I don’t think there are 30,000 of them, but I’m still very impressed by Eagle Scouts/Girl scout Gold earners. Is there a great variety in their final projects? Sure, but they all did a lot of work to get there. Some had a lot of help, some did it by themselves, but I’m still impressed.
Are there some class presidents who do very little? Sure, but most do a lot and get experience organizing events, working with the school administration, maybe even running a budget for the Prom or a class project. Do some sneak in on the hard work of others? I don’t care.
Both students were stand outs not only in the impact their ECs had in the community, but also the passion and charisma in how they discussed and shared details. Their excitement in what they were doing was self evident. I was actually shocked at the admission decision. Both brought CVs with them and had great stats.
But, I wasn’t seeing the rest of the applicant pool, how the class was shaping up, and not privy to those years’ institutional priorities.
But, those experiences left me feeling like ECs were not necessarily going to move the needle enough if the other pieces weren’t aligned.
This is key. For context my kids attended a large, top public HS…tons of high achievers, where the bands win Grammy awards, multiple alum play in various pro sports leagues, successful entertainers, etc.
In addition to that, I worked for 6 years or so in college counseling and saw many high achievers.
Now that I’ve read apps for a few years I can say I was not prepared for the strength of the applicant pool that I see. It’s shocking, and again, lots of high achieving students in my previous orbits.
I want to say this to all the high achievers or their parents who post here (but I typically don’t), or those asking if this or that is a ‘hook’. But IME until you see it, it’s hard to fathom.