Thanks Bostonian. A class mom met the head of admissions of Yale during the spring and the comment was: there was an overabundance of the perfect scores and grades plus music plus sport. And finding the exceptional that popped out the pile was the task for admissions now.
For those of us that have younger kids, what will be fashionable when our kids have to apply?
Ren
You also need to remember your goal and tailor your approach accordingly.
It's strategic on a number of levels because it's just a system to be gamed.
For example, if I had a kid who wanted to go to med school or dental school, I would recommend a nice state school where they could go for free (or make a profit, depending on the scholarships) and could get a 4.0 by sandblasting their academic competition like a soup cracker.
Harvard and Yale are very important for certain career paths (certain business consulting jobs, etc.), but not as important for others (pre-med, pre-law). Plus, there the MCAT and LSAT become much more important.
