a chance at all?

confidentialcoll
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:18:03 +0000

“but, uhh what’s it mean “to game it””

this means to pretend like you are a fit when you are not.

I disagree with this advice a little, I don’t think you should present a fake profile, because that will probably get caught out, and an interview / your recommendations would reveal discrepancies. I do think you should tweak your application/style of essay/ emphasis of ECs for different universities. For caltech you might want to play up your geeky side, for columbia (perhaps) your wish to contribute and be part of a vibrant community outside the school, perhaps discuss how you see yourself adding to columbia’s reputation by initiating some community service project. Same goes for duke, Upenn, or yale all of which have poor areas nearby. For princeton and MIT you might want to stress your excitement about research etc etc.

Now every university wants a mix of people, so they don’t look for a certain type of person, but if you’re captain of the math club, most of your ECs revolve around science, you write about math in your essay and you show little interest is other disciplines, columbia will probably reject you. Caltech will probably reject you if you waffle about art history and community service without showing an interest in math and science.