<p>He is a student at a highly competitive private school. His 3.8 GPA puts him near the top of his class. SAT: 800CR 770math 760 writing. SAT 2s in math, science, lit, Spanish all 800. </p>
<p>He has deep political interest and runs several political youth groups in our large city and has achieved a lot in this arena. For what it's worth, the mayor offered to write him a heartfelt rec. He plays 2 sports but is not good enough to get recruited, has held student govt leadership positions, attended TASP and does myriad things all the kids on this board seem to do.</p>
<p>There are so many who sound much like him, I'm afraid with no connections this will be hard. Thoughts?</p>
<p>He sounds competitive to me. While there is always an element of luck in the selection process, I would think he would stand a good chance, especially if he applies ED.</p>
<p>I think he is likely to get in. Obviously he has the stats. His ECs sound very good–and a heartfelt rec from the mayor–indicating that the mayor REALLY knows him, that is absolutely key–would be good. Lots of kids dabble in politics–his involvement sounds far beyond that. TASP is also a powerful credential.</p>
<p>I think that the key thing for him is to present his ECs well. The way YOU present it makes him stand out–will his application do that?</p>
<p>Yes, the mayor knows him well. He will write that the relationship started out contentious due to an issue a group DS lead was fighting for, and then DS ended up working for him for 2 summers. He genuinely believes DS has a future in politics.</p>
<p>I think the essays and resume are excellent, but I’m the mom:)</p>
<p>I’ve always wondered about this. How do colleges know when an essay is not the student’s writing? They have no frame of reference on the student’s writing ability, so do they just decide arbitrarily if an essay is too polished? Should students who took the time to write multiple drafts be penalized for that? What if the student is just a good writer? I don’t understand this.</p>
<p>^ I suppose if they were suspicious of a student they can look at the SAT essay. That does not bode well for me. I thought my common app essay was really good, and it was my work (although I did have other people read it). My SAT essay, on the other hand, not so good. I just don’t write well with tight time like that. Hope they won’t hold it against me.</p>
<p>There is a distinct (but difficult to define) difference between the writing style of a teenager who is advanced for his or her age and the writing style an adult. Adcoms who have read countless essays should be able to easily recognize this. I have no doubt that your writing is very good, NulliSecundus, but I would bet that it is noticably different in style and tone than the writing of most adults. Unless your SAT essay was unsophisticated and had rampant spelling and grammar mistakes (like 6-7 level or below), I don’t think they would have any reason to be suspicious.</p>
<p>Now, a skilled adult writer could probably do a good job of impersonating the way kids typically write, but most adults “edit” applicantion essays to avoid the, for lack of a better term, immaturity of high school level writing.</p>
<p>There is also the fact that many people who are good writers have other credentials to back it up. I had similar fears at one point, but I came to the conclusion that my applicantion showed enough success in writing that they would expect, rather than be suprised by, a well polished essay.</p>
<p>^2c2c… while we as students may or may not be adults or talented writers, the focus of our world is quite different then that of an adult. When my parents tried to edit my brother’s essay 8 years ago, he came back and said that the words or syntax they suggested were simply not his voice and he resisted. I chose to have a History teacher of mine edit my essays for grammatical errors… then I did show them to my parents but simply asked if they thought it presented who I really am. I asked 2 other people besides my teacher to read them, one who knew me well, and the other was just a person i knew of who i respected but she didn’t know me well. At the end of each reading I asked what they took away from the essay. After that exercise, I felt that my essay gave the reader an accurate picture of who I am and why I do what I do. I’m 100 percent certain that my parents could not have written my essay for that reason, but I’m not sure that I agree with Grape that an adcom could know that. At any rate, I’m sure your’re son did a great job and hopefully he will be writing in Hanover next year!</p>
<p>Back to the original post. Based on your son’s stats and activities I think he should get in ED, however, if he from a geographic area with a lot of legacies and recruits he could get deferred to the RD round where he would then probably be accepted. This happened to my DS and has happened to at least one top student from our town for the past three years. Good luck!</p>
<p>I think that an application essay needs to be intensely personal, and as such must be written by the individual. BUT–and this is significant–after that first draft is down, it can be vastly improved by working with a person who helps the writer distill that personal statement and present it more effectively. This is the kind of detailed writing work/feedback that IMHO kids, at least the more advanced kids, OUGHT to get in school, and usually don’t.</p>
<p>As far as Jozhekryx is concerned, having viewed his posts elsewhere on CC, I fear that he will succeed in writing himself out of acceptances if he displays the same attitude in his application essays. :(</p>