<p>Last summer, I spent a half hour talking with the assist dir of admissions at Wash U after I dropped my son off at soccer camp. I asked him what does it take to get into Wash U beyond the objective numbers. He said what I have heard from lots of admission folks–namely, that they are trying to build a community and they want to find kids with a passion for something that will contribute to student life at the university. He said that they didn’t care what the passion was–sports, arts, community service, etc–but wanted to see a spark of commitment and devotion to something during high school that suggests that the kids would do more than talk in class and do homework in the library. He repeated the common statement that they are not interested in compulsive joiners who appear to be padding their resumes in anticipation of college applications. In other words the kids who impress them the most are the kids who are not trying to impress them, whose record speaks for itself, and who can bring with them enthusiasm for something that they can contribute to the student life. My son’s passion was soccer in which he was much accomplished but he bombed at the Wash U tryouts. I thought that would impact his eligibility, but he got in.</p>