Example of a teen with a passion for an EC that could impress top colleges

Parents Forum
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<p>I don't know cur. I know a number of HYP admits and they all have internationally ranked talent in something. A parent can't make that happen, IMO.</p>

<p>I also know kids who have such passions--but the passions migrate from interest to interest, precluding international status at 18. Hey--I once had the beginnings of a full sized fighter jet in my front hall--for about six weeks. Thinking the interest had migrated, I moved the shards of metal out to the garage--only to be berated by a tearful seven year old who sobbed: "You never support me in my projects!"</p>

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<p>To what extent do the passions that get kids in HYP need to be public? Sometimes it seems like it's not enough to be accomplished in an area, but that the accomplishment must to some extent make the student a mini-celebrity (although perhaps only in their community, state or region).</p>

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<p>
[quote]
A kid can do what some consider ordinary EC's and do them with flair and commitment, intelligence and imagination and do just fine with highly selective schools and merit competitions. What some dismiss as ordinary ec's, when done extraordinarly well, still count in admissions.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm with curmudgeon. Our family and local-town experience, FWIW, supports his idea too.</p>

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<p>My nephew (hs junior) was diagnosed with a type of Tourette's Syndrome when he was about 9. He has tics, ODD and has to take a range of medications. On most days you wouldn't recognize the condition. He is a big, gentle kid and is an excellent football player and wrestler. He is a good-but not great- student, but gets some accomodations. He hopes to play DI or IAA football in college. His passion is speaking to groups about Tourette's and educating the public. He is active in the state and national Tourette's associations. He has won many awards and gotten a lot of press for this sincere passion, which he pursues in the most humble way. He has met professional athletes who have Tourette's and has counseled other kids. I credit my sister for her aggressive management of his condition from the day he was diagnosed. It wasn't easy- the medications had to be constantly adjusted and had side effects. There was teasing at school and teachers were not always understanding. This kind young man continues to amaze me, and any college would be lucky to have him. To me, this is a very unusual passion. I am proud to have him in the family, and hope I can help find the right college for him.</p>

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<p>"they all have internationally ranked talent in something. A parent can't make that happen, IMO."</p>

<p>Yes, but parents can sure help. I knew one family who had a D that was nationally ranked in tennis. They also spent over $10,000 per year in coaching and meet travel. One also wonders if there was a time, perhaps when she was younger, when it was the parents pushing, or her? These things are complex.</p>

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<p>I am not saying that kids who build up tremendous hours at Goodwill or the shelter impress selective adcoms. I personally don't believe that in and of itself that type of activity is very interesting or revealing of character or intelligence so I don't know why an adcom would think so. </p>

<p>But the same kid may be rewarded if he values the work the shelter does with recent immigrants from (somewhere unique) , and learns enough of a dialect so that he can be the relief translator on weekends and Holidays. </p>

<p>Or what if he saw that the kids had special difficulty with (something daily we take as basic) and set up a class for kids to learn (how to do it)?</p>

<p>There are other ways to admission for un-hooked kids. What I say here is only one way. But I know it works when it matches up with your life as portrayed in the rest of your application, your rec's, and your essays. </p>

<p>It is my premise that selective schools want kids (among others) who see problems in their world and address those problems, directly, personally, and with imagination and wit. With curiosity and common sense. It is again my opinion that adcoms think these kids will do the same on campus.</p>

<p>Campuses need doers. Preparing to do or stacking up rote hours at charities probably won't not cut-it anymore. </p>

<p>See the hole. Come up with a solution. Fix the hole.</p>

<p>EDIT: cheers and DRJ4, that's what I'm trying to say - those things are not required. Doesn't have to be grandiose, public, or world class. It can be simple, heartfelt, and consistent with your being . At least it worked out that way on acceptances and merit awards for one kid. ;)</p>

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<p>Let's take soccer. Soccer is a very ordinary EC but I know two current HYP students who got October acceptance letters becasue of their nationally ranked soccer skills.</p>

<p>Did the parents help? Yes. They drove. They paid for select teams. They paid for out of town tournaments.</p>

<p>But did the parent's enthusiasm make the player into an international player? In those two cases--and I suspect the vast majority of such admits--the answer is no. For the most part, parents who are not Gloria Connors cannot push unwilling children into such committments. That level of early committment and drive is inborn. marite didn't creat a mathmetician by feeding him string theory problems when he was a child. marite's son demanded that he get a spoon full of string theory along with his mashed banana.</p>

<p>I could have put a Gloria Connors spin on my two boys all day long. It wouldn't have mattered. My boys weren't going to be dragged all over town to play tennis against better and better players. </p>

<p>That said, even with HYP admit in hand, there are accompanying risks to early achievement. Often, early success is not an indicator of a successful adult life. It can be quite an inhibitor.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I know a number of HYP admits and they all have internationally ranked talent in something.

