<p>My kid wrote about being a computer nerd. Are there lots of computer nerds out there? Sure. So he got into some schools and not into others. But it’s a completely true picture of who he is. And as computer nerds go, I think he was pretty accomplished and 99% self-taught which I imagine counts for something.</p>
<p>That said, I think there’s a danger that kids will go out looking for that magic something that will make them look less like typical candidate and more like Fish-farm Freddy. That’s how the whole mania for starting your own club began. It used to be unique, but now every other kid feels obliged to follow suit.</p>
<p>LOL. See item 5. “Lipstick on a pig”. It has to fit. It’s just part of the app. If it looks stuck on, or appliqued - I don’t think that will be very effective.</p>
<p>There was a story in Newsweek 20 years ago about an applicant to Duke, who at her interview, was told by the interviewer, “Well, you’ve done everything but paint your room Duke blue.” So she went home, bought some paint, and sent him a photo of her painting her room Duke blue. She got in (and got said photo in Newsweek). Wouldn’t that be lame now!!!</p>
<p>This might be off-topic a bit, but at S’s school there are a whole series of silly clubs, and most kids belong to them. Think, uh, a Flintstones Club. I was surprised to learn that they had such silly things, and my son told me it was so adcoms could see the kids were also “fun” and not just academic grinds. These kids obviously had thought this through! Think this backfires??? Should you leave that off of your ECs?</p>
<p>I have to say, I think it’s hilarious. The kids work hard and so spending one lunch period a week on a blowoff activity like discussing Wilma and Fred is probably a great boost to the mental health, but I don’t like the calculating nature of it!</p>
<p>If only there was a secret formula . . . I just don’t think there is except unassailable stats, some sort of thematic cohesiveness to the overall application (be it volunteering, music, sports or Russian Lit) and a whole lot of luck. Not sure I want D2 even throwing her hat in the ring for a super selective admission. Too brutal a process for this wimpy Mom. I’m ready to retire. The bloodbath at my D’s hyper competitive hs right now over EA results is just wrenching.</p>
<p>Todd R. Gingrich, Columbia, is a senior at the California Institute of Technology where he
majors in chemistry. CalTech student body president, his most recent research concerns
understanding the science that will one day allow for the development of inexpensive solar
fuel cells. He has also done research on a protein implicated in Parkinson’s disease and
relating to cellular resistance to anti-tumor chemotherapeutic drugs, and has publications in
chemical journals. He also founded the CalTech Prank Club. Todd plans to do the M.Sc. in Theoretical Chemistry.</p>
<p>From everything I’ve read on-line, this “pranksterism” is a genuine love for this guy. IMO it probably helped him, but hey- I could be wrong. And I’d like to think that if it was just dressing on an app- it would have been seen through.</p>
<p>we have girls at our school on Crew- HATE it, Dread it, hate the coaches, but won’t quit, even though they can basically do nothing else, becuase it looks good on college apps and MAYBE one of the crew members MIGHT get recruited</p>
<p>they have basically been told by the coaches :crew will get you in everywhere: so they have no doubt in their own heads it will open ALL doors- think its a way to keep them on the water, with no time for other activities</p>
<p>some are looking only at schools with crew…in the hopes they can get on the team…some are good, but if they don’t make it…</p>
<p>sounds like a fun HS life doing something for years because you think its too late to get involved in someting else</p>
<p>Here’s a test of genuineness that only works in retrospect.</p>
<p>My D was very involved in two things in her HS: her sport, and choral music. Her third area of love was art/crafts/sewing but that she did on her own time. Nothing so unusual, right? Just stuff she liked to do and did well.</p>
<p>Though she was a recruited athlete, her “EC” essay was actually about music; specifically about the magical feeling of blending voices to make a perfect chord.</p>
<p>Now she’s a junior in college. She is captain of her team in her sport. She sings in an a cappella group. For paid work, she makes costumes for the school’s theatre dept.</p>
<p>Maybe the fact you really love what you do comes through in an application/essay/interview? Maybe it’s the love-- and not the awards/hours/ leadership position?</p>
<p>My daughter’s EC was ballet, and maybe a few clubs and piano. She said most kids at her school were editor of newspaper, captain of sports, chorus, orchestra…on and on. Guess what, now that they are in college they are not doing anything, not one sport, club or musical instrument. My daughter is continuing with her ballet, but she has not joined any clubs or continued with piano. I really do wonder why ECs are so important in the college process. </p>
<p>On a different topic - on one Ivy site, some intenationals complained about how it’s unfair not that many internations were admitted, US is suppose to be a land of equal opportunity, with all the endowment those schools have, they should give scholarships to internationls and give them the same opportunity. I think people forget that even though they are world renown universities, they are still US schools. Those schools reside in the US and are supported by the US residents. With so few spots in those schools, I don’t understand why those schools should or be obligated in admitting large number of internationals. Maybe this is for a different thread.</p>
<p>“I think people forget that even though they are world renown universities, they are still US schools. Those schools reside in the US and are supported by the US residents. With so few spots in those schools, I don’t understand why those schools should or be obligated in admitting large number of internationals.”
I for one agree with you.</p>
<p>Someone cited an article on a CC thread about how EC’s became fashionable in college acceptance when WASP universities were faced with so many really smart applicants from less desirable backgrounds…so whatever fancy ECs and sports those WASPY guys were doing at Exeter or Andover were added to the criteria for college acceptance, and the poor immigrant kid from Brooklyn who did nothing but get straight As and work in the family store would be penalized.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry!!! Are you a WASPY guy from Andover? Totally respect WASPY guys from Andover!!! And anyone else from Andover or Exeter, which are not very WASPY these days!! It wasn’t my thesis, just read it somewhere on CC.</p>
<p>^^curmudgeon: Am advising nieces and nephews to found “Swine Cosmetics Interest Groups”
Also, what? Caltech didn’t have pranks before the Caltech Prank Club was founded?</p>
<p>My thought exactly - Caltech didn’t need a prank club they’ve been doing pranks for decades - at least since the famous Rose Bowl prank of 1961. I’ve got the history of Caltech pranks Legends of Caltech from the early 80s (now up to Volume 3) to prove it. A prank club seems very unCaltechish. Way too organized!</p>
<p>“And when they don’t get in all we hear for weeks is how unfair the system is, how rigged, how biased, how racist, how …well… you get the picture.”</p>
<p>At least they learn something from the experience.</p>
<p>The prank club was set up at Caltech to organize a way to get the cannon back from MIT. I have it on good authority that Todd Gingrich spent untold hours on this project. The club served its purpose.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post, bookworm. Anyone who knows Todd knows he never did anything just to pad a resume. He never needed to. He is the genuine article.</p>