Participation vs. achievement?

spaceandscience
Sat, 24 Nov 2012 01:00:25 +0000

Which appeals more to the admissions officer,
A. the highschool Black Belt who went to the Junior Olympics and got a medal, or
B. the highschool Black Belt who went to the Junior Olympics but didn’t medal, while doing a number of other activities which are focused on their intended major, but in which they have achieved only partial success (say, they’ve participated in 10 SpaceAndScience challenges and have won or placed in 3), and while having done something else impressive – like a book publication, founding a non-profit, winning a Congressional Award, etc.?

Are both Ivy-League tier?

Note: Karate, not Taekwondoe, isn’t in the regular Olympics yet. This applicant would not be an athletic recruitment and would have an intended major outside of Karate.

This all boils down to the big question:
Do admissions officers favor heavy, focused participation with sometimes limited success, or much more limited applications with success in one or maybe two events?

Are both of these applicants Ivy League level?