Washington Post reports: Colleges Want Passion, Not Well Rounded

Parents Forum
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<p>Of course, for years, CC veterans have known this is true for the most competitive colleges, but for the record, here's what The Washington Post says.</p>

<p>The Washington Post also gets the story somewhat wrong because most colleges don't care a fig about ECs -- only about grades, scores and courseload. It's only the very top private institutions -- with an overabundance of outstanding applicants -- that are able to select classes filled with students with intellectual and EC passion. </p>

<p>Even those colleges, however, happily will pick students who truly are outstandingly well rounded. This info is buried in the last paragrphas of the Post's story as is the info that there's no one formula that fits all colleges.</p>

<p>"Parents: Colleges want kids with 'a passion'
Admissions directors: 'Well-rounded' is out, students should pick one thing"
The Washington Post </p>

<p>By Valerie Strauss</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - Parents: You've designed schedules, organized carpools, parlayed your way into the right camps for 12 long years. Piano lessons at 3, Spanish classes at 5, soccer games from age 8 through 14, a panoply of activities designed to give your kid the upper hand in getting into the college of her dreams.</p>

<p>Now it looks like having a "well-rounded" kid is out. Your kid must have "a passion" -- at least in certain academic circles.</p>

<p>"Passion" is the buzzword among some admissions directors. Students should pick one thing -- two are okay, too -- that they are truly passionate about as well, of course, as getting good grades and test scores, the directors advise. Select schools want the hyper-focused, the expert oboist or mathematician.
"I think most of us tend to gravitate toward the student who has pursued a strong passion in a particular area or areas," said Steven T. Syverson, admissions director at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis....</p>

<p>[Now, here are parts of the last paragraphs of the story]</p>

<p>"It's a big mistake to generalize about college admissions," said Fred Hargadon, a former admissions dean for several decades, including 15 years at Princeton University. "Big schools vary from small schools, commuter schools from non-commuter, private from public. . . . There isn't one admissions system that applies to very many schools...."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15773980/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15773980/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>"Hargadon said it should all come down to a mix of students.</p>

<p>"Some kids are really outstanding in a given field," he said, "but that's a relatively small number, and it is usually in fields like physics or math or in music.</p>

<p>"But I have too many memories of great kids that really didn't have one outstanding characteristic but seemed like they just would be great people to meet, to know, to go to school with and would have a high growth potential. . . . They often turned out to be the ones who made the class gel. And I worry that they will slip through the cracks if everybody is categorizing them.""</p>

<p>I like that! But it's so subjective. How do you make someone think you're a great person to meet?</p>

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<p>an interesting headline in that as many adcoms cited disagree with the headline as those who do.</p>

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<p>"How do you make someone think you're a great person to meet?"</p>

<p>Essays, interview, and ECs.</p>

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<p>Everytime I read or hear about someone who has a huge list of EC's, it makes me wonder this question. It has always been my understanding that schools other than large research institutions (which I do believe rely solely on grades, SAT/ACT scores, and other stats) are looking for a well rounded CLASS to admit....not that each student would be "well rounded". In fact, in all cases, DD had only two ECs in high school...music and swimming. She wrote her essays about different aspects of her musical experiences which showed both passion and leadership. In all cases, adcoms (even at the big state university...but she was a scholarship recipient there so they actually USED her essays for something) commented on her essays. DS had only one EC in high school...music...but then again, he's a music performance major:) Have a "laundry list" of EC's is highly overrated, in my opinion.</p>

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<p>It would be a shame, though, if too much focus on "passion" discouraged</p>

<p>1) kids who reach high school without a single major focus and who would like to do a variety of things, including (<em>gasp</em>) dabbling at something they've never tried before.</p>

<p>2) kids who have devoted years to something but then come to the realization that they are not as enthusiastic about it as they used to be and would like to drop the activity and try something else.</p>

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<p>I'm glad that the content of the article and the title were slightly discordant. Nothing wrong with a kid who finds his/her passion at age 9, but thank goodness, too, for those students who get to college (or beyond) and have a passion awakened in a field or activity that they never even knew existed. The had-to-try-a-lot-of-things, late-bloomer syndrome can sometimes be a sign of real intellectual curiosity.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I like that! But it's so subjective. How do you make someone think you're a great person to meet?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>By submitting an application package that makes an admissions reader wading through a stack of applications stop when reading yours and say, "Hmmm...this sounds like an interesting kid."</p>

<p>The best applications allow the reader to visualize a living, breathing, inquisitive, motivated young adult walking around campus contributing in some way to the college community.</p>

<p>The essays are obviously one way to bring an application to life. But, it's the whole package. An ideal application fits together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as a focused whole to present a clear picture of an identity or personality.</p>

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<p>I think the key line is the one: "It is a mistake to generalize about college admissions."</p>

<p>There are ALWAYS exceptions to every rule, and, I, for one, know many kids who made it into "elite" schools who were well-rounded and hadn't cured cancer or directed the Philadelphia Symphony.</p>

<p>I think the key to remember is you can not force your child to have a "passion." A true passion comes from within. So, please, everyone, if your college dreams for your child are ivy-colored, don't rush out and try to mold your children into having a "passion." </p>

