"Personal Context" and its Role in Holistic Admission

FakeName1332
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 18:38:00 +0000

Thanks for the comments.

I think it’s tough to measure the value of personal context. Those with an interesting background will likely write a much better, more interesting essay, so they already have that advantage. Then it comes down to how impressive an applicant’s achievements are in the context of their environment. But, this is also where I get confused. Take a kid that has a 4.0 and 36 ACT who spent their entire life at top schools and was essentially expected of HYPS since birth. How is that kid more impressive than someone with a 4.0, 33, who did all their work entirely without any accountability and had no expectations other than ‘dropout’?

I think it’s because I am looking at a holistic approach with 2D glasses. Since all aspects are considered, maybe adcoms will be more impressed with the second kid because he demonstrated some skills that the first student didn’t, but wouldn’t it just cancel out the context? I’m not sure, to be honest.

@bopper
It’s depressing how, in terms of opportunity, some live such a better life than others. Although, speaking strictly in my experience, I think that the person getting served on a plate will have a lot of other struggles in life-- struggles that aren’t demonstrated by the comic.

If someone would like to send me a PM, I would love to discuss how I compare to a typical applicant and some of the confusion in regards to these applicants. Although I understand I am not favorable in admissions, I still have trouble understanding why.