<p>Have you ever met a parent in the admissions office that ever did anything outrageous or unbelievable? Have you ever said anything during an interview or a tour, you wish you could take back? Have you ever met an interviewer that just simply rubbed you the wrong way? Just looking for funny and helpful anecdotes.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve met such a parent. In one admissions waiting area a parent turned to me & began expounding on his son’s football talents. He opened a briefcase which contained professional quality brochures outlining the boy’s talents, complete with photos, game stats, GPA, and testing scores (“all in one handy brochure you can fit in your sport jacket pocket”). He then pulled out DVDs which he had made by a professional sports videographer, with game highlights (he had interviewed several to find the right one). I was impressed, awed, and intimidated–all at once. I thought, “Why haven’t I made an extra effort for my daughter?” I thought, “Is this real? OMG, is this what we’re up against?” Then his child walked out into the waiting area. He looked like, perhaps, a rising 8th grader. All along I had thought we had to be talking some high school star looking at a PG year.</p>
<p>Middle School sports parents can be enormous boors. I just hope that I wasn’t one! :D</p>
<p>However, what you describe is more extreme than anything I’ve heard until now.</p>
<p>I’d be a horrible admission’s officer. Any parent trying that hard (or even close to that hard) to sell me their child would have zero chance of being admitted. The child might be perfectly nice, but parents like that would kill it. One pager slicks, professionally prepared? Brochures? Videos? I’d never be able to get the words “freak show” out of my mind.</p>
<p>Too funny rebelangel - your “freak show” comment gave me a good laugh!</p>
<p>Admissions people seem to admire modesty, which is tough when you are trying to “sell” yourself (or as a parent, sell your child) to a competitive school. One AO commented in the parent interview that she liked the fact that my son didn’t bring up an award he had received, though she had known about it from his student profile. </p>
<p>I wonder if this is an area where it would be helpful to have a professional involved who can advocate for your child without the appearance of bragging.</p>
<p>Rell–my d had an unusual school history and I felt the application didnt give her a full chance to explain her background, so I submitted a portfolio. We didnt do any applications before interviews, so they saw this with her entire packet. I didnt highlight her accomplishments but did offer a one page explanation of her schooling and why we were looking at bs.</p>
<p>I will admit it was a lot of work, and it is something I had to do myself for lack of funds. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>My 2 cents: I’m just not sure how much awards really matter, other than just demonstrating that you child not only participates but participates actively and well in the activity. Kids get awards for EVERYTHING it seems–it’s hard to tell, sometimes, which are representative of something truly special and which are just “feel good.” </p>
<p>Having been through the process twice, I’d say it’s the quirky stuff that makes a kid stand out–and that comes out best in essays and interviews, not in brochures or lists of achievements. I’m guessing that that’s what Alexz got at in her one-page explanation. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that awards and achievements shouldn’t be listed; I just think there’s a reason why bs’s limit them to a small list on the Part 1 application.</p>
<p>Rellielou- </p>
<p>I think this is one place where recommendations are critical. I too have a child who doesn’t like to brag. Child has accomplished quite a bit in one area and is very happy to talk about the activity but not about the resultant accolades. We plan to ask the GC to be very specific about those accomplishments.</p>
<p>Phrases like “Youngest ever to have…, best seen in the past 10 years…and logged more than…” seem best left up to someone other than the candidate to say.</p>
<p>Classicalmama-you are right, it is the “specialness” of each kid that I believe makes them stand out. As so nicely put by Andover “75% of the applicants are academically admissible”. We all know of kids with 99% SSAT scores and 5 sports that dont get accepted by the top schools.</p>
<p>I have, for many years, found my d “different”. I decided to not just point out her strengths, test scores and recs. show that, but how I find her differences interesting and how I and her extended family tried to address them.</p>
<p>Exactly!</p>
<p>I just returned from an extended weekend where a group of parents and alum were given 6 imaginary student profiles and asked to pick our top two student picks. We had school recommendations, principal recommendations, interview notes, etc.</p>
<p>We then discussed the merits of each student as a group and advocated for our “picks.” It was interesting that the profile of the child with the highest scores and accomplishments got no votes from the close to 100 people in attendance. It was a unanimous “rejection” because of other clues in the application that suggested the child was not ready for boarding school. </p>
<p>And yet two other children with “lower scores” got the highest votes.</p>
<p>We went on to talk about students with 99% scores who went on to drop out of BS because they couldn’t handle the work and students with lower scores that the committee took a risk on who went on to become valedictorians. We talked about how “hooks” come into play when all other factors are equal (i.e. sports, music, hobbies, hometown, etc.)</p>
<p>So it reinforced what we talk about here (and my hubby and my experience) which is the term academically admissable often refers to pure “stats” (grades and scores) but those stats are not always an accurate indicator of future performance.</p>
<p>It’s as much art as science. My favorite quote of the weekend: College adcoms don’t have to live with the students they admit. We do.</p>
<p>So take that to heart - we’ve all pounded it on CC boards for a long time. It’s not just about the grades and ability - it’s also heavily weighted by whether the school thinks you are a “fit” and whether your skills and interests will help them create a balanced campus environment.</p>
<p>This process is what RBGG calls a black box or a c**pshoot. :D</p>