Packaging an applicant with disparate ECs/interests

George-P-Smackers
Tue, 18 Jun 2024 19:47:56 +0000

As many have said well already, authenticity is its own “packaging.” There are innumerable ways, often unpredictable, in which a combination of various interests will crystalize to form an impression.

My son, who’s starting college this Fall after a happy application process, had a similar mix. He’s a future Bio major—no maybe about it—yet he took the entire acting/play study sequence at his high school.: 4 years of it, and performed in and worked on productions too. Loved it (and other humanities areas).

He had a summer internship in a science program and did well, but (parental bragging here) he really shined as a presenter summing up his team’s work to a big audience at the end: confident, charming, funny, a good and dynamic explainer.

I’m certain that confidence etc. came from his comfort and experience performing. Audience members came up to him after and said “You should be on TV!”

And I’m also pretty sure the internship director must have commented on his talent in a supplemental rec letter. The point is that the packaging of disparate interests often arises spontaneously. It doesn’t have to be a heavy theme.