This is soo cool. I’ve always thought that you needed MANY EC’s to get into a good school. I run and volunteer, and I have many interests outside of school and the academic arena. Things that make me who I am and that has helped me grow as a person. I have many qualities that aren’t taken into consideration as unique. Everyone at my school feels as if you must be an ALL-AMEICAN without passion as to why you do things. Especially when it comes to class/club elections, and cheating just to stay on top in AP and Dual classes. This post has given me more confidence to effectively write with a PASSION on my essay.
Does anyone know what to stray from when it comes to writing personally? Should we include effects on others, ourselves, or both? Thanks!!!
I read your post regarding ExtraCurriculars about your daughter after school. You said that she is a sophmore at Duke. Well, I am actually planning on applying to Duke this fall for early decision. I am actually planning on submitting a dance tape. Can you tell me a bit about the admissions procedure for this and the Duke Dance committee and program there? I am making an assumption that your daughter is in the program because of her passion for that art.
My daughter applied ED and submitted a dance tape, too. All I know is that it was passed on to the actual Dance Department for review, and they graded it according to actual ability/talent and sent their recommendation back to the admissions office for consideration.
Make sure that you follow the proper procedure for submission of your video. There is a separate form to submit with it, and you must adhere to the specified length of material. They do not want to see anything too lengthy (I can’t remember the specifications), but my daughter was able to send in two taped solos from her dance recital (ballet and tap).
She also (according to that form) had to submit something written about her dance background.
My daughter is probably going to pursue minors in both dance and music (also a talented pianist) to complement her English major. Duke did not have a major in dance when she entered last fall, but they were talking of adding it very soon! It will probably be in place for you!
The Dance Department is very small, personable, and impressive at Duke. My daughter took her required freshman seminar last fall in the area of dance. There were only two students in her class, yet Duke allowed those two freshman to have a class with their “private” instructor! She also took a ballet class this past spring that had about fifteen students in it. Some were minors, but many were students who simply love to dance or wanted to stay in shape.
Every summer Duke hosts the American Dance Festival, and students area encouraged to pursue internships with the program. My daughter hopes to do that one summer soon!
Best of luck to you with ED. That is the way to apply at Duke!
Wow, I sense more bragging on this forum. Hey I’m a talented pianist. I’ve won every talent show I’ve ever entered in my life. I’ve been the hit of every recital I’ve ever played in. I’ve outgrown numerous teachers who are 2-3 times my age.
The question is, until I just had to vent with those comments, have you ever heard me bragging about it?
That is true passion. I’m not going to write out that load of crap on a college application. People whine about how you should have passion for an EC and focus on it, and do it all the wonderful four years of high school. I’ve been playing piano since I had the physical dexterity to separately move my fingers. I don’t need to tell everyone how great I am, or use it to better my appearance to an adcom or anyone else evaluating me.
I’m so tired of all these parents around here bragging about that crap.
Not meant as a brag - sorry. I am really a very reserved person, as is my daughter.
I could have told you her SAT scores, APs, class rank, etc. when you implied that they must be involved earlier, but I chose not to for the very reason of being labeled a bragging parent. Besides, this thread is about the value of ECs in the admissions process, and more specifically how they can be used to help one “shine” or differentiate himself/herself in the essay when everyone else who applies at the same school also has impressive academic stats.
By the way, you should consider writing your essay about your passion and talent in piano.
Well thank you very much for the advice. Sorry if I came off a bit peremptory.
How’d she do on that PSAT?
I was wondering because I got a 186 or something like that sophomore year and made this accelerated class for free that’s supposed to turn me into a National Merit Scholar.
Her PSAT score was in the low 200’s, but I don’t recall for sure. It was a weird score for her because she is more of a verbal person usually, but her math score was far better than her verbal for that test. (On the SATs her verbal has always been far superior to her math) She qualified for National Merit commendation, but not scholar status. Her senior year SAT ended up being substantially higher than her PSAT and her earlier SATs, especially in the verbal. I will always link that vast improvement to the fact that she “read herself silly” junior year and fell in love with many old classics.
Thanks for the apology. I sincerely wish you success with the junior year PSAT and SATs.
On my first PSAT, I got a 186, 51CR/73M/62W, I think.
I talked to a kid who got the same thing, was accepted to this program, and got a 226 the next year.
What’s happened to me on tests like that before is probably what happened to your daughter. I’m a math guy, so sometimes I just disregard the math and assume I’m going to do greatly, and then I end up scoring higher in verbal stuff because I payed attention to it.
On the first day of the PSAT accelerated program, we took a practice SAT and I told myself I wasn’t going to do that and it worked pretty well. 720CR/800M/790W. Was not expecting that last one to be so friggin high. And I knew CR would be the lowest by far.
I think the addition of the writing section is wonderful, personally. It sounds like you are more talented in that area than you thought. Overall, that is a fantastic SAT practice score! You should be in great shape for the fall testing.
