NPR followed the work of the Amherst admissions committee. Listen or read the whole story and you ought to come away with the message that there is so much more to getting into a highly selective college than just good grades and test scores. It was this snip that tells you a lot:
“He’s a valedictorian. Started taking APs his freshman year – fives in world history, bio and U.S. history. Vice president of the National Math Honor Society. He’s part of the Math League and the Chess Club. He’s a tutor, a lab assistant, does community service. He writes a touching E-1(ph) about his work in pediatrics at a hospital. Overall, I like him.
But he gets not a single vote [for admission], and instead ends up on the wait list.”
While the NPR story is about Amherst, it could just as easily be about any selective admissions college. As an applicant, the story emphasizes your need to demonstrate what you will uniquely bring to campus, not what you have accomplished. Be forward looking in your midset. Everybody applying to these schools has accomplished a lot.
And, truth be told, you might be the perfect applicant and just not make it.
