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I am Chairing our Honors Admissions Committee this year. I have four years experience. It is astounding to see what 17 years-old have done with their short lives. Equally, however, I recognize that so much of what they have done represents something many parents don't understand.
It really troubles me how difficult it is for smart students from low-income backgrounds, 1st generation college students, small or poor schools, or even just from homes in which parents aren't paying attention to understand what their competition is doing.
I would imagine that many Americans have no real understanding of "international bachelorette" or "advanced placement." The latter many have heard of, of course. But some schools offer 18 AP courses. Some schools offer ZERO.
So right out of the gates there is this profound system of inequity woven into college admissions and life. Have an IB background? You've had an amazing and rare opportunity. Taken more than 4 APs? You've had an amazing and rare opportunity.
Now add to this extracurriculars. Music and sports are obvious sources of inequity. Many households have no experience of EITHER. So it isn't that they are not interested in these things. It's just really that they don't understand how families make them work.
If you come from a poor family or live in small or poor school district, your access to these things is already smaller. But beyond that it is very likely that your family has not taught you how to show these passions of yours in a way that allows you to brag about them.
So even if you are doing them, you might not understand that you need to TALK about them in a college application. And your parents might not know either. Or they may not be paying attention at all.
So again, even if you are super smart, you are simply entering a situation where it seems like bragging about your accomplishments and passions. Whereas much of your competition just sees this stuff as the kind of thing PEOPLE DO FOR FUN.
Now focus on the fact that we are talking only about extracurriculars offered through public (and private) schools. (There is a difference between public and private too but let's skip that.) There's a whole world of boutique clubs/extracurriculars that PEOPLE DO FOR FUN.
A lot of this stuff is really beneficial in terms of the way it shapes the 17 year-old's maturity. They start interacting with people of different ages. They talk about shared interests that might shape their career. They learn skills. And they learn: HOW TO TALK ABOUT THIS.
Now all of these things cost money. And that's fine. You and I understand that economic inequality is going to allow for differences like this, and we are pretty good and making the allowance for what we call "privilege". But:
No one teaches smart teenagers from poorer backgrounds how to explain in their personal statements or on their resumes or through their letters of recommendation why they DON'T HAVE MANY OF THESE THINGS.
Occasionally teachers writing letters of recommendation will say something like "this kid is amazing and comes from a super tough home" or "basically parents his/her younger sister and brother" or "has been homeless a lot." And suddenly you see it in their application.
But of course that's tragedy and empathy working in tandem and maybe even to the advantage of the smart kid. But the majority are more in the situation where they are top 5-20% of their class, decent ACT/SAT (they only take it once), and simply don't know they did well.
Their parents may even think of themselves as involved or trying or concerned or but they have values that make it seem weird or immodest to talk about themselves as having accomplishments. Or their parents think only hard work matters & don't see this stuff as well-roundedness.
School counselors - bless these people profusely! - work really hard to help readers of applicants files understand. But even here we see patterns of difference. Not all schools have counselors. Why?
So here's what you personally can do. When a kid you know is in eighth grade and you suspect they come from a home that simply doesn't know about all of this stuff I'm describing, ask the kid if they would like a mentor. Be that mentor.
Almost all of this can be solved by helping young teenagers understand the kinds of things they can do by simply teaching them to see their circumstances in context and explain that describing one's passions, service, hobbies, and extracurriculars isn't bragging.
If they really cannot load up their resumes and life experiences with personal and professional extracurriculars (and many cannot), then help them identify service opportunities. Volunteering over a four year high school career to something they care about is awesome.
And then when they start applying for college, help them learn how to explain that they did this service (a) because they care, but also (b) because they couldn't afford an instrument or had to care for siblings after school and couldn't be in a sport.
If they had to work a job to help the family survive (ie no time to volunteer), then suggest a letter of recommendation from their employer be included in the application. And damn it - call the person who is writing that letter and explain to them what that letter needs to say.
Don't tell me that you don't know a kid in this situation. The chances are you have a niece or nephew or a neighborhood kid. Or if you really cannot find someone, then go to talk to a school principal or counselor and volunteer.
You don't need to do this for every kid. But if every one of us just made a difference in one kid's life every four years, then some of damned inequality in all of this would be taken out of the equation.
And again here's what we need to solve: we have smart and talented kids in our society who simply don't know how to talk about their circumstances and see how much they have accomplished already.
NB. Just for clarity, there is a fantastic example of autocorrect above. But it is important: "international baccalaureate" is considered the toughest curriculum is the USA. International Bachelorette is probably something the Trump organization is starting tomorrow.