Safeties- Baylor (full ride opportunity), Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University, Washington University.
Matches- UCSD (safety if I move to my relatives house and gain residency), UCLA, Case Western Reserve University, NYU, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt.
Slight reaches- Rice, UC Berkeley.
Reaches- May apply to Harvard, if I lie about my major due to faculty affiliation Harvard will actually be in the slight reach category most likely. But the medical schools sucks. Oh and I might apply to Brown, my SAT will be above their median, but I don’t know if my GPA cuts it or my ECs.
Like we have been saying on this thread, the quantity of ECs is not that important. It’s the quality and the passion that really grab the adcom’s attention. Figure out which EC is your passion and develop your essay around what you have gained from your involvement in that area. You will have the scores to get in anywhere you want to go, but the essay can really make the difference when you are being compared to others with similar scores.
As for your GPA, get extremely serious about raising it this fall!!! Junior year can be one of the toughest for many students, and GPAs and class ranks do tend to shift more because of rigorous classes. Then, a lot of seniors will slack off their last year, and that will be to your advantage if you vow to really focus on the academics. Take the toughest course load available to you so that colleges will see that you are committed to a strong pre-college background.
I hope you will take the academic potential your test scores indicate and run with it! Don’t waste your gifts! If your GPA doesn’t match up with your SAT potential, colleges will not be impressed. You still have time to improve your grades.
I have around a 3.7, it’s nothing to whine over but it’s not excellent.
Piano is obviously my passion, but I’m not going to go award hunting, I just want to do it for fun. They’ll see that I didn’t pick it up in my four years of high school, I was born to do it, I think that will help.
How much do you think the SAT and PSAT correlate?
There are a lot of idiots around here that think your SAT will be your PSAT multiplied by ten.
In my daughter’s case, her junior fall PSAT was higher than her junior fall SAT(taken only 3 days earlier). However, her junior spring SAT was almost identical to her fall PSAT. Every SAT she took, though, showed higher verbal than math scores. (PSAT was quite the opposite!)
By fall of senior year, her SAT went up exactly 200 points over her fall junior SAT. This was with no prep at all - just lots and lots of reading of classics! (790 V on that last one)
Nice. I don’t know what to expect with the SAT, they say with the practice tests they have access to at this thing, we can expect almost the same thing, maybe a slightly lower score due to stress.
I’m betting on a near if not perfect math score, 750+ writing, and unless they can really help at this PSAT program, I’ll end up with a 700-750 in Critical Reading.
I agree. don’t underestimate the importance of sticking out to an admissions officer. at my school we had group interviews to be tour guides in the admissions office, and one girl introduced herself with her name and where she’s from…and one of the admissions officer recalled what her essay was on, what her SAT scores were, etc…it was crazy
Thank you very much for your advice. I will follow with this procedure. However, personally, I actually had been part of a dance program in boarding school and I have danced for only about 4 and a half years. I am not much of the ballet/tap major but rather the hip hop, modern, and interpretive dancer with good performance and choregraphy experience. I also have a good yoga/pilates background which stemmed from my dance experience.
Our program takes great pride in our accomplishments as we send several people each year to great dance programs such as Penn and Georgetown. I hope that Duke is not ultra-competitive. At Duke, I am not sure if I am leaning towards the minor but perhaps clubs, performances, and taking classes.
By the way, I am also male, and one of two competitve male dancers in the program. I suppose I hope to have dance as I guess a ‘hook’ based on my background and Duke’s need of dancers of my background. As you had mentioned, your daughter seems to lean really towards the dance environment. I hope to have a great recc from my teacher, who absolutely loves me. Could you give me some advice on how I should approach the resume and video tape processs? Should I perhaps exchange emails with the dance teachers at Duke?
P.S> Could you activate your private message system so I can communicate with you more personally?
I think exchanging emails with the dance teachers is a great idea. All I can tell you about the video submission is to follow their instructions explicitly and to choose dances that you feel best showcase your talent. Most dance departments would love to have more males in their classes, whether or not you plan to minor. Duke is known for choosing applicants who fill a variety of roles in the makeup of each class. That is why I feel that using dance as your hook will definitely get their attention.
By the way, there are several dance clubs at Duke. My daughter actually belongs to one (DanceSLAM) that specializes in hip hop! They meet all year and put on a performance in April. She enjoys all types of dance, and her freshman seminar was in modern. Every freshman has to take one seminar class, so it was especially nice that they offered one in dance.
Duke is not ultra-competitive in dance, and I think that’s why so many students opt to participate in the courses and in the clubs. Most of you who have a passion for dance simply don’t want to give that up once you go to college. Also, Duke offers everything from classical pointe to even African dance and Flamenco!
If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
All this talk about dancing makes me want to pick up salsa dancing or something…It’s time to get back to the dance floor… I particular like swing dancing - now if I can pull off one of those feverish dances with a women…my life will not have been lived in vain so far…