[/quote]
The ones I know currently do not fit that description. They are all very talented and were among the very top students in their high school class, but nothing "ranked", no sort of jaw-dropping accomplishments. I think you could simply use this board and look at some of the stats of the admitted students to figure out the range of students who do get in.</p>

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<p>I think we can all agree that being nationally or internationally top-ranked in something is a strongly positive factor for admission to elite colleges.</p>

<p>Curmudgeon's point, though, if I am understanding him correctly, is that such rankings are not mandatory or essential for admission to elite colleges. And, FWIW, the experience in my family and town supports that position.</p>

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<p>The ones I know all are :) Although it is just a coincidence: I know them through a very powerful fencing club that routinely produces world champions.</p>

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<p>I agree entirely with what you say ADad - national ranked anything is a big admissions boost, but it certainly is not at all essential to admission. The problem that concerns me is not that kids <em>need</em> such sort of accomplishments to get into the Ivies - they don't -- but that there is an increase belief that they do, and such belief fuels an unhealthy level of competition. By "unhealthy" I mean the type of stuff likely to produce overstressed and overextended kids often subject to unnecessary parental pressure to achieve.</p>

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<p>"Said me, The topic, "HS kid fascinated by extreme weather phenoms" is not that unusual: science + unusual.</p>

<p>said Cur, "His PASSION and his pursuit could be, but I don't think its a slam dunk lead to anywhere. I also don't think it that unusual for certain types of teens to have passions for a particular topic, as I've known quite a few. "</p>

<p>This possibly may be a difference in semantics or a difference between what goes in in large metropolitan areas in the NE and similar places known for Type A and what goes in in smaller places and in many other parts of the country such as the small city where I live. What's Ivy competitive in one part of the country would not make an applicant stand out in another part of the country. </p>

<p>I know lots of teens who have a passion for playing video, IMing and playing sports, but otherwise I don't know many teens or even adults who have genuine passions for anything. Most people whom I know enjoy some things, but aren't so intensely interested in things that their focus is so intense and obvious that (if they are young) their parents are driven out of desperation to track down others who can feed their kids' insatible curiosity like the mother of the teen in the article did. One of my sons had that kind of passion, so I know what it's like to be pushed by that kind of student. </p>

<p>When it comes, too, to such teens and kids who are disciplined and smart enough to get high grades including in areas that they aren't that interested in, and who also have high scores and a desire to go to places like Ivies, such people are even rarer (and my S was not one of them because he lacked interest in grades). For instance, the student described in the article clearly has the passion, but he's unlikely to want to go to an Ivy because I don't think that any Ivies or similar colleges are known for hurricane research. If he did have the stats for an Ivy and applied, he would have better than average chances of getting in because of his documented unusual passion that he has pursued with creativity and professional recognition.</p>

<p>As for people from my area who get into Ivies, they tend to have in addition to the necessary high scores, a demonstrated passion, and are usually val or sal from one of our local public schools, which are in the top 200. In addition, they usually have national recognition in one academic EC and state recognition in another. Since we're not in a Type A part of the country with the kind of major hook-ups in terms of potential mentors, conferences, and other resources that one gets if the White House, Yale, UN or arts schools like Julliard are nearby, we don't produce teens with international recognition.</p>

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<p>Qualifier: the HYP admits I know are predominantly upper middle to upper class children.</p>

<p>I believe that middle to lower class children would get HYP admits without such extraordinary achievements.</p>

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<p>Conyat notes,"Actually, I love UM but most of their merit aid is driven by SAT/GPA/class ranks"</p>

<p>Response: I fully agree. Many of the top schools are fanatical about SATs and GPA to the exclusion of almost everything else. I have seen kids with top inventive talent, kids who have gotten patents, kids who were all county or all state musicians , kids who wrote a number of terrific OP Ed pieces get rejected because of insufficient SATs or GPAs. It is astounding. However, I will say that I have seen colleges overlook both lower SATs and GPAs for:</p>

<ol>
<li>Strongly recruited athletic talent</li>
<li>Fabulous parental connections such as federal Senator, rich daddy big bucks, major contributors etc., and</li>
<li>Successful media artist such as folks who were major film or TV personalities.</li>
</ol>

<p>Other than that mentioned above,SATs and GPAs rule. EC just make the difference between two close applicants with similar SATs and GPAs.</p>

<p>This is what I have seen from our local high school acceptances/ rejections. Perhaps due to my limited experiences, I am in error.</p>

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<p>The ECs and the concept of "passion" were invented to give colleges more freedom to accept whom they want.
No amount of passion or comittment will get you in if this particular college does not need you for one reason or the other.</p>

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<p>


Not me, NSM. I say a lot of things but I ddn't say that particular thing. ;)</p>

<p>That was NMD at #16.</p>

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<p>Of course, having wonderful and even very rare, ECs, passions, etc. doesn't guarantee admission to places like HPYS, though having such things does boost one's chances in an admissions field in which there are an overabundance of vey well qualified applicants so the colleges can pick and choose in ways to create the kind of well rounded classes of the colleges' choice.</p>

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<p>I disagree. An internationally ranked female rower is going to get admit offers from every top 25 school including all the Ivies.</p>

<p>There are some categories of 'passion' which are always in demand.</p>

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<p>Cheers, never say "all". Remember Joey Cheeks (Olympic gold medalist and Harvard reject).</p>

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<p>Only speaking for me, I was talking about un-hooked kids. Recruited athletes , especially rare athletes , are certainly hooked.</p>