Sad news about longtime contributor to CC, Lookingforward

[CC_Jon]

Her very first post on the site is, as a later commenter pointed out, excellent:

Hypothetical case: Which one would be more likely to get in?

I worked at a major New England university and my husband was on the admissions team at a prestigious neighbor. Colleges are not simply looking for any (hypothetical or real) “best” high school record. They are looking for students who will survive- and thrive in- their particular environment. Colleges expend great effort (and money) to both understand their own particular “personality” and determine the profile of candidates who are most likely to a) accept their admissions offer, b) graduate, and c) possibly bring some future glory to their name. It’s not enough to hypothetically compare a valedictorian with virtually no non-academic pursuits against a non-valedictorian who’s involved in some attention-grabbing extra activities. Each girl- any candidate- must prove that she is the right choice for THAT college. Admissions teams have a very narrow window in which to evaluate. It’s not good enough to have your kid “stand out” in some activities (academic or other,) no matter how…