropped and kids are switching into CS in November, take a look at your system and retool

Tell me you have never met an AO team without telling me that you have never met an AO team.

The PP was not wrong. AO are young. The work pays low, travel is required. Sure there are senior members running the show, but the bench is filled with people under 30.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:the thing about this that makes me mad is when college AOs say, "We have people call our school to complain than X kid got in when Y kid did not. But the thing is, they don't know why they were admitted, they didn't see their application or read their essay. We know what we're doing. We dont make mistakes." (The Dartmouth dean says this a lot).

I'd never call a school to rat a kid out, but .. no, Dartmouth, you don't know a kid better than his/her classmates do. Some of these kids have known each other for 12 years .. and you spent 12 minutes reading their app. There are certainly things on the application that their classmates don't know, of course. But they also know that little Larla was not the lead author on that journal, did not start a NFP, didn't play varsity tennis, and did not organize the clothing drive that was the essay topic. There was no clothing drive.

THat's the part that bugs me.

Colleges are not new at this - they know how to verify certain information, and with whom, and they know when a parent starts a non-profit in their home country, and they absolutely know when a parent is jealous of the kid down the street, who was accepted, while their kid was not. Don't dig the hole deeper for your kid, parents.

Colleges didn't even verify kids played the sports they were recruited for - something I could google from my office in seconds.

If you are recruited to play a sport, you are recruited by the college coach, and he or she certainly knows whether or not you play the sport.

Exactly. The issue with the Varsity Blues scandal is that there were a few coaches who were on the take. And they paid the price for it.

I mean, a couple paid the price. The thing we learned for Varsity Blues is colleges are hackable. Nobody verifies shit.

They verify the parental finances and assets, that part they have down to a science.

But I’m ready to volunteer to do the resume audit on every parent here who is AGHAST that kids may do a little embellishing on their applications.

Surely YOU never exaggerate or leave things out of YOUR job applications. That would be dishonest!

I'm okay with embellishing. But these NFPs that are basically throw up and then dismantled 6 months later for the sake of college apps alone is a big problem with college admissions today. I wish a college would do an internal review, a year after they admit kids, to go back and check all those founder stories ... the blogs and podcasts and NFPs .. how many are still active. 80%? 50%? okay. but is it 3%? then , let's get honest about this whole thing

And what? Kick the kid out if the NFP isn't still up and running? What about the kids who played French Horn in high school and listed that as an EC, but stopped playing in college, do they get kicked out too?

A kid who played French horn for 6 months does not put that on their app.

So your snark has back you into a good example. A kid who does a passion project podcast for 6 months and quits the week apps are submitted should get the same leg up a kid who plays the French Horn for 6 months - none at all.

And no, I dont want anyone kicked out. I want the AO team who are all 26 year olds now to really think for a minute if the "story" on the app is truthful. If those passionate passions are all dropped and kids are switching into CS in November, take a look at your system and retool

Tell me you have never met an AO team without telling me that you have never met an AO team.

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Anonymous wrote:Almost all private colleges do audits and spot checks of a random sample of students.

Not sure about public universities.

Yes, my kid's T10 definitely does this. I saw a reddit post by a kid that was audited and was having trouble verifying club participation.

+1 For every parent that is concerned about where their frenemy's kid is attending, there are probably at least a few people being checked up upon by the school. It is a thing.

They have 5 min to read the app, when are they verifying/checking? I know an AO at a T10, this is not a thing there. They use the LOR to provide support/verification….

Agree the 3 letters (2 teacher and counselor) are used to provide support to the stated interests & activities.

The kids who are suss are mentioning main interests or major activities not even covered anywhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost all private colleges do audits and spot checks of a random sample of students.

Not sure about public universities.

Yes, my kid's T10 definitely does this. I saw a reddit post by a kid that was audited and was having trouble verifying club participation.

+1 For every parent that is concerned about where their frenemy's kid is attending, there are probably at least a few people being checked up upon by the school. It is a thing.

They have 5 min to read the app, when are they verifying/checking? I know an AO at a T10, this is not a thing there. They use the LOR to provide support/verification….

Anonymous wrote:Also, to the people considering fabricating, don't do this. Your app should be about who you are, not some fictional person just to get what you want. And, it's lying. Pure and simple. Sure, frame your activities in the best light, but don't make things up or inflate time invested/role.

+1. The parents are just as stupid as some of the kids, who take part in this practice. Colleges do check.

Anonymous wrote:Also, to the people considering fabricating, don't do this. Your app should be about who you are, not some fictional person just to get what you want. And, it's lying. Pure and simple. Sure, frame your activities in the best light, but don't make things up or inflate time invested/role.

Everyone inflates time….

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost all private colleges do audits and spot checks of a random sample of students.

Not sure about public universities.

Yes, my kid's T10 definitely does this. I saw a reddit post by a kid that was audited and was having trouble verifying club participation.

+1 For every parent that is concerned about where their frenemy's kid is attending, there are probably at least a few people being checked up upon by the school. It is a thing.

Also, to the people considering fabricating, don't do this. Your app should be about who you are, not some fictional person just to get what you want. And, it's lying. Pure and simple. Sure, frame your activities in the best light, but don't make things up or inflate time invested/role.

Anonymous wrote:Almost all private colleges do audits and spot checks of a random sample of students.

Not sure about public universities.

Yes, my kid's T10 definitely does this. I saw a reddit post by a kid that was audited and was having trouble verifying club participation.

Anonymous wrote:They verify what they want to verify - the money. They have gotten the government involved in this .. just to apply! Allow the IRS to upload your data to APPLY. I'm sure they're wondering how they can get banks to verify your assets. And then come over and tell me even more. WHEN did you buy that Toyota?

They don't verify anything else. They dont even try.

You do not need to fill out fafsa to apply…unless you need $.