I think the reference is from “The Battle for Room 314,” which came out this year.
"The applicants were an impressive lot. A girl wrote a brilliant feminist essay—worthy of Harper’s, really—about gender and socialization, revealing that she was a phantom serial farter in public and yet no one ever suspected because of her gender,” writes Boland.
I suspect none of us have seen her essay, how she formed it. In fact, the idea it was just about farting seems misleading. Catch that: brilliant feminist essay. Not a hs thesis statement paper. (And remember, more than 20 years ago, when competition was different.)
What’s going to make a kid seem compelling for that college? It’s not just being “controversial.” If she works with the poor or campaigns for something, she’s going to look a lot more energized than just claiming Marxist ideas. If she can show how she worked for change in her hs, that’s something. Or LoRs noting how she positively impacted the level of thinking in classes. Lots of ways to add meat.