<p>At an academic advising session for my D who will be a private high school junior Fall 2014, the school mentioned that based on what the College Counseling Department is hearing this spring from colleges in this decision season, colleges are now focusing on what kids are “giving back to their school, what are they doing for their school” – meaning their high school. A parent who used to be faculty for freshmen at Harvard (she had to move out of state so no longer does this), Harvard takes plenty of “B” students and turns away (more and more) many 4.0 plus kids.</p>
<p>Not surprising - the kids with the perfect GPA often are not contributing to their community. They want students who will be good citizens, and who will be likely to contribute in some way as alumni as well. How else would places like Harvard have built their endowments, enabling them to give financial aid to so many students?</p>
<p>What does giving back to their high school mean? Like giving tours to prospective parents, working at the fundraisers, tutoring? </p>
<p>Harvard takes zero B kids if they are not helmet sports players or otherwise attractive (development, son or daughter of a United States Senator). You can get into Harvard with a B or two, but it is incorrect to state that they take “plenty” of B students (i.e. GPA of 3.0)</p>
<p>Hmmm…it does sound a little self-serving to me. (But I do tend to be cynical about things like this.) </p>
<p>Still, there’s something that suggests that there might be ulterior motives. Sort of like when I tell my son, “You know, women really like a man who treats his mother really, really well.” </p>
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<p>Its not clear to me what position this person held, or where, but the statement doesn’t fit with what I think I know and have learned about any of the Ivies, other than that lots of kids with high grades are not admitted. If you are talking about elite athletes, or possible URMs, I can believe there might be some B’s in there. For most of the other kids, you aren’t going to see many.</p>
<p>I think all schools take notice of people who are leaders by “serving”. This isn’t particularly new. Maybe I’m missing the point. </p>
<p>If only this were true …the B student part. Been around the block a couple times, and from our vantage point it seems exceptions to perfection are made in trade for other assets…athletic, musical, diversity. If you don’t fall into a very specific “needed” category, I’m afraid all the volunteering in the world won’t get you into Harvard. Too bad, too, because many of these B students are fantastically well rounded, and add so much to the party. </p>
<p>I have been to a number of really strong sessions at our HS with admissions officers from multiple colleges of varied sizes, levels etc. The bottom line I kept hearing is that colleges are looking for students who are involved. This involvement can be almost anywhere (in or out of school) or doing almost anything. If one particular admissions officer puts an emphasis on giving back to the school, another might love kids who do community service, yet another may value the arts etc. The bottom line for each student is to find one or a couple of things they they truly care about, and get involved. </p>
<p>And I agree, the only B students getting into Harvard either play in a revenue generating sport or have a building or two in his or her family’s name.</p>
<p>EllieMom said: "Still, there’s something that suggests that there might be ulterior motives. Sort of like when I tell my son, “You know, women really like a man who treats his mother really, really well.” </p>
<p>LOL - I tell my kids the same thing about table manners. That people are really attracted to someone with good table manners. So chew with your mouth closed, use your knife and fork properly and don’t order spaghetti on your first date! :D</p>
<p>Also, as far as volunteering goes at Yale, it is only ranked as considered. So, I would assume that the importance of volunteering will depend on the schools to which you apply. </p>
<p>I am sure our high school meant more involvement/giving back to your high school. They said that, of course, any service is good to any entity, but that colleges are now looking for students who will work for/help their college, to add to that college, to be devoted to the college. </p>
<p>That DOES sound self-serving. Watch out when you hear that what selective colleges are really looking for is kids who have given nice gifts to their GCs!</p>
<p>Frank Bruni wrote an op-ed for the New York Times recently which included this observation:
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/opinion/bruni-our-crazy-college-crossroads.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/opinion/bruni-our-crazy-college-crossroads.html</a></p>
<p>Maybe the gig is up for volunteering far away from home? That would explain the emphasis on “giving back to their school.” There’s usually no way for teachers writing recommendations to know if volunteering done outside of school is genuine or, ah, “admissions bait.” </p>
<p>Here’s the grain of truth that I am sure is there somewhere: I am sure colleges are sick to death of every applicant having created some personal one-off charity to benefit kids with a particular disease in a town in India, or to support research on her little sister’s chronic ailment. When they look for community involvement, they want to see involvement in the community where the kid actually lives and functions, which includes his or her high school. And they want to see involvement with community, other people around, adult supervision and validation, indications that leadership is earned as a mark of respect from others and not self-manufactured.</p>
<p>(And that part about B students? Forget it. Students with some Bs, maybe. If there aren’t too many of them.)</p>
<p>This doesn’t surprise me, and, personally, I’m glad to hear it.</p>
<p>Often on cc, people derisively talk about the “student body president or the cheerleader,” like being enthusiastic is a bad thing. So, those things may not be your cup of tea, but why wouldn’t colleges want kids who have proven they’re willing to give back to their school, coordinating events or leading initiatives? You can make judgments as to whether this is all done for the sake of school unity or self-aggrandizement, but colleges still want these things on their campuses so it’s not surprising to me that these kinds of kids are desirable.</p>
<p>Ha! @momofmusician17 My classic line with 17 year old boy is “chicks dig personal hygiene” 
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<p>On a more serious note I would bet that the ‘B student’ tag is kind of like the ‘full ride’ that we hear so much about. It is more likely that she meant a B here or there or just symbolically telling kids not to grade grub at the expense of being involved in other stuff. </p>
<p>Wonder if this means class clowns who entertain their classes have much more hope now… :D</p>
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<p>So you’re basically saying waiving cutlery/swords around at dinner tables or using a pair of chopsticks and a glass to play some drum rolls isn’t attractive to people? :D</p>
<p>Might take a B student if it is a B U S H. Otherwise–maybe an F student as in FORBES. </p>
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If you define “B student” as less than a 3.5 GPA, the most recent published CDS (2011-2012) mentions that this group only composes 3.8% of the entering class. If you define it as less than 3.25 GPA, then less than 0.8% of the entering class were B students. The other 96% or 99.2% had higher grades. Maybe you/she meant to say that Harvard admits plenty of students with less than a 4.0 over students with a perfect or near perfect GPA, something I’d agree with.</p>
<p>That’s OK as long as you chew with your mouth closed If class clowns are trending then we’re golden this time around. I still think we’ll have a healthy dose of safeties though, just to hedge our bets.</p>
<p>Colleges looking for students who give back is news? I thought that was obvious…I wonder if the students who give back in meaningful, sincere ways are the ones who do better on the admissions process. Could that be possible? And the kids who don’t have been shut out?</p>