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So...college admissions. I spent the first three years of high school never really thinking about colleges. I did well in school, participated in some clubs that I enjoyed, and generally lived my life one step at a time. I definitely did not structure myself around how to get into a competitive college, and I didn't go to one of those elite private (like Phillips Andover) or exam based public (like Stuyvesant) schools. Anyways, this school year, I started applying to colleges, and did a bit of research on the whole admissions thing. At first, I was pretty freaked out; I read some news articles and message boards (like this one) detailing kids who took more APs than me, had better grades than me, and were recognized in national competitions like Intel STS and USAMO, and they were applying to the same schools I was. But ultimately, what I found was that as contrarian as it might seem, good colleges still have room for those of us who haven't distinguished ourselves in some extraordinary way or tailored ourselves to the college admissions process or worked ourselves to death in hs. So...don't be intimidated by the hype. You don't have to be a Nobel Laureate, or the president of your class, or have perfect scores on your SATs to get into the college of your choice.

By Dave Berry on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 08:52 am: Edit

You speak wisdom beyond your years, RSL. Would you be willing to share with us your list of candidates and your ultimate results? Did you get into your first-choice college?

The one aspect of all this seeming admissions insanity that bothers me the most is that many truly deserving and competitive (in the sense that you're implying here, RSL) seniors don't aspire to more-competitive colleges simply because they're overwhelmed and humbled by the many horror stories of rejection, deferral, and waitlisting that come out every year. Thanks for sharing your refreshing viewpoint.

By RSL on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 09:35 pm: Edit

I applied early action to my first choice(at the time), MIT, and my third choice, Harvard. I then applied to my second choice, Stanford, and two public schools, UC Berkeley and UCLA, because their normal decision deadlines were before I heard from my early choices. I was admitted to MIT, deferred at Harvard (subsequently wait-listed), and then accepted at both Stanford and UC Berkeley. After visiting, I've decided to go to Stanford.
I can honestly say I have done nothing truly remarkable; instead, I just had solid grades (though not perfect), solid SAT scores (same), and solid extracurriculars (nothing distinguishing on a national level). So don't give up hope, because there is definitely still room for someone who is decently smart and decently talented.

By Dave Berry on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 10:17 am: Edit

That's a great story, RSL. I'm interested to know what your objective opinion of your writing skills would be. Would you consider your essays (especially for Stanford and MIT) to be unique in any way? Did you take any special approaches? Essays can often lift an otherwise "normal" candidate into the admit pile.

By Rhonda on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 10:24 am: Edit

Congratulations, RSL. Stanford is really beautiful! Could you tell us your SAT score, if you don't mind. Also, did you have any "hooks" at all that you think may have helped you?

By RSL on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 12:49 am: Edit

Hmm...I would say I'm a fairly good writer. I've always been more focused on math/science, so I've never taken any writing workshops or things like that that might help me truly excel. I do read quite a bit, which I think has improved my writing, and I've done well in all my English classes.
As for my essays, I would say they were pretty standard fare. For MIT's difficult experience topic, I wrote about facing and overcoming social challenges after moving to a new environment in 7th grade. I think with MIT, tackling the nerd/outcast stereotype head on and showing that I wasn't one of those type of people may have helped. For Stanford, I think my only essay of any interest was the personal experience/roommate one, in which I wrote about getting rejected by a girl I really liked (hopefully my roommate won't actually see this).
In general, I would say my approach to the essays was to first observe that my writing tends to decrease in quality and appear forced if I concentrate too much. In other words, my writing style shows through when I'm relaxed and enjoying myself. So I tried to have fun with the essays and view them as an opportunity to express myself, and not think of them as something that could potentially determine whether I got accepted into college or not (if this seems difficult to you, it'll become a lot easier once you actually start writing).
On SATs, I got an 800 verbal and 740 math. As for hooks...in my (ultimately uninformed) opinion, having a meaningful summer experience can be a lot of help, both as something to write on in the application itself, and as a potential essay topic. I was lucky enough to have a connection with a lab at MIT, where I was able to intern during the summers of my sophomore and junior year. The work I did there opened my eyes to the academic world at large, which I wrote down in one of the short answers to both MIT and Stanford.
Also, I have heard that Stanford cares a lot about recommendations and essays. While this may just be superstition, it does make a certain amount of sense; part of Stanford's reputation lies in how happy, vibrant, and helpful the people are there, and having recommendations or essays that demonstrate this type of character can't hurt. Both the teachers who wrote recs for me mentioned the fact that I was very helpful in class and the fact that I displayed a very energetic, excited personality, which may have helped raise my recommendations above and beyond the normal 'excellent student' fare. While you obviously can't change what is written in a recommendation, you can choose the people who write them, and my own opinion is that its a better idea to go with teachers who you have a good relationship with rather than teachers who gave you the best grades.

By Dave Berry on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 07:50 am: Edit

Your comment on recommendations is right on the mark, RSL. I think recs are the area where many otherwise fully qualified applicants lose their shot at top schools, especially applicants coming from schools where not many seniors aspire to the most competitive colleges. Teachers at those schools may not be aware of what their recommendation is designed to do.

When my son was applying to his colleges, two Ivies and two top LACs, I asked him which two teachers he chose for his recs. Then, at parent conferences in October of his senior year, I spoke with those teachers and used the opportunity to provide a little benign counseling of my own. First, I thanked them for offering to write the rec. Then I went on to explain in fairly broad terms how competitive the applications process is at that level (citing acceptance rates, etc.) and how crucial their recs would be.

The most important thing I "suggested," however, was the importance of anecdotal insights into my son's persona rather than merely "a boilerplate, put-your-name-here approach" (as one of his teachers was rumored to have done for previous students). This is a somewhat delicate approach, to be sure, because a parent always runs the risk of sounding like s/he's telling the teacher how to do his or her job. The way I looked at it, though, was that my son had one chance at his dream and I didn't want a teacher who underestimated the elite admissions process unintentionally undermining his chances. Ditto for his college counselor who, fortunately, was more experienced with what was needed. Result: Success on all fronts. I think it was worth the effort.

By AFL on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 11:49 pm: Edit

Actually, Dave, I think that students (or their parents) should take your approach to teacher recs even one step further. Once a teacher has agreed to write a letter of reference, present him or her with a brief "reminder" list. This doesn't have to be a formal resume. In fact, it's better if it isn't. Instead, include key points that may not leap immediately to a teacher's mind such as "I was the only sophomore in your AP French class and also earned the only A" or "You read my critique of Mahler's Adagietto to the entire music theory class." A little humor to lighten up the list never hurts either. ("Remember how you tripped over my dirty Princeton sweatshirt that was always lying on the classroom floor? Well, now I want to go there so I can get a clean one.")

Popular teachers are often asked to write dozens of recommendations every year, and no matter how good a student you are, they will appreciate any helpful memory jogs you can offer.

Be sure to provide stamped, addressed envelopes for them, too, and have everything in their hands well before deadline day, whenever possible.