<p>My daughter(Barnard) was sitting next to a young man(Columbia) whom she had just met at the combined orientation as one of the administrators was listing some of the high school accomplishments of the entering class. After each mention of an achievement of Nobel Prize magnitude, she and the young man would turn to each other and say, "It wasn't me." Apparently this caught on until there was a larger group saying it. The vast majority of the students in the leading institutions are merely very bright and not "wunderkinder."</p>
<p>All this reminds me of a 2004 Stanford press release touting the achievements of their incoming first-years. If the credits were accurate, the school should have saved a few families a few dollars and simply awarded the students degrees upon entrance.</p>
<p>I dont think she was a wonder kid. I think she was a girl that was pushed to do well by her parents and by the school (required activities) I see nothing extradinary becasue she is coming from a prep school. I know kids that i believe are less intellectual and/or intelligent than many people i know, including myself, but have better college resumes then that. What do you think prep schools are for. You pay all that money, they better do something. Public schools are more practical, while these high priced prep schools are preparing you for one thing and one thing only. It is a lot easier to come up with 400 hours of community service hours between summer before freshman year and senior. And it is a lot easier than it seems to get into college programs, internships and recieve awards since there are so many to apply for. It is just so many people dont even try and look from outside their bubble and say wow. But upon closer inspection, they see how much of a reality it can be. The only thing i give her credit for is her ability to put forth effort to do what she did. There are so many seemingly average kids that are just as capable, but have no work ethic. Hard work is really what seperates a lot of average from these supposed wonder kids</p>
<p>My question really was rhetorical. I am a doubting thomas, and I can't believe that the resume we are discussing is realistic. And I can't believe that there is not going to be at least one adcom that is not going to agree with me.</p>
<p>The young woman I described won a scholarship from a private foundation. She comes from a middle class family where she was one of 5 children, so I'm sure that she received financial aid from MIT. Between the two sources, she attended MIT with a full ride. She got a full scholarship to Yale law school, and is currently clerking on the supreme court. I know both her and her family, and I know that she did not have a laundry list of ECs like the one we are discussing. She is a lovely, normal (albeit brilliant) young woman with 2 adorable children.</p>
<p>My kids actually attend a school that has an excellent track record of getting kids into top schools. They encourage students to take the most demanding schedule that is available to them, and do the best that they can. </p>
<p>We went through this madness with my oldest child. Many of Kid #1's friends got into top schools. I know these kids. They are all motivated smart kids. But not one of them had a list of activities that made be raise my eyebrows and question the veracity of the list. </p>
<p>Kid #1 was actually also one of the kids that got into a top ten nationally ranked university. This kid had pretty good grades, pretty good SAT scores, and focused on one EC. I think the recommedations and essays helped a lot, made the application stand out (because it certainly was NOT grades, scores, and ECs). So I do believe there is hope for normal kids.</p>
<p>Well if this girls resume is in fact real, then she is just a normal kid, just that she has that extra drive that many young and brillant kids seem to lack.</p>