So DS had a fundraiser at school for a charity he started. On his college application, should he report exact amount raised or just an approximation?
if he knows the exact, then he should report the exact
Depends on the amount. If it were $13,004.23, it would be fine to say “just over $13,000.”
Some details do not matter.
If it were $98.14, I wouldn’t bother reporting “nearly $100”, unless the experience involved was truly significant, and not a resume filler. Admissions Officers don’t want to hear about the single afternoon you and one friend spent selling hot dogs outside the grocery store to each $70, as much as they do want to know about the first ever walkathon involving your entire cheerleading squad and football team, local radio and TV stations, etc. - where you did most of the outreach/planning, etc., to raise money for the family of a team mate who needed a wheelchair-accessible van.
What you did and why, and what you learned from it, is usually more important than how much you raised. But if you raised mid-five or six figures, that’s pretty impressive. Suppose you were the driving force behind organizing the “Hot Cheerleaders’ Bikini Car Wash” over July 4th weekend to raise money for the local animal shelter, and you raised $40,000.18, enough to pay for the new roof on the kennel. I am sure you’d agree that the eighteen cents really is not necessary to report.
Put yourself in the admissions offiicer’s shoes. The applicant who runs a fundraiser appears on probably 90% of application files – yes, it’s that common. An approx is all that is needed (or wanted).
I didn’t realize it was that common. No wonder kids are stressed out.
Unfortunately yes. Kids think it’s an arms race to bolster one’s resume to be noticed by every college when the vast majority of colleges only care about transcript and test scores. Only at the tippy top schools do ECs make any difference. And the myths about community service or “founder” of clubs or “passions” for whatever – just keep growing and growing. All the colleges want is authenticity.
But when pressed about what they are looking for, lots of elite colleges say they are looking for “passion” in EC’s, certainly much more so than they will say “authenticity”.
Community service is certainly valuable in its own right, and they should be encouraged. But I agree that doing if for the sake of getting into college is the wrong approach. I suspect that too many parents use this argument to convince otherwise unmotivated high school teenagers that they should be doing something else with their lives besides studying and taking tests.
@3puppies I’m trying to make a subtle distinction. The colleges want authentic passion – not the HS contrived “passions” one often sees on CC – like the kid who is a “founder” of five clubs at his HS. Puh-leez.
So in reality, they want to see the authentic kid – and to see if it really is contrived – or if it truly reflects their nature. It’s just a shame that kids feel the pressure to don an look that’s often filled with embellishment.
When I give presentations and kids ask me about their essays, I tell them to be authentic – both for good and bad. If they truly are jerks or shallow or entitled, I sincerely hope it comes out in their essays. If they’re sincere, fierce learners and compassionate people, I hope that comes through as well.
I truly blame the colleges. How many kids at a young age know what their true passions are? Your interests change over time. It just leads parents into pushing activities young kids may or may not be interested in. And the fact remains that a large chunk of kids who apply to elite schools have a lot of help with their essays that if they are jerks, it would have been filtered out in their essays.
I agree with @sleeplessmom1. It’s almost a joke what sorts of questions my 16yo DD is answering right now on her apps. “What Matters to You. What is the biggest challenge the world faces. How will you change the world in 5, 10 years.” You have got to be kidding me! These poor kids are taking a million APs, studying all the time, doing as much EC as possible and trying hard to find 10 min to go out to dinner with their friends… The app process is out of control these days and expectations are beyond crazy for 16-17 year olds. Even for adults they are crazy! I dunno how I would answer these questions and I am 45, went to an Ivy school, grad school and worked all my life. Good grief!
@kath00 Can you tell us which school asked “What Matters to You. What is the biggest challenge the world faces. How will you change the world in 5, 10 years.” That’s absurd!
Not ‘authentic passion’ in the way CC uses it (“I love, love this activity,” often applied to any old thing. Or “I really, really want to save lives.”) More about how the purported interests are pursued, what awareness and drives show. The follow through.
A former Stanford admissions dean agrees, kids can’t know their real life passions in high school.
Yes, community service matters, just not the usual, random, hanging out with friends sorts, a couple of hours here and there. A kid can express a lot by what he chooses to get involved with, because he sees a need. I don’t draw a line that says why a kid does it matters more than doing it. Nor does this mean x hours/week,every week. Much can be done with a good commitment on a monthly or so basis.
How much is raised can sometimes lead to the question of where the money came from- parents and their friends or hard work over time and creativity. And what it goes to can matter. It’s nice to see kids considering local causes and needs. I don’t think the amount raised is a tip.
Those goofy questions, imo, are not literal. They’re meant to show how a kid thinks and phrases the answer, what comes through. Not some exact prediction. They aren’t asking for a business plan.
Stanford’s famous ones currently are “What matters to you and why?” and “Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.”
Stanford’s rapid fire questions allow for 50-100 words to answer “What is the biggest challenge facing the world today” plus 5-6 more just like it!
Duke I believe had the how you will change the world question but they blend together since she’s done about 10 apps this past month…
@kath00 Well that tones it down from “what would you do to change the world in 5-10 years” The ones you cited are fair game IMHO. I think Stanford should be very concerned if a student can’t come up with an answer to “What is the biggest challenge facing the world today” – they want to know if the student is AWARE – not that the student needs to have the solution.
Even Duke’s question can be fair in that it delves into the student’s thought process. I interview and interject various questions (which I don’t deem too difficult) to see the depth of the student’s thinking. Can they expound on the subject matter? Or are they simply aping the media sound bytes?
You are so right. They are much easier than I thought. Especially the one that asks a 50 word answer about what’s most pressing in the world.
50 words…LOL
For whatever reason community service is just not a big thing in our community. Most of the kids getting into elites’s do it with ECs like National awards at DECA or Debate, Robotics etc…
My college, Yale, asks students "Why Yale?"has a fifty character limit . What is this? A Phyllis Diller one-liner contest? I hate it. Adds needless stress. To me, gains very little. Kinda cruel, IMHO.
^ Unfortunately, a way to sort. It’s why I nag kids to know their targets. And to think.
I do NOT blame colleges. I blame people who think colleges are looking for kids with unique and high profile ECs. And a lot of them. Kids need to do,what they are interested in doing…not what they or their parents think will impress colleges.
Also, more is not better.