<p>Training students to publish in reputable journals is something graduate schools (the PhD kind) try to do. In fact, publications from independent research trump most any test score. Graduate schools use test scores, GPA, recommendation letters, etc. to try to guess whether this applicant can do this task. If the student has a solid publication, there’s no more guessing involved.</p>
<p>*… if she’d been Black, regardless of her ECs, because when it comes to black applicants, the only things that matter are their GPA and test score. Fact. *</p>
<p>Not fact. Let’s please stay away from the finger-pointing.</p>
<p>only one EC on her resume that is noteworthy, Developing an outreach plan and raising 60k This is your opinion. No one on CC or any other forum can predict.</p>
<p>lookingforward, focusing is exactly what this applicant is! She didn’t join 10 school clubs and try to become the president of all of them. She did one very impressive research paper, volunteered extensively with real impact at one national nonprofit, she obviously writes well enough to be published professionally, and she did two contests at the national level. We have no idea what she wrote about in her articles but quite possibly it was related to her other ECs. So no, not every single EC has to tie up into one neat package, but she certainly did focus beautifully. I’m sure she got a unique and steller recommendation from the nonprofit to supplement her teacher recs. I’m not surprised she got in either.</p>
<p>Lookingforward - Yes it is my opinion which is pretty much what CC is, a whole bunch of people’s opinions.</p>
<p>M’s Mom: my earlier comment was in response to OP’s question, at the very end of the thread-starter- about the common CC advice to foucs on one or two activities.<br>
I agree with you.<br>
And, I would guess that if the misc volunteer hours were opened up, there would be a few more activities to show her engagement. Without knowing more, my own take is she is involved in a (small, but that’s ok) range of activities including with school, independent (research/publ,) some judged by others and to benefit others</p>
<p>texaspg: if you are a high school student, make the best decisions for you. If you are a parent, guide your kids wisely. I have experience that forms my position.</p>
<p>Looking forward - Please dont be condescending enough to give me advise about my kids unless I ask you for it with a question.</p>
<p>Harvard seems to like students that show independence.</p>
<p>[Young</a> Entrepreneurs Put College on Hold | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“Young Entrepreneurs Put College on Hold | News | The Harvard Crimson”>Young Entrepreneurs Put College on Hold | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>I would be surprised if she didn’t get in. her rank and GPA are low, but other than that everything else looks good. her AWESOME EC’s made up for the two other factors</p>
<p>T: please don’t label it condescending. I did not judge your position. I do have experience to back up my opinions. I won’t argue with you.</p>
<p>LF -
“If you are a parent, guide your kids wisely.” - They were never part of this thread. </p>
<p>I have no idea about your specific experience but if you were an adcom at an Ivy league school, by all means, I really like to get your feedback on how the admissions work. </p>
<p>As a parent, I feel like we are all lost souls looking for some glimmer of understanding why things work the way they do with colleges, high schools. We are on CC trying to find some meaning based on these brief profiles of admittees to understand what makes a kid get admitted to a specific school and is there a way to pinpoint the precise decision making process. The process of admitting students seems as esoteric as trying to find meaning of life. </p>
<p>I have no problem to state that the above is my opinion and if people dont agree with it, not a problem at all.</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question:</p>
<p>Indeed, it is possible to demonstrate passion by participating in seemingly unrelated activities. But the ultimate goal of “showing passion” is to prove how you excel in each of your endeavors, and focusing on one or two fields is the easiest way to excel (versus spreading yourself out too thin). If you apply this theory to her case, you’ll see that this applicant has achieved stellar accomplishments in every one of her endeavors. </p>
<p>Certainly, if you look at each of her separate achievements in a vacuum, they seem doable albeit rare. But, like Pancaked mentioned earlier, how many applicants have achieved all four on their own? The fact that she can pursue her interests on her own without teacher guidance, publish her research, win national competitions, etc, shows that she is an independent and brilliant thinker. </p>
<p>Her grades in school may not be “up to par” with the top HYPS applicants, but her academic pursuits prove otherwise. We’ve all seen the 2400-scoring, 5.0 valedictorian who takes 15 AP’s. It’s all been done before, and done better. But how many HYPS applicants have published independent research in an industry paper? How many students have won national competitions by self-studying? To me, she’s a leader who avidly takes control of her own education.</p>
