<p>Well, to be fair, I believe Mikalye interviews abroad. People are more likely to take another exam and say to an interview that the only reason they did it was to increase their chances for MIT.</p>
<p>In the U.S., though, I’ve seen people do things just for the sake of getting into school, but they were things like starting a band. So the question of what is a sign of “humanity” and what is not is blurred. Kids are too savvy these days about the type of candidate colleges are looking for. I saw it in the mid-90’s. I mean, like, I saw kids that founded community service organizations that were basically B.S. to get into college, then after college went straight to Wall Street. I’m not impressed. It’s one of the reasons why I favor just taking the people that look like they are the smartest candidate, because I don’t think colleges can assess “character” or human qualities that easily.</p>
<p>In fact, I’d argue that taking additional classes durint the summer are a sign that a kid has true passion for the sciences, because no top school want to see that anymore outside of Caltech.</p>