Hi guys, so I’ve been told that different top schools (obviously) have different personalities. Does that affect the ECs they have a soft spot for?
for example, at my school, captain of academic bowl always gets into duke(ik not ivy, but still), and many other good bowlers from other schools get into duke.
have you guys seen any patterns like that? (ex: if harvard had a thing for Model UN or something)
What you’re asking for doesn’t exist.
Ha, I’m captain of my school’s academic bowl team. I doubt I’ll get into Duke though.
I think it’s just a coincidence.
Though for example, if a particular school really needs a football quarterback then it’s a different story…
I have not xceptt the kids who got into Harvard from my kid school with athletic recruits.
i’m not looking for anything definitive. it maybe perhaps that academic bowl kids are simply more attracted to duke.
my school enters many kids into various ivy league or whatever schools, perhaps that’s why this has happened. i mean not everyone gets into duke, but those who didn’t applied early to ivy leagues.
i know that certain ECs promise nothing when it comes to college apps, let me rephrase
do certain school’s environments cause them to happen to enroll more kids doing a certain EC.
do certain schools maybe have a larger emphasis on public speaking, and others math team, etc?
All schools respect consistent and deep community service.
No, not that I am aware of. I will tell you one thing though, if you don’t do what you truly have an interest in, these colleges have a way of sniffing that out.
All schools value genuine, committed, and sustained pursuit of extracurricular activities, especially if one can accomplish some of the following:
- Attain a high level of proficiency
- Relate that activity to your area(s) of focus
- Relate that activity to service or leadership in a broader context
- Develop a useful skill set that is directly translatable to success in college
- Develop a useful skill set that can help enrich the overall collegiate environment
Beyond that, there’s no golden rule for what ECs are preferred at particular schools, and it may vary from year to year. Playing the trumpet could be a coveted skill one year, and a redundant one the next. It’s way too hard to predict, so stick with things that genuinely interest you, and at which you can accomplish some of the above.
Some schools attract a higher percentage of students with certain kinds of ECs just because they are well known for excellence in those areas (or are located in an environment that makes it attractive for kids with certain kinds of ECs. Schools like, say, Oberlin or Muhlenburg attract lots of applications from students who excel in the performing arts. 60% of Caltech students are apparently musically trained. The Maine LACs get a lot of kids who like outdooring and 80% of their student population participates, or so they report. That doesn’t mean that the schools don’t value kids with other ECs - but if you have a special interest, there’s no reason not to favor a school that attracts students with your interests. That’s part of fit. (But even those schools with a reputation in one area or two, still need a variety - someone’s got to work on the school newspaper, play on the school’s sports teams, etc…)
ty N’s mom, thats what i was looking for.
I’ve heard from many admissions officers that they want to get a well rounded class of students who care about different things which makes me believe that no one EC is the “magic bullet” for any school (other than a recruited athlete). I’d suggest that whatever activities you choose, you pursue them with commitment and passion. For example people from my D’s HS class who got into Harvard her year included: one recruited athlete, one newspaper editor one violinist one well known legacy’s kid, and one science researcher. The ECs truly ran the gamut.
I have the following on very good authority:
Harvard: avid cyclists and self-taught menswear tailors
Yale: volunteers, but only in service of elderly women from states that start with the letter N
Princeton: applicants with deep personal interest in family genealogy; left-handed red-heads
Stanford: people who, when they drop their toast, it invariably lands butter-side-up
MIT: applicants who tuck their jeans into their boots; children of the visually-impaired; people who eat chia seeds in their smoothies but pick them off their salads
Caltech: Male applicants who can’t grow convincing cop mustaches; Female applicants who can
Williams: People named “Williams”; people named “William”; people named “Rufus” (there is no consensus on why this last one is the case)
Amherst: People named “Lord Jeff”; people who pass out blankets to homeless shelters, but only if the blankets have been thoroughly infected with smallpox (although a recent student got in despite using cowpox instead, so there are some disagreements on this one)
Swarthmore: People who understand that martinis are not to be made with vodka
Pomona: People who perform Morton Feldman pieces for solo piano; people named “Lord Pomona”
UPenn Wharton: People who wear their watches on their right wrists; half-men/half-beasts; children of amateur gynecologists
Deep Springs: People with “Y” chromosomes; people who collect fancy paper napkins; people who can recite the full lyrics to Cisqo’s “Thong Song” in the style of Harvey Keitel
Dartmouth: people who go by their middle names; people with hyphenated last names that include the name “Clyde”; people who know that Roger Moore was the third-best James Bond
Brown: people who sew owls on their cardigans; people who have at least 12 Facebook friends named “Steve”; people who, when you ask them “how’s it going” answer totally honestly–and at length.
@marvin100 underrated post of the year
Thanks @Ranza123 - Just trying to educate the masses.