@stanleyy. quite agree with you… and yes, am curious about PrinceMuzic’s friend’s amazing essay idea too.
I know this guy who didn’t have much EC’s or talents, but he studied away from home for high school, and he worked extremely hard, both in academics as well as to fit in the diff environment. He’s the first generation of his family to pursue tertiary education, and I think he is pretty sincere with his applications. He got into Cornell.
But then again, these ‘shocking’ examples might not be so shocking after all. They’re just not the ‘check each criteria off the list’ kind of applicant. They just got in with a diff way… but they’re great.
and it’s no wonder that they could get in since they’re great.