<p>Last week, at the College Board Conference, I had the honor of hearing Marilee Jones, director of admissions at MIT, speak. She gave facts and figures on the tremendous rise in stress-related illnesses among adolescents. She also said (direct quote): "Teens are messy, imperfect and unfinished. Most have no passions because kids don't have passions, they have things that they LIKE. They are getting to know themselves as individuals, and that means they're still exploring and finding what has meaning for them. If parents push them to have passions because they think that's some sort of magic key for college admissions, their children will never find out what they value and what is meaningful to them. If your child has cured cancer by the eighth grade, they should just skip college."</p>

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<p>InterestedDad,
You are right on the money. In fact, last week I attended a presentation on essays at the College Board Forum given by the Yale head of recruitment. The one thing he stressed (as did other admissions people during the conference) is that what they are looking for is resonance between the essay and other parts of the application. If you write a great essay on your dedication to helping the poor, but none of your recommendations talks about your concern for others, and you haven't spent much time actually helping poor people, it doesn't resonate.</p>

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<p>"The had-to-try-a-lot-of-things, late-bloomer syndrome can sometimes be a sign of real intellectual curiosity."</p>

<p>I'm not sure there's room anymore at the Ivies and the like for late bloomers.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
if you write a great essay on your dedication to helping the poor, but none of your recommendations talks about your concern for others, and you haven't spent much time actually helping poor people, it doesn't resonate.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Taking it one step further, I don't think that a really interesting applicant would write about his or her "dedication to helping the poor". Rather, a good applicant would bring some little event or story to life so the reader can visualize the teenager in that situation. The story would lead the reader to conclude that this student is dedicated to helping others, so there would be no need to even say that in the essay.</p>

<p>IMO, the effort to make applications sound really, really impressive gets in the way of writing an effective application. To use Marite's son as an example, I have the distinct impression that he has a serious world-class level mind for math. But, I doubt very, very much that he wrote his essays about being "one of the top high school math wizards in the country". Rather, I suspect that he didn't need to. His application probably exuded his love for math.</p>

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<p>The more I hear from Marilee Jones, the more I absolutely love that woman. I think MIT must be putting together the most wonderful classes of wonderful kids....would that my oldest's passions were math and science or that Marilee Jones decided to do admissions at Julliard:)</p>

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<p>"
I'm not sure there's room anymore at the Ivies and the like for late bloomers"</p>

<p>I don't think that Ivies and similar colleges ever were designed for late bloomers. However, there are hundreds of colleges that do welcome late bloomers.</p>

<p>Fortunately in the U.S., there are plenty of colleges -- enough that virtually anyone can find a good match that also will welcome them.</p>

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<p>I think there used to be room in the Ivies for late bloomers - as long as junior year/senior fall was stellar and the SATs matched the performance. Those who bloomed after entering college, of course, are a different, but wonderful, story.</p>

<p>I'm not worried about this failing since there ARE so many excellent colleges willing to accommodate students who are poised to become scholars.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I'm not sure there's room anymore at the Ivies and the like for late bloomers

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't think that is necessarily true. The most selective colleges take shots on quirky, absent-minded-professor-type, marching to their own drummer kids, who happen to have an incredible drive in a particular area, even though that drive may not show up in perfect "stats" across the board.</p>

<p>Whenever someone posts, "I can't believe he got into Acme U with those stats", I think to myself: I wonder about the rest of the story.</p>

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<p>"I don't think that is necessarily true. The most selective colleges take shots on quirky, absent-minded-professor-type, marching to their own drummer kids, who happen to have an incredible drive in a particular area, even though that drive may not show up in perfect "stats" across the board."</p>

<p>That's not a late bloomer, however. That's an intellectual person with acceptable stats who is demonstrating a defining passion.</p>

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<p>I'm pretty sure the whole idea of basing activities around what colleges would like is sick. Sorry if I'm too offensive.</p>

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<p>Mea culpa: my carelessly chosen phrase "late-bloomer" created misunderstanding. In this context, I was thinking merely of a student who's late at finding some ruling passion, yet who heads off to college to discover it a field like sociology, anthropology, geology, or art history that isn't even on the radar for most high school kids. I think it would be a shame if there were no longer room at elite colleges for a bright, curious student who's done his or her share of exploring along the way, right along with the ones who've spent seven hours/day on a single defining activity.</p>

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<p>I know lots of late-bloomers who are at or who just graduated from top schools, so I don't think the concern is valid. However, it depends on your definition of late-bloomer. A kid who doesn't go to History class 'cause she "hates history"-- not a good bet at a competitive school. A kid who works much harder at subjects he loves than at subjects he loathes... but delivers an acceptable performance at the subjects he loathes while demonstrating real potential in other areas even if it's not world class performance.... a stronger bet.</p>

<p>I have neighbors who keep telling me that their kids are sure bets at MIT; kids love computers, have an interest in math/science, haven't read a book for pleasure since they were 8 years old. I keep my mouth shut-- I'm not an expert on MIT admissions just because my kid went there... but that's inconsistent with the kids we met at MIT over four years.</p>