To be authentic, you have to fake it a little

[dadofsam]

<p>From today’s AP news</p>

<p>

If there’s a sign of the times in college admissions, it may be this: Steven Roy Goodman, an independent college counselor, tells clients to make a small mistake somewhere in their application — on purpose.

</p>

<p>

For some students, the challenge of presenting themselves as full, flawed people cuts against everything else they’ve been told about applying to college — to show off as much as possible.
At the other extreme, when a college signals what it’s looking for, students inevitably try to provide it. So you get some students trying to fake authenticity, to package themselves as unpackaged.

</p>

<p>

“There’s a little bit of an arms race going on,” says Goodman, who is based in Washington. “If I’m being more authentic than you are, you have to be more authentic next month to keep up with the Joneses.”

</p>

<p>

Colleges say what they want is honest, reflective students. As Jess Lord, dean of admission and financial aid at Haverford College in Pennsylvania puts it, “everybody’s imperfect.”
“Since that’s true for all (students), those that portray that aspect of themselves are that much more authentic.”

</p>

<p>and finally the Heisenberg Principle of authenticity</p>

<p>

Dix summarizes the logical muddle the student is in: “As soon as you ask someone to be authentic it’s impossible to be authentic.”

</p>

<p>See the full article at
<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070822/ap_on_re_us/back_to_school_authenticity;_ylt=AhtBxTjUZygfI9ufWQjxJV6s0NUE[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070822/ap_on_re_us/back_to_school_authenticity;_ylt=AhtBxTjUZygfI9ufWQjxJV6s0NUE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[twinmom]

<p>Hmmm. … My daughter forgot to fill out the summer activities section of her Harvard application. (Really!) She realized it days after she sent it in. </p>

<p>She was admitted SCEA. Maybe that was why!</p>

[doubleplay]

<p>This whole thing is getting ridiculous…I’m glad my kids are all done applying to colleges.</p>

[TienIsCoolX]

<p>Guilty as charged. I exaggerated a bit on one of my bigger projects I was in.</p>

[medha]

<p>:eek: The more I read, the more I’m scared :(</p>

<p>Class of 2010 :o</p>

[BAfromBC]

<p>I’m speechless.</p>

<p>Really.</p>

<p>Not fakeing it.</p>

[corranged]

<p>Oh my goodness, it’s not that difficult to fill out an application, people. Just stop thinking so hard.</p>

<p>(Though my music teacher did say to make sure my music recording had imperfections–not necessarily note-wise–so that schools wouldn’t question whether a teacher/professional “helped” with the recording. She has sent multiple students to first chair positions in major city orchestras, so I guess she must have a good point. I of course found that my CD had imperfections all on it’s own, with no extra effort!)</p>

[CountingDown]

<p>DS’s GPA reflects imperfection just fine. Authentic disorganization in freshman year, authentic focus on research in junior year. No faking required. ;)</p>

[mathmom]

<p>Authentic disinterest in doing the work necessary to get A’s in English… :)</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>

Class of 2010

</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

[jovenes132]

<p>Hmm…I once listed on my Rice University application:</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellong</p>

<p>as one of the other schools I was applying to/considering.</p>

<p>I withdrew the app but I thought it was pretty funny =]</p>

[myau]

<p>Is anti-athletic personality of an applicant enough of an imperfection for authenticity? Or … too much of it?</p>

[Chedva]

<p>“The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” - Jean Giraudoux (French playwright, died 1944); also used extensively by George Burns.</p>

[garland]

<p>S was authentically not interested in studying for SAT 2’s. And it showed. Whew!</p>

[PackMom]

<p>S2 got an authentic F in Spanish II last year. It’s a pretty obvious flaw!</p>

[dadofsam]

<p>Chedva: Thanks for the origin of that ubiquitous quote.</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>This and some other recent threads remind me of an old thread, rather shocking to some. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=103059[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=103059&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[spsdds]

<p>S made a spelling mistake on his yale app.after H and I looked it over we did not notice the mistake until after S sent it in.S was accepted SCEA.Good luck to all</p>

[medha]

<p>

Good luck.

</p>

<p>Thanks tokenadult, I need it :)</p>

[originaloog]

<p>Our son didnt have to fake anything. His entire essay was a humorous one about one of his physical imperfections, his teeth!</p>