DD is applying this fall. Reading about a 1-4 grade, 1 is the best, in 4 categories for application. 1) academics 2) extracurriculars 3) athletics 4) personal.
Does anyone know what constitutes a 1 in these categories, what is a 2? How impressive does your stuff have to be? Do you have to be recruited as an athlete to get a 1, or being an nonrecruited decent tennis player get you a 3? Non athlete a 4? Extracurricular is so wide, I wouldn't even ask anyone. But personal? If legacy, does that get you a 1? If you are first time college AA, a 1? If you are upper class white kid with no hooks, a 4?
And then what numbers get you in? 4 total for sure. And a kid with 4 should get in. But then, I wonder where the break is. A kid with great academics, 1, top violin international competitions, 1, no athetics, 4, personal, no hooks, 4. That is a 10. How many get 10?
Just curious if anyone has insight.
I'll give the break down that I took from the Harvard lawsuit. If you have the time, you should read the judicial opinion and some of the briefs and they get into more detail.
In athletics, a "1" is someone they consider capable of starting in that sport, so someone who will make an immediate impact. A "4" is someone who barely made an impact on their high school team. 2) In extracurriculars, "1" is someone with national level recognition/rank in that activity. So, if they're in journalism then a "1" would be someone who managed to get published in a major publication while a "4" might be someone who barely contributed to the school paper.
Personal: A "1" is someone where the recommendations sing the praises of the student with phrases like "One of the best I've ever taught...", "I've never had a student as teachable as ..." Things like that, the more personal, the better.
Academics follows a similar breakdown where a "1" is high level achievement away from the classroom. For example, a student who is significantly contributing in a research lab at a decent university. A real life example I know is a high school junior who is working in the quantum computing department of an Ivy League university developing things for them right alongside their graduate students. I don't know if that's the minimum for a "1" but it's what a "1" might look like.
So, since the Harvard lawsuit and the information came out, I've thought: 1 = national level achievement. 2 = regional achievement. 3 = county level achievement. 4 = participant with school level or less recognition.
Depending on the school, a "1" really impresses and multiple "1"s makes someone a lock. Most kids are a combination of 2s and 3s with the very rare 1 in some category.
Here's a copy of the judicial opinion where they include some detail, hope it helps as a starting point.
See Reading Procedures - Page 19.
