<p>"First of all, he may not have known what the article was going to be about. The reporter might have approached him with a totally different angle, e.g., covering his Quiz Bowl team or whatever."</p>
<p>I highly doubt that the newspaper, which has a well deserved reputation for high quality and ethics, would have done such a thing (Saying this as a person who even has conducted workshops there that had to do with interviewing). </p>
<p>What's more likely is that since the paper had done a story before on his 2400/36 SAT, the paper decided to contact the student to find out if such an exceptional student had gotten any rejections.</p>
<p>I also suspect that the paper may have originally learned of the student through the father, who may have informed the newspaper about his son's 2400/36, thinking that a newspaper article about the son's achievement could boost the son's chances of getting into places like Ivies.</p>
<p>"Northstarmom would probably say that this shows they have superior social skills, and that might well be correct. But social skills and the willingness to be compliant and the lack of any smidgen of independence or rebellion do not a true intellectual passion make."</p>
<p>I agree with you that politics (which could be rewarding students with pushy parents) is involved in which students are chosen to represent their schools at Boys and Girls state. However, once the students are at those events, their own political acumen, passion, and social skills are what causes them to rise to top ranks in those organizations.</p>
<p>The earlier post referred to someone who had risen high at Boys State and had gone on to Boy's nation. Such an achievement --which is based on one's interaction with peers at Boy's State -- isn't something that parents can orchestrate for you. Being able to do well at those events reflections one's own character, interests and leadership ability, particularly one's ability to connect with peers and get them to trust and vote for you.</p>
<p>"Yeah, exactly. She seems to equate founding and running clubs and organizations with intellectual passion."</p>
<p>If you're referring to me, you can check my back posts and you'll see that I've posted over and over that being a club officer isn't particularly impressive in itself. Many clubs are clubs on paper only. Many club officers do nothing. Being SGA president and planning prom and making a short speech at graduation isn't going to impress a place like Harvard, which is flooded with applications from SGA presidents. </p>
<p>What's impressive about an EC is having an impact -- on others (such as if one's mentoring has helped a younger student raise their grades or if one has organized a successful fundraiser or community service campaign) or upon oneself (such as if one has learned things about the world or about oneself that has resulted in one's pursuing interests in a certain subject or making certain career plans).</p>
<p>When it comes to things like Boys and Girls states, by their nature, their officers have to do things such as run successful campaigns based on research about the state. "Vote for me, I'm cute and will plan a nice prom" isn't the way such campaigns are run. Since those events have one student from each high school in the state, one doesn't win because one happens to be in one's high school's popular crowd. Consequently, being elected to a high position in Boys or Girls state is a notable achievement, the kind of thing that would impress a top college, though even such an achievement combined with high stats is no guarantee that a student will be admitted to a place like Harvard.</p>