When I’m looking through these CC threads, especially the “chance me” and “Class of 20xx ED/RD Results,” so many kids mention they started their own non-profit/charity, or they organized a golf tournament that’s raised thousands of dollars or they designed apps that have millions of downloads, or even that they have their own patents. From my experience, kids like this would usually make the news and be very well-known in their communities and respective areas.
How is it possible for so many kids to say they have done this? Are kids from CC incredibly smart and elite overachievers, or are most just trying to leverage/exaggerate their accomplishments and make them as word-y as possible? On top of that, they get rejected to so many great universities despite these accomplishments. Could someone please clarify what’s going on?
A few are true. The rest are either puffery or lies. College adcoms are skilled at determining which is which.
There isn’t really a way to accurately measure the validity of those accomplishments, but I’ll say one thing: students applying to colleges are not in the business of detracting from their application. There is plenty of room for embellishment and exaggeration.
Here’s the thing…when someone says that they started a non-profit, this could be a small as gathering a group of five people and then tutoring kids at a local elementary. My bet, most of the parents of these kids helped out. I’m willing to be that for 90% of these kids, they probably are over exaggerating something that their parents actually did the brute of the work.
@ConcernedRabbit And the colleges know this.
Many are exaggerating, some are outright lying.
I don’t know if others on CC are exaggerating or what. To be frank, I really don’t care about others’ stats because you should be setting your own goals and competing against yourself. (Advice I give my own kids & my students) My niece graduated from Stanford, my nephew is currently at Duke, my oldest was accepted into every college she applied to. All without having a laundry list of EC’s. I will say that they did have a few that showed years of longevity in. And as @TomSrOfBoston stated, admissions counselors can see through the smoke & mirrors.
There was one thread where a student said that they built a nuclear reactor in their garage.
They probably actually took out the garbage.
@DadTwoGirls
That’s a true story…they were later rejected by MIT.
@ConcernedRabbit That is a true story, but some at MIT would argue that people are looking at that fact incorrectly.
Instead of “How on earth can I get into MIT if the bloke who built a nuclear reactor got rejected?”, why not “Well, everyone else who got admitted didn’t build reactors in their garages, so that should mean something.”
Eh, applicants to these tough schools always need words of wisdom I guess.
@AGoodFloridian
I read that blog post. Actually really want to go to MIT, but I’m not expecting to actually get in. Lol, it’s next to impossible given my gpa…
It’s that age old dilemma I suppose. The university with the 0% admission rate is the one you chose not to apply to, right?
I’m so glad you asked this question. As a parent it’s hard to read those “chance me” threads and not make a to do list for my rising HS junior daughter. Lol.
I get a kick out of some of them where they state they are founder and president (or CEO) of 15 things. The CEO of an engineering company probably left out the word custodial, which means they are CEO of sweeping the driveway every Saturday. 
I read one recently where the student had a list so long it was a blur and looked highly embellished. He/she basically had what looked like the same EC listed in 3 different ways, a few where he/she felt a need to add wording like “highly prestigious” to the description, and couple that were pay-to-play (many thousands of $, foreign countries, etc.) that they are convinced will give them an edge. Then they want to argue when they are told nothing really stands out making them unique over others applying to the same schools.
Then there’s the parents who swear the Ivies are fighting over their child b/c they got a letter or an email asking them to apply. It was as if all she really needs to do is pick the one she wants and they’ll be throwing her a parade. LOL
And good old fashioned summer jobs are now internships:
Customer service specialist (worked drive through window at Burger King)
Aquatic safety specialist (lifeguard)
etc.
I’ll bet these same kids have some great looking resumes down the road as well!
Honesty and ethics is a given, but applicants do need to sell themselves. Sometimes that means putting lipstick on a pig.
I am in this position right now. Basically I made this donation drive where I collect stuff like clothes, books, toys, etc from people in my town and from my school and put some of my own donations in and I hand it out at a homeless shelter. But I do not know what to call it. I dont want to call it a non-profit, that would be over exaggerating. anyone help?
On a seperate note, because I have connections (uncle is a neurosurgeon, I have connections with journal editors, lab researches, etc.) I get involved / try to get involved in many things I am interested in and I get comments like “how does a high schooler even shadow a surgeon” or “how does a high schooler even get published, ur def lying”. I think that sometimes this kids are telling the truth but they dont mention that they have connections. like if i say “I shadowed a neurosurgeon this summer” it will sound a lot different than “my uncle is a surgeon and he let me shadow him”. I hope I’m getting my point across, sorry if I sound dumb haha
^
I am a first generation US citizen. My parents came to this country knowing no one, speaking little english, and leaving their family and all connections behind in Romania. I worked three months sending out dozens of email and calling nearby universities to try to get an internship working in a genetics lab (what I want to do with my life), and only after more rejections than I can keep track of did someone finally tell me that they would be willing to take me on. Meanwhile, my classmates all had internships by the end of january, after making one or two calls to a friend of their parents.
This whole game with connections is so real. To find someone who genuinely found an internship or founded a non-profit, or started a company without a well connected parent or uncle is very very rare. And to some of us, these kids can be very very annoying (especially when they complain about getting fired because they showed up to work freaking drunk!!!)
I’m sorry if this is a bit of a rant, but that stuff happens too much.