<p>Subjective Factors and Other Issues</p>
<p>Upon hearing that numbers don’t guarantee anything, you might expect that there are some important subjective elements at play—you would be right. </p>
<p>- Do I need extracurricular activities to get into a top college?</p>
<p>Essentially, yes.</p>
<p>- How many do I need?</p>
<p>There is no specific number; quality is decidedly more important than quantity.</p>
<p>- What counts as an extracurricular activity?</p>
<p>Anything you do that is not part of your curriculum. Truly, though: ECs need not be clubs or anything of that sort. Indeed, anything you spend time on outside of your classes (besides homework) is an EC. Colleges want students who are involved in things; this indicates the capacity to contribute to their campuses in a not-necessarily-academic way. What those things are is not especially important. </p>
<p>- Does it matter how long I’ve done an activity or how much time I spend on it?</p>
<p>Yes. Demonstrating dedication to a few select activities is enormously preferable to having a long list of things in which you dabbled. Also, joining a bunch of activities during your junior year is not a good indication that you are truly interested in those things; it, instead, comes across as a ploy to get into college. Admissions officers don’t like that. </p>
<p>- Do I need leadership positions?</p>
<p>They aren’t necessary, but they serve two helpful functions: demonstrating, of course, your ability to lead (or at least, they seem to; many schools’ club leadership positions these days are little more than a title), and indicating your greater involvement in that EC.</p>
<p>- Is it true that I have to be passionate about something? What if I just am not at this point?</p>
<p>passion is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot on CC. In part, admissions officers are to blame; they repeatedly say that they love applicants who are passionate about something. But, in reality, there aren’t many high-school students who are genuinely passionate about something, nor can I imagine that admissions officers are very accurate in their ability to gauge passion. Somewhat diverging from his peers at other top schools, a Stanford admissions officer expressed a similar sentiment.</p>
<p>So I guess that I would sum up the extracurricular side to things by saying that you should have a few activities in which you are interested and have invested great time as well as couple leadership positions. Are your ECs especially interesting and unique? Even better. Do your ECs demonstrate a clear focus while still indicating the breadth of your interests? Even better.</p>
<p>- I assume that volunteering is good to do as well, right?</p>
<p>Correct.</p>
<p>- What should I do during the summer?</p>
<p>Anything that shows that your summer was meaningful. There are many ways of doing this (e.g., volunteering, other ECs, summer classes, summer camps).</p>
<p>- What about work experience: is it helpful?</p>
<p>Yeah, though it’s certainly not necessary. </p>
<p>- I have a regular family commitment that precludes my being able to actively participate in extracurricular activities or volunteering. Does this ruin my chances?</p>
<p>Part of the holistically reviewing mentality of top schools is their empathetic consideration of applicants’ circumstances. That is, the commitment would compensate to some extent for your relatively weak ECs. However, it is does not appear that colleges fully compensate—they can’t merely assume that everyone with extenuating circumstances would have outstanding ECs if given the opportunity. But don’t forget: even that family commitment could count as an EC.</p>
<p>- I don’t have any awards. Does that hurt my chance?</p>
<p>I’m going to pull “an admissions officer” and say no but that having awards will help. Lacking awards is not a glaring absence or detriment to your application. Nonetheless, succeeding in well-known competitions can be highly beneficial. Here are some of the most prominent ones (for some reason they tend to be math- and science-related):</p>
<p>- International Mathematical Olympiad: All interested students may take the open AMC (American Mathematics Competitions) test. There are a few versions of it: AMC 8, AMC 10, and AMC 12 (these numbers are intended to correspond to a student’s grade, but you can take a higher test if you wish). High-scorers on AMC 10 and AMC 12 can take the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination). 500 of these people will be invited to participate in either USAMO (USA Mathematical Olympiad) or the USAJMO (USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad); see [here[/url</a>] for details on selection and on what the tests are like (i.e., difficult). High-scorers on USAMO will be invited to attend a summer study camp. The six students who best succeed there will be invited to participate in IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad). </p>
<p>Qualifying for USAMO is a great achievement, and admissions officers recognize this. As such, doing so will provide a sizable boost to your chances, especially at a science- and math-minded school like Caltech. Qualifying for the summer study camp affords an even greater boost; historically, an extremely high percentage of these students end up attending top schools. If you make it to IMO and score well, you come about as close as you can to having ensured acceptances at top schools, as long as the rest of your application is somewhat strong.</p>
