<p>Can't imagine ethnic origin didn't at least play somewhat of a role in admissions, as it does everywhere else. As per essays, I'd think they'd matter a lot, if they can illustrate facets of people that might not be captured in a list of statistics. There are people with high GPA's and standardized test scores, who also accumulate an impressive list of EC's, who are wholly lacking in depth. There are, in fact, at least 7 frequently measured areas of intelligence, academics being only one of them. Just as there are hoardes of people out there boasting 2400's and 36's and valedictorian status who are just darned lucky the college admission folks have yet to come up with a standardized test of emotional intelligence...because they totally lack it.</p>
<p>A kid with a 2200 SAT, just as a kid with a 2400 SAT, can hack the academic workload at Harvard, which is what the tests are ostensibly supposed to predict. It is very possible, and in a lot of cases, probable, that the 2200 SAT may well have a firmer grasp on life and its meaning; have greater depth of character and tenacity; have a far better sense of people.</p>
<p>That is why the essays are so important on these applications. They are the only means an applicant has to convey these intangibles to admissions officials. The top notch universities of this country--Harvard not being the only one, by any stretch--are interested in far more than a students past, but in his or her future. Once one moves outside the walls of academia, it is those intangible qualities of vision, emotional intelligence and character that determine the success ultimately reached and the mark left on the world. Great universities do not attain their reputation by the mean scores of entering high school seniors, but by the number of great politicians, authors, artists and others who emerge to lead the next generation.</p>
<p>A Notre Dame professor of many years tenure once noted that he had spent enough years in the classroom to see what became of his students upon graduation. Many of them went on to become renowned in the country, and, in some cases, the world. The ones who reached such success and notoriety, he observed, were never the ones with the highest grades in his class. They were invariably the ones who had a certain way with people, a presence among others, that was noteworthy even then.</p>
<p>People obsess on these forums (myself included, to some extent, as I am, after all, on them too) because they are seeking answers which are, by and large, unknowable. Some post their stats because they are paranoid. Others post them because, quite frankly, they want others to read them. Most of the stats which are posted can, in some way, be enhanced through expenditures. Students can take courses or be tutored to increase SAT's or ACT's. Athletes and musicians go to camps and competitions. Where there is anxiety, there are a plethora of vendors willing, for a fee, to help raise that score or average. </p>
<p>What they cannot do is endow elite college aspirants with character, tenacity, emotional intelligence; as these are the products of a lifetime of experience and guidance. The irony is that so many kids are on such an absurd fast track at such an early age in order to get an edge in the laundry list of test scores and EC's that neither they, nor their parents, have the time to develop the intangible qualities that are not only the primary determinants of success, but of satisfaction with life.</p>
<p>So, to you, Stines, I say, don't sweat it. I'm gathering you are probably my daughter's age. You've spent 17 years, give or take, becoming the unique person you are. Put your stats on the line, and use your essay not as an opportunity to boast on a laundry list the admissions folks have already read, but to give them an insight into all those intangibles no test can measure. If race plays a factor, as we well know that it does, so be it. You know the kind of person you are from a lifetime of being it. Harvard can only know on the basis of dozen or so pages of application information. If they accept you, great. If they don't, it wasn't meant to be. </p>
<p>Don't forget to take the time to enjoy your senior year, too!</p>