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Articles / Applying to College / National Student Leadership Conference and Ivy Admission

National Student Leadership Conference and Ivy Admission

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | May 23, 2003

Question: My son, an aspiring doctor, is a sophomore in high school and has been invited to attend the National Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., this summer. Will that stand out when he applies to college? He is hoping to attend an Ivy League institution.

Students who have attended the National Student Leadership Conference generally seem to speak highly of their experience, but whether this would truly be a “plus” on your son’s college applications depends to a great extent on where he will be applying. Frankly, the more competitive colleges see many applicants with this programâ€"and other similar ones designed to attract good studentsâ€"on their records, so it will do little to set him apart. While they will view it as a productive summer activity, it will definitely not move an application from the “out” pile to the “in.”


If you and your son have read and discussed the program’s offerings, and he is excited about going, then certainly don’t discourage him just because it’s not an express route to Harvard or Yale, but perhaps suggest that he pursue a less traveled road next summerâ€"maybe something that reinforces his interest in the medical field (assuming, of course, that it persists) but that won’t turn up as often on application forms.

Written by

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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