<p>A girl in my tiny private school is applying to most of the same top 20 colleges including a few Ivies as me next year. Her GPA is a bit higher than mine (although we both take lots of APs and teachers love both of us so they’ll give good recs), but the main thing is that she just got nominated for this extremely selective summer program (Bronfman, if anyone’s heard of it) and at least here on the east coast it’s well known and it is one of the best things you could put on your college app. I do not have anything like this to boast, but it’s not because I’m lazy/less qualified/etc. it’s bc my ECs and areas of interest are in a whole different area- I am a more science-oriented type. Bronfman is focused more politics/social justice/history.
I’m afraid they’re gonna see that on her app and automatically take her and disregard me, judging by the prestige of this program (it’s not one of those scam ones; you have to go through a battery of interviews and finalist elimination to be selected based on a lot of diff factors including leadership so it is a big deal). The program is known to send lots of its alumni to Ivies (just do some research online). I’m not going on a super selective summer program like that because it isn’t in my area of interest. I pursue my ECs equally as wholeheartedly as she. (I’m working at a neuro lab this summer for what it’s worth.) But I’m afraid that they’ll see this amazing thing on her application that can basically be a guarantee of acceptance, taking my chances away completely.</p>
<p>They are most likely not going to compare your apps side by side. And I highly doubt that this (or really any) summer program is a “guarantee of acceptance.” However, if she has a better app than you (better activities, more leadership, more awards, higher grades, etc) it is possible that she will get in and you won’t. It is much more possible that neither of you will get in though.</p>