Over time, I have seen several people say that highly selective colleges are seeking "well-rounded" applicants, most recently in the "Gifted Girls" thread. What I have heard suggests just the opposite, and thought this would be a useful discussion topic. Specifically, what I have repeatedly heard (from relatives and friends with children that were accepted into these colleges, books on the topic, and college consultants pitching their services), is the following:
Highly selective colleges are NOT looking for well-rounded applicants. They are looking for a well-rounded CLASS composed of individuals that are exceptional in at least one way. To paraphrase what I said another thread, they are ideally looking for a class composed of star athletes, talented musicians, innovative science researchers, highly under-represented groups, kids overcoming considerable adversity, accomplished actors and national math competition winners.
Before going any further, we should make sure we are talking about the same things. What is a "highly selective college"? Here are two useful tests:
1. Its admission rate is below 20%.
2. When JonLaw hears the name of the college, he immediately wants to respond with: "Power! Glory! Awesomeness!" Is the 20% admission rate too high for that, JonLaw?
Note that the 20% admission rate is a very small set of colleges, roughly 40-50 in all, and people can certainly get a fine education outside of them. It is NOT the purpose of this thread to discuss whether or not the competition for admission into these colleges is worthwhile--that is a useful thread topic in itself; feel free to start one.
So with all that, which people think the well-rounded applicant wins consistently over the pointy kid that is exceptional in at least one area, or vice versa?
