People are wired differently. They enjoy and excel at different things. I really think it’s a mistake to emphasize any one personal quality, such as leadership skills or go-getter traits, over others for the purposes of elite school admissions. If the top schools truly want to attract brilliant people who will go on to do brilliant things in a great variety of endeavors, then why do they seem to choose the same personality type? They clearly select for a certain ambitious, take-charge “type” of kid, and yet it seems these schools are now lamenting the fact they get too many of the same type of student. Personally, I think there is an overemphasis on demonstrating leadership and service to the community. Some really amazing students with a lot of knowledge to contribute are sometimes behind-the-scenes people who prefer reading in their bedrooms to ladling soup in a soup kitchen.