<p>No, what I’m saying MeSsIaH is that it is pointless to over-analyze this, complain about it, feel dejected about it or otherwise spend a lot of time having angst over it because you simply cannot know the ins and outs of every application, much less even know how your own application was viewed by admissions. And I agree that you have to pursue your goals with intelligence since some game-playing is necessary, but too much trying to anticipate what could please admissions officers might backfire. I know a kid who was quite surprised to find out that an activity he had considered to be kind of random in that it didn’t support his academic or career goals at all, was actually something that interviewers honed in on right away as something very interesting.</p>
<p>Actually, I think the smart and talented among us can best serve society by developing their gifts and forging ahead on that path despite those who would keep them down. And boy do some people like to bring them down too. I also HATE it when adults with the power to award admission and scholarships, rank certain positive EC endeavors as more valuable than others. If you are a brilliant musician or athlete, for example, how is it wise to reduce your practice time so you can spend as many hours doing community service as the person whose passion lies in helping others? Yet, around here community service is KING as far as local scholarhips are concerned and plenty of people feel that community service is more valuable than anything else a student does–even academics.</p>