<p>You also mentioned that she didn’t have any leadership positions, so to speak. But, and get this, you do not need leadership titles to be a leader.</p>
<p>In fact, too many people are wrongly associating “leadership” with “leadership title”. Just because you have an officer position doesn’t mean you possess the ability or vision (or qualifications) to be a leader. Exhibit A: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1110020-state-officer.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1110020-state-officer.html</a> </p>
<p>Moreover, if you examine her accomplishments together, you begin to see an underlying theme in each of her achievements: she’s a leader, a brilliant writer, and an independent thinker. </p>
<p>No number of leadership titles and perfect test scores can amount to her extracurricular accomplishments. Leadership positions? It takes popularity and some persistence. Test scores? It takes practice, diligence, and intelligence of course. But no amount of persistence, grinding, or diligence can achieve what she’s done without natural leadership and intellectual curiosity.</p>
<p>Her resume tells me that she has amazing potential to excel in a college environment. She’s a pioneer of her educational pursuits (independent study in business and science, published research), she’s a gifted communicator (published writer, FBLA competitions), and she’s a civic-minded leader (philanthropic volunteer). She would be an asset to any college campus, and from her past achievements, I’d be willing to bet that she’d make full use of the resources at any top educational institution.</p>
<p>After seeing all of you guys say “I would be surprised if she wasn’t accepted”, I really want the original poster to come back and say she was lying, and she was rejected by everyone because her scores were too low.</p>
<p>I feel like if he would have posted her information, then asked if she would get accepted, you all would say “Her E.C’s are good but her scores kill her.”</p>
<p>^ yep</p>
<p>If this was in What Are My Chances then I’d guarantee that 90% of the posters would say she had no shot at those schools because of scores and GPA.</p>
<p>^90% of posters have no idea what they are talking about</p>
<p>If you can identify the right 10%, we will need to start paying attention to them! I am looking for a forum that discusses who has the best track record in CC in predicting and giving advice.</p>
<p>For elite schools, chancing in general is pretty ridiculous, given the nature of admissions. But we digress.</p>
<p>^ good post, eliane
*But the ultimate goal of “showing passion” is to prove how you excel in each of your endeavors, and focusing on one or two fields is the easiest way to excel (versus spreading yourself out too thin). *</p>
<p>Remember, the CA is nearly the only way a kid has to “package” himself. How he represents himself- grades, scores, LoRs, essays, ECs, etc- is what the adcoms have to go on. So, while no one segment is nesessarily killer, you just don’t want to underrepresent yourself in any area. (This assumes you meet basic academic standards.) The review process is part holistic and part a matter of satisfying the college’s institutional needs. This latter includes all sorts of things and can change yearly- the obvious ones are geographic diversity, filling classrooms and labs, having a variety of personal strengths, perspectives and interests among the freshman class, etc.</p>
<p>What ECs show is what a kid is involved with. And, with what breadth and depth. This, in turn, tells something about the kid: his ability to see, choose and and make a consistent committment to various opportunities- at school, in the community, in his field and related to his interests. Adcoms are interested in this because it “can” show: maturity, leadership, responsibility- but also compassion, teamwork, creativity, ability to identify a need and come up with solutions (or, at least, ideas,) willingness to help others (even if it chieves no personal gain, just satsfaction,) willingness to try new experiences…what kind of human he is and maybe how likely the kid is to be involved in activities the college values. And more. Including, the ability to step outside his own narrow focus.</p>
<p>“Excel.” Yes, it is impressive when a kid’s accomplishments rise. But, so often, when the kid only participated in “one or two” activities (and excelled,) the natural question was: why nothing else? And, remember that many wonderful activities offer no opportunity to excel. They are still valid and telling.</p>
<p>What’s impressive is the multiplicity of interests and the time committed (per year and through hs.) A nice, reasonable selection of activities, to show how well rounded the kid is, his ability to dedicate himself- not just to his own focused interests, but to other school and community opportunities, as well. And, over time, not ust one year or 1 hour per week, 5 weeks in the year.</p>
<p>This is not to say, spread yourself thin.<br>
And, yes, I review apps for a top school.
ps. IME, adcoms rarely speak of “passion.”</p>