<p>Heres a big hint on how to truly look good to college admissions:</p>
<p>Hurricane Sandy was punishing last night, and will continue to hit other parts of the country.</p>
<p>High school students can help now.</p>
<p>People who post on here are thinking about colleges to an unhealthy degree. They are practicing the SAT over and over, and developing strategies to help them build impressive resumes to impress college admissions officers.</p>
<p>The hurricane victims need help. If you live in range and can help, its time to stop worrying about math teams, the tiddlywinks club you started and your SAT cram course. Spend your time beyond schoolwork on something truly important.</p>
<p>A year ago, I was a hurricane victim, right here in the USA. We experienced the worst flood in 120 years a year ago. Houses were washed away, and the power lines, bridges and roads disappeared. Numerous other homes were damaged. The damage was spotty - there would be a 2-mile disaster area, and then a 5-mile stretch that was undamaged. The community got together admirably - those who had power and could cook cooked for those who couldn't, and everyone in the affected areas pitched in for repairs. However, I don't remember a single high school kid who came from one of the untouched areas, a few miles down the road, to help out.</p>
<p>A year later, I'm still repairing flood damage to my land, and many of my neighbors are worse off.</p>
<p>I'd love to interview an applicant (I interview for Princeton) who told me that during a flood, hurricane or other disaster that they spent every spare minute helping homeowners shovel mud from their basement, or better, got together 20 kids from the school to do stuff like this.</p>
<p>It would also be great to meet one who told me that he regularly shoveled the sidewalk of the little old lady who lives next next door for free (one of my friends in high school used to do that), or stopped the kids at school from picking on the kid with cerebral palsy. </p>
<p>Doing these things may not be as glamorous as helping to build a medical clinic in Guatemala, but they are far more important. The expertise a high school kid brings to Guatemala isnt much they would be better off with a donation of the money spent on plane fare. </p>
<p>A heartfelt essay showing that a kid did something like this that demonstrates that he or she is truly caring and helpful, along with, perhaps, a letter from a teacher who witnessed the actions or from the old lady that was helped, might just make an applicant rise above one of the other kids who has built one of those "resumes" filled with formula activities that we see on all of these chances threads.</p>
<p>Which kid would you rather have get into Harvard or Princeton? And down the road, if you were choosing your doctor or your lawyer or your next employee or your boss, would you rather have it be the kid who built the resume, or the one who went out of his way to help people while in high school? </p>
<p>Admissions can absolutely recognize someone with a crafted-to-look-great-to-admissions resume. What they look for is demonstrated excellence and passion, and this is one way passion can be demonstrated. </p>
<p>Please help the hurricane victims. If you cant, help your neighbors. Do it because you care. It will pay off in the long run.</p>