<p>“Enin’s essay examines the impact music has had on his intellectual and personal development. ‘My haven for solace in and away from home is in the world of composers, harmonies, and possibilities. My musical haven has shaped my character and without it, my life would not be half as wonderful as it is today,’ he writes.” …</p>
<p><a href=“Here's the College Essay That Got a High School Senior Into Every Ivy League”>Here's the College Essay That Got a High School Senior Into Every Ivy League;
<p>I heard about that.My dad kept telling me and my younger sisters that he was proud of him and that when we’re in high school we should dtrive tp be like that.Well duh,dad! xD Anyway, Yay! I Love it when I See fellow minority breaking the through the “statistics” that state it’s about 1 in 10 that they’ll go to college. I’m not Ghanian, but Nigerian, for thoses of you who r wondering. I Loved his essay! ~_~ :"> </p>
<p>Watch out for the onslaught of essays about music and personal development next app cycle… ;)</p>
<p>Whether it was the
•Cliches (“My heart sings…”, “…spark of my intellectual curiosity”)
•Forced transitions (“Although I hope that my future career is in medicine…”, )
•Repeated phrases (“Music has become…”)
•Lack of explanation (How has music taught him these things?)
or something else entirely, Enin’s essay didn’t impress me. It’s not bad, per se, but I think it could have been better.</p>
<p>“I directly developed my capacity to think creatively around problems due to the infinite possibilities in music.”
Yup. The infinite possibilities in music is very problematic.</p>
<p>*are very problematic :"> </p>
<p>Certainly it was not the essay what got him into all Ivies.</p>
<p>@KimberlyLaila I’m Nigerian too.
I got this from Wikipedia but its still true:
I suppose its similar for Ghanians. So I don’t think we really need the help of affirmative action.</p>
<p>@dsi411 Yay! lol don’t mention a.a, knowing cc, it’ll cause a controversial, lengthy debate 
and that articule was pretty #boss. Where on wikepedia did ya get it?</p>
<p>@warriordaughter “Watch out for the onslaught of essays about music and personal development next app cycle… ;)”</p>
<p>Oh no. I thought there were already more than enough of those.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think it is that good. I mean, it is good, but is anything special about it? Of the thousands of essays, does this stand out or show exceptional skills in writing? Nah… But congratulations to the guy. He did well.</p>
<p>@KimberlyLaila From the Nigerian-Americans page</p>
<p>Oh, no. That essay is poorly written and doesn’t offer anything fresh or insightful. Is that really the one submitted? I notice it says “Draft #4” at the top–maybe it’s just that, a draft?</p>
<p>The fact that the applicant did a good job of showing his voice and tying several activities together with a single theme may have outweighed some writing problems.</p>
<p>I do not think that this essay got him in. The essay is not bad, but nothing special.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the admissions process in the top schools. This person had an SAT score of 2250 (lower than many applicants), was in the top 2% of his close (many applicants are at the top of their class with a 4.0 UWGPA), he took 11 AP classes (which are overrated in terms of difficulty, rigour and content) and had nothing else outstanding since the article did not mention it. He probably had a few extracurriculars, but nothing too special (since the article did not mention it). How is it that students with achievements greater then that get rejected? His essay seems good, but not what I would call outstanding either. </p>
<p>The essay was definitely not moving. It was a well-written cliche for the best part. Many essays that were written by my peers were so moving that my English teacher often cried after reading them, and they didn’t get into their top choices. Let’s face the facts guys: a 2250 is not an amazing score for the ivies. Many students score higher than that and get rejected. Many students also play an instrument. The article doesn’t even mention if the kid has some national awards for music. I know a friend of mine who had a 36 on her ACT, track star (who was recruited by Stanford), and the president of ASB. Guess what? She was rejected by 4 of the 6 ivies she applied for (HYPD). Why? because she’s asian. While this guy’s accomplishments are commendable, they are not particularly extraordinary. The only reason why he got into ALL the ivies is because of his race. Period.</p>
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<p>Admission offices at “the top schools” do not put as much weight on test scores and class rank as you do, otherwise they would simply accept the x number of people with the highest test score/class rank coefficient.</p>
<p>The simplest and truest answer to your question is that in this particular case, they liked this student better than other applicants.</p>
<p>Still, I’d like to remind you that a 2250 SAT score and a top 2% class rank would put this guy smack dab in the middle of the pack at Princeton, where the SAT component ranges are 700-800 (CR), 710-800 (M) and 710-790 (W), and the majority of students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class, but not as valedictorians. Why not rail against Princeton for accepting any applicants other than valedictorians with 4.0s? Why focus on this one guy, who seems perfectly typical of the students who get into the most selective American universities (right down to the cliché-ridden and self-aggrandizing essay)?</p>
<p>good, not great, not something you would expect as something that would help his otherwise lackluster application get into every Ivy… is his family connected to somewhere higher up or something?</p>
<p>@wannabefeynman - To begin with, admissions offices at these schools have often said that SAT scores over 2200 are all considered the same. SAT is only moderately correlated with university success. Top 2% is pretty damned good, as is 11 AP classes despite your cynical attitude. And if you are relying on the press to be thorough and accurate in reporting all the details, such as his EC’s, you are sadly mistaken.</p>
<p>Of course, you lost all credibility with me when you defended the mother in the April Fool’s joke thread.</p>