The well-rounded person vs. the lopsided person

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I've seen many "chance me" threads on CC, and I've been wondering how colleges look at resumes for applicants with different strengths.</p>

<p>The well-rounded applicant is the one who has awards and commendations in various subjects, from mathematics to foreign language to music. He's not weak in any particular area, but does not excel in any one particular subject (e.g. not the international mathematics champion). So, when colleges look at this applicant, what do they think? Do they think that he is disorganized and is trying just to show off his assets, or do the more competitive Ivies, like Harvard and Princeton, prefer this applicant because of his well-roundedness and ability to adapt to any situation?</p>

<p>The lop-sided applicant is one who is not weak in any particular area, but very strong in a particular field, like math or music. Unlike the well-rounded person, the lop-sided student tends to emphasize on his resume his areas of strength and will list very impressive achievements in his strong field usually in the national or even international level. So, collleges that focus on a particular field, like MIT or Juliard, will eagerly accept the the lopsided person because his or her strenght matches the college very well. So, does this limit the lop-sided person for applying to Ivies like Harvard or Princeton that demonstrate more in well-roundedness?</p>

<p>Please give your input, and an explanation would be nice.</p>

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<p>My imput, and I'll use myself as a paradigm.</p>

<p>My well-rounded side:
In academics, SAT IIs and awards, I am balanced. I have awards in mathematics but I also excel at languages (hexalingual) and play the piano for 9 years. However, I love chemistry and am contemplating a double major: chemistry and history. My SATs will be literature, chemistry and probably either math or a language. </p>

<p>My lop-sided aspect:
With respect to my extracurriculars, I emphasize my passion for international relations, I do MUNs, debate (duh :)), impromptu speaking, internship at a consulate, an international relations mentorship, NSLC international diplomacy etc. </p>

<p>Overall, since I have asked a similar question, there was concord about the fact that this is what colleges want with respect to academics. Tokenadult very pertinently posted somewhere what Harvard defines as a stellar college-prep program, something that I exploited through IB-my IB classes are the ultimate compromise between social sciences/languages and experimental sciences/math.</p>

<p>On the other hand, many said that it is good to manipulate ur extracurriculars to show ur passion, and some said that it does not matter, because it is very likely that the applicant will change his or her major.
My conviction though is that regardless of the likeliness of major switching, if you are strongly lop-sided in your extracurriculars, you show that you are passionate and that you pursue, you don't sit back and watch.</p>

<p>Don't forget that there are exceptions though, such as MIT. I'm sure that a B in English Lit will not count as much there, and an impressive 800 in Lit cannot compare with 800s in Math, Physics and Chemistry.</p>

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<p>i don't know about specific colleges, but i did an article about this for my school paper. we interviewed a college admissions counselor and he told us they are moving AWAY from the jack-of-all-trades and instead picking people who can change 1-3 specific areas on campus.</p>

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<p>There lies the paradox</p>

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<p>I want to know the same. </p>

<p>Would college admissions officers rather see a person who appears good at everything (an IB student) or a person who shows obvious strengths (for example, a student who takes all humanities/art/english AP's and who stays away from most math/science AP's)?</p>

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<p>Well, this is just or one college specifically... but I asked the head of admissions at Amherst College (who was conducted my information session) who Amherst would be more likely to accept, a "pointed" student or a "rounded" student and he replied that the college aimed to have a "rounded" class of "pointed" students.</p>

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<p>lol, thats a very vague answer. IT depends on the college, but a Harvard representative came to my school and talked about the kind of students they wanted. She claimed that Harvard was looking for both of those types. For being lopsided, you obviously have to be better than the more well rounded student in their respective subject.</p>

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<p>I think it depends on the extent of person's involvement. One strong involvement would be better than three weak involvements, but three strong involvements would be better. Thisvis certainly the case at small LAC's where many activities nees to be staffed. DS won "Renaissance" award at high school
for the breadth (read well-roundedness) of his extracurriculars and academic awards. He was very successful in admissions sweepstakes. The trick is to use essays to present coherent picture of yourself so adcoms know who you are. BTW S did x-tras because he loved them, not for college. I did try to stop him from spreading himself too thin, but all's well that ends well. I think a kid who deeply masters one true passion were also fare well. What they don't want are kids with a sprinkling of x-tras, clearly just to impress adcoms.</p>

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<p>What about the people out there who do literally everything, but still have deep involvement in everything they do?</p>

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<p>Well, if you are one of those, you're kinda restricted in showing it, cuz you can only focus on some aspects on your application. That's why IMO, few but good and devoted to extracurriculars count more...</p>