Are they too good to be true or am I too unaccomplished to even fathom their success?

Applying to College
1

<p>So I've been lurking around CC for while, especially around the college chances forum. To be honest, I'm scared out of my mind.
Their accomplishments are so grand, yet they still doubt their chances of getting into certain colleges. Granted, they are applying to the top schools in the US, but honestly, when did it become such a struggle for well-deserving students to get into a good university?
I've seen kids who have, in a period of 4 years, became president of 5 clubs at school, maybe even founded a couple themselves, played varsity sports all 4 years, captain of a couple of teams, volunteer 400 hours, spend a summer in a some rural-poverty-stricken part of a foreign country, do a research internship, work with a senator, and still manage to maintain a 4.0 GPA and a near 2400 SAT score.
I'm really not exaggerating at all. If you've seen the posts on college chances, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.</p>

<p>I always thought I was a competitive applicant to some top schools. No, I don't have a 4.0 GPA, nor do I have a 2400 SAT score, but my grades are pretty good and my SAT score is pretty good, and I've done extracurriculars that I've stuck with over the past 4 years, and I founded and am president of a club, I volunteer a lot, I did a research internship, but this is nowhere near as good as those other applicants that I've been stalking on the forums.
And if you knew me personally, you would know how sleep deprived I am, because I take 8 classes a day, a lot of advanced/AP classes, and I'm at school from 6:30 to almost 5 everyday. And how is it that I just seem ordinary compared to these other students, when I've been running on empty for the past few years?</p>

<p>Am I so incompetent/unaccomplished that it's impossible for me to even believe that these kids have done all that they have done? Or are they exaggerating a bit? I mean, I know, there's a handful of students that really HAVE done a LOT, but I really didn't expect to see THAT many. </p>

<p>Because I can imagine how people can 'tweak' their resumes to make them seem more accomplished. Example, one of my friends has about 400 volunteer hours, but that's because she only has 100 regular volunteer hours, and the 300 are the "volunteer" hours she got from her research internship over the summer. To me, those 300 hours don't really count.. at least in my opinion they don't. </p>

<p>And another friend is president of 4 clubs. But they way she acquired those positions were very... greedy? Is that the right word? All I'm saying is that she employed the usage of motivation, wit, deception, and sabotage the acquire and secure those leadership positions. She's also claiming to be co-president of the club I founded, but that's completely unreasonable, because barely does anything for the club, and her justification is that she helped start it up (which is true), but she's done nothing worthy of noting her 'leadership'.</p>

<p>Maybe it's just my school (we're #1 in our state; students are very competitive), but I feel like a lot of people succumb to a little truth-stretching, or a little ruthlessness, and that people are going to such desperate measures to look good to colleges.</p>

<p>Am I being cynical? Maybe a little, yes. Do I have reason to be? I'd think so. If my friends do these types of things, does that not give me grounds to suspect a lot of other students to do the same?</p>

<p>What are your thoughts?</p>

2

<p>I know that feeling…lol. Keep in mind that the people at CC represent the overachievers at schools. I think ur EC are great and the fact that you attend a great school will play a good role in college admissions. I try not to worry too much about it b/c i prolly will be depressed if I do. Last but not least, everyone has a hook. Sometimes it might seem meaningless to you but it is still a hook :slight_smile: I do believe some of them but I do believe that others exaggerate things</p>

3

<p>Keep in mind that your experience represents a very small portion of the population and therefore you should be very wary of drawing too many inferences.</p>

4

<p>Some people exaggerate their accomplishments - but frankly it doesn’t make any difference. Being president of 1 club vs. 5 clubs is not the difference between admission and rejection at ‘Very Selective U.’ Having 1,000 volunteer hours vs. 100 is also irrelevant. The kids who get admitted to `Very Selective U’ have generally found a way to differentiate themselves from all the hundreds, if not thousands of other applicants with the same good grades and test scores, the usual club presidencies and the endless volunteer work/sports team/school newspaper/debate/orchestra treadmill. Most of them either have unusual life experiences or have accomplished something exceptional or have managed to convey through their essays and recs their ability to contribute something unique. So liberate yourself from the laundry list of ECs, forget the resume padders. Focus instead on the few things you really love and do best and figure out how to communicate it effectively.</p>

5

<p>When it comes down to it, if they are exaggerating, it will come back to bite them. People like you, who have worked as hard as they can, will do fine in college. It’s the people who superficially breezed through high school that will struggle. Also, there really are some people who are just that good. Really smart people who spend all of their free time studying or doing ecs…they do exist!</p>

6

<p>I wish I was academically gifted.</p>

7

<p>There was a post on here (maybe recently) from a guy saying he was fairly regular, and still got into Harvard. I think that’s true for at least some people at top (yes even HYP). Not everyone cured Cancer, or did all those clubs and stuff 24/7. I think that sometimes these people must seem like desperate overachievers to admission staff. I know if I were in admissions and rather than seeing dedication to just a few things, I saw people that were stretched so thin, I’d question if they were dedicated to any of them. </p>

<p>Sure you were president of 5 clubs, but were they active clubs? Did you significantly impact the club, or were you just a figurehead? Sure you did a research internship, but did you care about your research, or were you just a lab monkey? You were a senator’s intern, but do you care about politics, or were you beefing it up for me? These questions would all be running through my head. I totally agree with you.</p>

<p>You sound like you have a great chance at any school you apply to. You’ve done plenty and these people are going to be the guys who lock themselves in their dorm room and meet 5 people their entire college career. I’d rather be passionate and dedicated about just a few things, and be a personable guy than an overachieving perfectionist type.</p>

8

<p>I used to wonder the EXACT same thing as the OP since im not like the overachieving kids on CC that have done a bazillion EC’s with several awards and still maintain almost perfect grades and a hella high SAT score.</p>

<p>Although Im not like that, I still think that I might have a chance at my reach schools due to my committed EC’s and my amazing recs and essays cuz through that I can show that I am actually a truly passionate person and a great fit at the schools of my choice.</p>

<p>So Im not too worried anymore cuz so long Im on the same standard with them academically, I can have a leg up cuz most of them are more perfectionists than personable people that can liked by most regardless of how successful they seem to be which I’ve learned from personal experience.</p>

9

<p>Snow</p>

<p>Yours is a great post, and points out the danger of reading stuff here.</p>

<p>My view – </p>

<p>There are a handful (fewer than 25) schools that have average SATs of over 700 per section. Even for those, I don’t think any one has an average over 750 – therefore, you do not need perfect SATs anywhere.</p>

<p>There is no school in the country that only accepts Valedictorians – therefore you do not need to have perfect grades.</p>

<p>Although there are a handful of students who have truly exceptional accomplishments, most do not. </p>

<p>Being President of 4 clubs raises questions – how much time can you spend on any of them. Admissions offices are wise to this. IMO, it is better to have a handful of activities were you have shown commitment than many. (i.e., I think depth is better than breadth).</p>

<p>Getting back to the 25 top schools – all or most admit less than 20% of their applicants. Perhaps 10 of them or so admit less than 10%. In either case, these numbers are daunting – it means that many many highly qualified applicants are rejected. Still – these schools look for rounded classes, not perfect scores or perfect grades.</p>

<p>Of the qualified candidates who get rejected from these schools – virtually 100% get admitted to excellent schools (the only real exceptions being people who do not have a true safety school, which is recommended for everyone). After graduating from these excellent schools, they go on to lead highly successful lives.</p>

<p>The really short answer – be yourself, don’t believe everything you read, don’t try to ‘game the system’ – those who do often get caught. In the end, you’ll be fine.</p>