I’ve got some normal boring ec’s (4 year varsity athlete, com-ser, chess, etc), but one thing that sets me apart is that I am a published author with excellent kindle reviews. I also wrote about this passion for my essay. Do you believe that this could improve my chances? Thanks for the input.
Depends on the level of reviewers and the nature of the writing. A number of kids do write and self-publish. You’ll want to judge whether your finished product is that good.
You and hundreds of students are doing the same thing thinking it will set them apart: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=high+school+students+publishing+kindle+books&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=does+publishing+a+book+help+in+college+admissions+site:talk.collegeconfidential.com&safe=off
Depends the book. Depends the kid.
Our neighbor kid wrote a book. She was on the Today Show and Good Morning America.
She pretty much got into every school she applied to
Just to jump on in this thread…
I am a writer and obviously not for the sake of college applications and improvement. But since we’re already coming across the topic of how writing a book “helps” per se, I have just a quick question if anyone can answer.
I’ve docked over 7 million reads on Wattpad, and technically, it is a published book online. Free to access, and is seriously written. The only non-serious factors about Wattpad novels are that there might be quick “Author’s Notes” here and there. Otherwise, it requires just about the same amount of time and commitment as to actually writing a book to be sold on pages like Amazon, etc.
What’s your opinion on my situation?
Thanks! I’d really appreciate it.
Here’s what’s going to impress Harvard: If an Admissions Officer can walk into the Harvard Coop, which is run by Barnes & Noble, and buy a copy of your book today, THAT’S IMPRESSIVE! Anything less is not going to be as impressive, as too many teenagers self-publish books through Amazon, Kindle, Wattpad etc.
Here’s a real-world example from 4 years ago: A 17 year girl, while applying to college, had her one-act play produced Off-Broadway along with other noted playwrights like Christopher Durang and Neil Labute. The NY Times gave her play a rave review saying it was better than the established authors she was billed with. The play was also published by Dramatists Play Service and could be found at the Harvard Coop. That’s the level of competition at places like Harvard. FWIW: The girl went to Yale.
I just put up a 2-star review today on a “published” novel I bought on Amazon. That thing is like a first draft that never should have seen the light of day. It spelled “lightning” as “lightening” and used “conscious” instead of “conscience.” You know what its rating was, before that?
5.0. With several reviews.
5-star reviews don’t even mean much anymore. 
@gibby surely not everyone who attends yale or harvard is producing Broadway plays? I’ve heard that exhibiting passion is important. That’s the angle I was focusing on in this post.
I’m impressed. I’d include a link to your book in your application.
Passion is a one of the most overused and misunderstood words in College Admissions. So, it’s best to not even use the word.
Harvard, and all selective colleges, look for student’s who have made a significant commitment (3-8 hours a week) to something beyond academics. The idea is that a student’s time, energy, commitment, drive and devotion to any singular (or multiple) activity demonstrates a transferable set of skills – something that could be directly transferable to another activity in college, or something later on in life.
However, colleges are not extracurricular camps; they are academic institutions who are seeking to fill their classrooms with top scholars. So a wonderful EC only helps distinguish a candidate that already has demonstrated they have excelled in the classroom.
Most 16-18 year olds DO NOT have a passion. What they have is a time commitment – measured in years not months – to one or more extracurricular activities. Admissions cannot infer “passion” unless you write an essay about the subject. Stanford has a wonderful video that addresses this issue. You can watch the whole video, but the “passion” issue is addressed at the 2:35 mark. Everything in this Stanford video applies to HYPM as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UYhTylqC9o
Thanks @gibby. However, I feel like writing is a passion for me and I don’t know if it’s something I should not mention or not… It’s commendable in my opinion, and while you are right that many teenagers do use Wattpad to write, having a successful story is rare. Most successful writers are usually not high school students, and to add… There is that “Wattpad Stars” program going on there. So what’s your overall opinion regarding it?
I probably sound a little disagreeable, but I’m not, really. Just having a bit of confusion within myself.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Don’t do that; it’s rude to the original poster. In the future, start your own thread.
If you feel you have a great passion for writing, do NOT expect Admission to “get it” unless you actually write an essay about the topic. Listing your “Wattpad Stars” program success, however wonderful, is not sufficient for Admissions to understand how much writing means to you. So, write an essay about the joy writing brings out in you.
Also, the thing about writing is that (a) everyone can read it, and (b) pretty much everyone feels qualified to judge it, certainly admissions officers who spend weeks and months reading teenagers’ personal essays.
Merely self-publishing something on Amazon or Wattpad shows a certain amount of stick-to-it-iveness, but nothing more. And nothing more than many thousands of Harvard applicants have. It won’t have any significant impact on admissions. As gibby points out, getting produced on Broadway, or published by mainstream publishers – that’s impressive. A New York Times rave is even more impressive. But if someone reads a few paragraphs of your book and gets blown away, that will be impressive, too. Conversely, if a random few paragraphs of your book are pedestrian, then it’s anti-impressive.
They don’t admit because someone claims to love doing something. The most competitive colleges are looking for how that translates. The Off-Broadway example is that she received acclaim on a level that, in itself, shows the value of her work, the recognition. See the difference between that and just “telling” how much you love doing something? And even so, a candidate would need to show the “whole” that college is looking for.
If you really try to understand what a college values, you may be able to present the writing you did to “show” the attributes they like. But you have to get some grasp of what those are.
I think this thread overstates the level of accomplishment required to get into Harvard. Honestly, you don’t have to have rave reviews in mainstream papers or a play produced off Broadway. I know a young woman who had her own high school play place first at Drama Fest, which is a high school competition. I am sure she had other things going for her. I know another young woman who wrote music that was played at a nearby college, but she certainly had no big awards. Getting in to schools like Harvard is “holistic” and a complex process.
I think it’s fine to somehow communicate that you love to write and what you have done so far, perhaps in the supplemental essay. If you are really talented, you could send an arts supplement with writing samples, a list of what you have written, reviews, and maybe a recommendation from a writing teacher or editor. But don’t do this if you are not talented: it will backfire.
I think that self-publishing shows initiative, hard work and persistence. Don’t overplay it, but it will certainly help.
In the meantime, noone should get hung up on getting into any of these colleges. If you like to write, there are plenty of colleges that will help you develop 
Does being an author help? Yes.
Does it make my application a mortal lock? No.