Guest: Joseph Dur, Harvard graduate and college admissions expert for over a decade.
Topics: Making your application stand out, differentiating between high-effort activities, genuine passion projects, randomness in admissions, and actionable advice.
Is Ivy League Worth It?
Common Question: Is attending an Ivy League college worth the effort?
Joseph’s Honest Answer: Leaning towards no, because personal interests were deprioritized for college applications.
Advice: Focus on what you are passionate about; excel in those areas as college applications can be a secondary reward for genuine hard work.
Personalized College Counseling
Mention of Quad Education: Personalized counseling for Ivy League, scholarships, and BSMD programs.
Benefits: Custom match process with counselors, free first consultation.
How Colleges Differentiate Top Candidates
Beyond Grades: Colleges look at essays, extracurriculars, athletic contributions, and any published or independent research.
Key Insight: Admissions officers seek evidence of future contributions and continuation of excellence on their campuses.
Analogy: Your application is like a trailer for the four-year “movie” of your college life.
Standing Out in College Applications
Strategy: Go deeper within personal passions rather than spreading thin across many activities.
Quality over Quantity: Admissions officers prefer fewer, deeply engaging activities rather than many superficial ones.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Quantity over quality in activities.
Mistake 2: Trying to be someone you’re not.
Best Advice: Be unapologetically yourself and craft a compelling, consistent narrative around your genuine interests.
Traits and Skills of Successful Students
Common Traits: Perseverance, resilience, dedication, and discipline.
Narrative: Admissions officers appreciate a hero’s journey where students overcome adversities.
Importance of Recognition
Achievements: State, regional, national, and international recognition in fields of excellence can make a strong application.
Independent Projects: Published research, writing books, starting nonprofits are highly valued.
Real vs. Fake Commitment
Detection: Colleges can gauge the authenticity of commitment through detailed activity descriptions and time investments.
Practical Tip: Overestimate time realistically to capture the true commitment and cognitive effort.
Randomness and Luck in Admissions
Both play roles: Luck in who reads your application, but creating your own luck through strategic, valuable decisions.
Admissions Evaluation Process
Holistic View: Academic, extracurricular, personal, and referenced attributes are evaluated comprehensively.
Harvard’s 1-6 Rating System: Rates different components (academics, extracurriculars, athletics, personal, recommendation letters, alumni interview) from top (1) to lowest (6).
Role of College Essays
Critical Role: Especially important once numerical thresholds are passed (GPA, test scores).
Storytelling: Craft microcosmic (individual essays) and macrocosmic (whole application) narratives.
AI (ChatGPT) in College Essays
Trend: Use by students to draft essays, countered by admissions offices' AI detection methods.
Advice: Beware of over-reliance; repeated syntax and redundancy can be indicators.
Advice to Younger Students (9th/10th Grade)
Start Early: Experiment, fail and learn to find your passions early on.
Be a Go-Getter: Actively seek experiences and take initiative.
Align with Goals: Build a comprehensive story and mindset that appeals to admissions officers.
Conclusion
Importance of Authenticity: Be true to yourself, and craft a compelling narrative around your genuine passions.