"Design" an Ideal Application

Prep School Admissions
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<p>For those applying to BS or assisting in the process, I thought it might be fun and informative to “design” our own off-the-charts amazing BS application credentials. </p>

<p>Of course, no student can do everything, but by listing what each of us consider the “best” and most interesting credentials that a BS applicant can have (particularly specific awards and scholarships, extracurricular activities, and academic year / summer programs), we all might learn about a few new options.</p>

<p>Our fictional student has a perfect 4.0 average, writes an excellent and original essay, and makes a great impression at interviews. S/he is applying as a freshman. But what else is on his/her application? We’ll leave race, gender, religion, etc off the table.</p>

<p>I’ll start:</p>

<ul>
<li>Proficient in a less common foreign language and completed a STARTalk language immersion summer program in that language.</li>
</ul>

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<p>Represented one’s country on the international scale</p>

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<p>Wrote a New York Times bestselling book! :D</p>

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<p>Haha, let’s try to keep it semi-realistic so we can potentially learn something. As in, real programs and opportunities. </p>

<p>Here’s one: Attended the Davidson THINK Summer Institute</p>

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<p>Is Justin Bieber.</p>

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<p>Okay, I guess this thread is not working out. I tried. :)</p>

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<p>Is Daniel Radcliffe.
And welcome to CC. We’re crazy here.</p>

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<p>Here’s a list based on actual accomplishments of kids I’ve known applying to prep school. Obviously no one kid did them all. </p>

<p>Olympic Development Team (soccer)</p>

<p>Nationally ranked squash player</p>

<p>Junior Olympian</p>

<p>Started a profitable business</p>

<p>Started a meaningful nonprofit & recruited a large number of volunteers</p>

<p>Has had photography, poetry, fiction or other art published in a major national magazine.</p>

<p>Congressional Award Gold Medal (older BS applicant)</p>

<p>Speaks 4 languages fluently.</p>

<p>Junior master scuba diver</p>

<p>Has appeared in professional stage or screen productions</p>

<p>Is the child of the headmaster</p>

<p>State champion for age group in swimming, tennis or another individual sport.</p>

<p>Plays an instrument in a professional orchestra or chamber ensemble</p>

<p>Has garnered national media attention for an unexpected accomplishment and behaved with grace and wit in interviews.</p>

<p>(This last was the only thing on my list I did not see in a prep school applicant. It was a 13 I know who was born with one leg and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Free Wheelchair Mission. He raised $57,000 and made it to the top. His father, an avid athlete, succumbed to altitude sickness and had to be raced down before he was able to summit.)</p>

<p>I’ve just seen how heavy my list is on athletic accomplishments. Makes me realize how many of my kids’ friends are jocks! I’ll leave the more cerebral credentials to the brainiac crowd to list.</p>

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<p>I couldn’t think of any educational programs like Davidson THINK Summer Institute, but here I’ve referenced some real people with qualities/ acheivements that would look pretty good to the admissions people…</p>

<ul>
<li>You’re a 13 year old who has a resume that looks like this…</li>
</ul>

<p>[Resume</a> - Carly Rose Music](<a href=“http://carlysonenclar.com/?page_id=7]Resume”>http://carlysonenclar.com/?page_id=7)</p>

<ul>
<li>You’ve climbed Mount Everest at 13 years old and live to tell about it, with plans to climb the Top 50 highest mountains in the world. I guess he’s working his way from the top down? </li>
</ul>

<p>[California</a> teen becomes youngest to climb Everest | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/22/us-nepal-everest-idUSTRE64L0TV20100522]California”>http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/22/us-nepal-everest-idUSTRE64L0TV20100522)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>You’re 11 year old Emily Bear, and not only completely excel at the piano but have composed hundreds upon hundreds of songs. Frequently win awards that were originally only for people 18 years or older but the judges changed the age limits after seeing you play.
[Emily</a> Bear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bear]Emily”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bear)</p></li>
<li><p>You’re 12 year old Rachel Wheeler who has built a village of homes in Haiti through her fundraising efforts</p></li>
</ul>

<p>[Rachel</a> Wheeler, Food For The Poor Help Build 27 Homes In Haiti](<a href=“http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/rachel-wheeler-food-for-poor_n_1093732.html]Rachel”>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/rachel-wheeler-food-for-poor_n_1093732.html)</p>

<p>And later, if you say things like this in your interview with the press:</p>

<p>“I want to build a school because they need education to make their lives better so they can learn and teach their own children how to have a better life,”</p>

<p>“I don’t believe I can snap my fingers and change Haiti overnight,” she told NBC. “I know I have to work at it.”</p>

<ul>
<li>AND this isn’t an achievement or anything but it probably doesn’t hurt being the son or daughter of a big political figure: </li>
</ul>

<p>[Ask</a> a Boarding-School Expert: If Taylor Swift Elopes with Deerfield Academy Junior Conor Kennedy, Will He Need a Permission Slip? | Vanity Fair](<a href=“http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/08/conor-kennedy-taylor-swift-elope-boarding-school]Ask”>http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/08/conor-kennedy-taylor-swift-elope-boarding-school)</p>

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<p>triple varsity athlete</p>

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<p>Great thread idea, but not very inspiring to your average Joe. =/</p>

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<p>To continue DistantDreamer’s list…</p>

<p>How about a player on the state champion soccer team, 3rd in the state wrestler, who at 13 raised $150,000 while becoming the first one-legged person to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro?</p>

<p>When a CBS news anchor says, “This is one of the five most impressive people I’ve ever met in my lifetime” you know you’ve got something going on!
[Nico</a> Calabria: “My disability doesn’t define who I am” - CBS News Video](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424027n]Nico”>http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424027n)</p>

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<p>Something more realistic but potentially impressive - being an Adirondack 46er. As in, climbing to the top of all 46 mountains in the Adirondacks that are 4,000 feet or higher.</p>

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<p>@SueZ - Wow. That kids amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that before.</p>

<p>@coconutcake - Cool! 46 mountains is an pretty impressive feat. And it sounds a lot more doable than Everest / Kilimanjaro.</p>

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<p>@DistantDreamer-
Yeah, and he’s a nice normal kid to boot (we know the family personally).</p>