<p>The [url=<a href=“Math Book Store - Print and Online | AoPS”>Math Book Store - Print and Online | AoPS]Art</a> of Problem Solving](<a href=“American Mathematics Competitions | Mathematical Association of America”>American Mathematics Competitions | Mathematical Association of America) series is widely considered a good resource for these competitions.</p>
<p>- International Biology Olympiad: All students may take the open USABO (USA Biology Olympiad) exam. Those who well (top ten percent) on that exam become Semifinalists and may take a second exam. The twenty highest-scorers on the Semifinalist exam are deemed USABO Finalists and are invited to a summer study camp. The most successful students from there participate in IBO (International Biology Olympiad). </p>
<p>Qualifying as a Semifinalist is a good accomplishment, though it is not as influential in admissions as qualifying for USAMO. Finalists, however, enjoy a great boost in their chances. As is the case with IMO, those receiving medals at IBO generally have their pick among the top colleges. (It is worth noting, though, that students who do well in these difficult competitions do so not out of wanting to improve their applications, but by leveraging their natural talent via determination.)</p>
<p>Understanding everything in [url=<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Biology-MasteringBiology-8th-Neil-Campbell/dp/0321543254/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277563776&sr=1-2]this[/url”>http://www.amazon.com/Biology-MasteringBiology-8th-Neil-Campbell/dp/0321543254/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277563776&sr=1-2]this[/url</a>] textbook is your best preparation method. But once you see the book, you’ll realize that this is no easy task.</p>
<p>- International Chemistry Olympiad: All students may participate in their local sections’ open exams. The 900 highest-scorers on that exam (usually top 9-10%) are invited to take the National Exam and are deemed USNCO (US National Chemistry Olympiad) Finalists. The twenty highest-scorers on the National Exam are invited to the summer study camp. Students may then progress to IChO (International Chemistry Olympiad).</p>
<p>National Finalists are afforded a small boost in admissions. For those who earn Honors (top 150) or High Honors (top 50) on the National Exam, the boost is more significant. </p>
<p>Doing well on your local exam is usually manageable if you have a solid understanding of the AP Chemistry material. The National Exam, however, is substantially more difficult. [url=<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-Insight-Peter-Atkins/dp/1429209658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277564635&sr=8-1]This[/url”>http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-Insight-Peter-Atkins/dp/1429209658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277564635&sr=8-1]This[/url</a>] textbook is often recommended for doing well on that exam. Those who succeed at the study camp and, eventually, IChO have generally completed organic chemistry and physical chemistry at local universities.</p>
<p>- What do you mean when you say “unhooked”?</p>
<p>Whereas some people use the term to refer to the strongest, most compelling part of an application, hook, to me, refers to something inherent about an applicant or his or her status. Here are the common hooks, as I conceptualize the term:</p>
<p>- First-generation applicant: This refers to students whose parents did not attend college. The admissions boost that results is modest at best. </p>
<p>- Legacy applicant: This refers to students whose parent or parents attended, as undergraduates, the school that you are applying to. Some colleges give a greater boost to legacy applicants than do others, but in general the boost is likewise modest, unless the parents are big donors. Some non-parental relationships with alumni, such as having a sibling attend, may result in a hook-like boost at some schools. </p>
<p>- Developmental applicants: This refers to students whose parents are very rich and have donated large amounts of money (usually in the millions) to the college that they are applying to. In such cases, the admissions boost is enormous; colleges need money. </p>
<p>- Recruited athletes: Being a good athlete is a solid EC to have, but being officially recruited by a college for sports is especially helpful. If the coach makes a strong pitch for you to the admissions officers and you are academically qualified in their minds, it’s tough for them to say no (especially if the school is sports-oriented).</p>
<p>- Being famous: Self-explanatory.</p>
<p>- Being an under-represented minority: As it applies to college admissions, Affirmative Action aims to diversify college campuses (with respect to race and ethnicity). This practice is decidedly controversial, but I won’t get into the issue here. See [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/830524-quadruplets-admitted-yale.html]this[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/830524-quadruplets-admitted-yale.html]this[/url</a>] thread for what turned into a heated and interesting debate about the merits and drawbacks of Affirmative Action. (But don’t bump it please!) </p>
<p>The commonly referenced under-represented minority (URM) groups are Hispanic (with the usual exception of Spain), African American, and Native American, though the last group is actually significantly over-represented for the most part (I don’t think colleges realize this, for whatever reason). African Americans are generally regarded as receiving a slightly larger boost via Affirmative Action than Hispanics. Despite Affirmative Action, URMs need to be strong applicants; like all other applicants, they must demonstrate convincingly that they are academically qualified for the school. More than ever, colleges are faced with far too many qualified URM applicants to be forced to compromise for the sake of diversity. Nonetheless, Affirmative Action remains a strong force in admissions today.</p>
<p>- I’m Asian. Do I stand a chance? </p>
<p>Yes. Asians may face a road that is slightly more difficult than that for Whites (though I don’t see significant evidence of this), but plenty still manage to get accepted (and in disproportionately high numbers). Consider these data. At Harvard, Asian applicants are over-represented by about 300%; White applicants have about 60% of what their proportional representation would be. At MIT, Asian applicants are over-represented by about 550%; White applicants have about 48% of what their proportional representation would be. Clearly, it is quite possible to get accepted, no matter your race. </p>
<p>- Is a certain gender at an advantage in admissions?</p>
<p>In general, no. Girls tend to have higher GPAs; guys tend to have higher test scores. It balances out for the most part. At engineering- and science-oriented schools like MIT, though, female applicants may be at a small advantage: female applicants there have historically had a chance that is 160% greater than that for male applicants. MIT claims that this is merely the result of greater self-selection among the female applicants. However, I question whether that can fully compensate for the significant gap. At liberal arts colleges, males may be at a slight advantage.</p>
<p>- Will selecting a less-common major help my chances?</p>
<p>For top schools, your choice of major is largely irrelevant. The sole exception to this may occur for applicants who select an uncommon major and have shown great interest in that field throughout high school (e.g., a prospective classics major who has regularly done well in Latin competitions).</p>
<p>- I got caught for cheating at school and was disciplined. Will this hurt my chances?</p>
<p>Yes. Top schools receive too many great applicants to accept those about which they have integrity concerns. </p>
<p>- I am an international applicant. How does this affect my chances?</p>
<p>Negatively, for the most part. International applicants hailing from well-represented countries (e.g., China, India, and England) face especially difficult paths. Many such applicants who are admitted have international recognitions. </p>
<p>- Does where I live in the United States make a difference if I am a US citizen?</p>
<p>It can. Students from over-represented states (e.g., New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) may have a harder time, whereas students from under-represented states (e.g., many southern states and those with very small populations) will be given an extra look by admissions officers. It won’t make a huge difference, though.</p>
<p>- Is it true that a college won’t accept more than one student from a single high school?</p>
<p>Some top high schools send dozens of students to top colleges each year; most high schools send none. Colleges have no quotas, but the best indication of how many a college will accept from your high school is historical data. That is, if a top college hasn’t accepted a student from your high school in ten years, you and your three friends don’t stand a great chance at all being accepted.</p>
<p>- I got a brochure from a top college. Does that mean that I would probably be accepted I apply?</p>
<p>No. Marketing materials from colleges mean, most likely, that the college got your name from a College Board list based on PSAT scores. It is not an indication of your chance. </p>
<p>- I got a “likely letter” from a school that I applied to. Does that mean that I will be accepted when decisions come out?</p>
<p>Likely letters are usually given to recruited athletes a couple months before official decisions come out. Some colleges also give them out to students for academic reasons in rare cases. If you receive a likely letter, you will be accepted unless you mess up big before decisions are released. </p>
<p>- I used to have all straight A’s until I got two B’s my second semester of senior year. Will I be rescinded?</p>
<p>No. Very few applicants get rescinded. It’s going to take some D’s and F’s to get rescinded, and even then you might be able to explain your way out of it. Nonetheless, don’t take the risk; try to not let your grades fall too much at the end of senior year. (The University of California system is an exception in that its requirements for keeping one’s acceptance are relatively unforgiving.)</p>
<p>- I think I bombed my AP tests. Will I get rescinded?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>- How much will a bad essay hurt me?</p>
<p>Significantly. Admissions officers care a lot about students’ essays, and they tend to feel very confident about their ability to accurately assess applicants’ personalities based on those essays. </p>
<p>- How much do typos in the essay hurt me?</p>
<p>It depends on the nature of the error. A small typographical mistake may go unnoticed and will likely be unimportant if it is isolated. But if you accidentally write the wrong school’s name, it just shows carelessness. Similarly, a mistake-littered essay will reflect very poorly on you. It is worthwhile to proofread your essays (and your entire application) several times. </p>
<p>- What should I write about in my essay?</p>
<p>Your goal should be to write a compelling and interesting essay that reveals something about you that would make a school want you as a student. Also, admissions officers have read a lot of essays; avoiding clich</p>