The Science of College Applications

Business Week has an article on Michele Hernandez, a lady getting paid ~$1M per year to get rich kids into the Ivies.

What sets Hernandez apart these days is the intensity with which she extends into adolescence the Brand Me imperative. Her approach with these students depends on sussing out and then encouraging their own inclinations. If someone says she likes photography, Hernandez might suggest she take photos of the homeless, then mount an exhibit as a way to raise money. "A kid wouldn't come up with that idea on their own," she says. "They don't know what colleges are looking for." Hernandez advised a student working on a nanotechnology project to e-mail famous scientists and compile the exchanges into a book. "If you did that, I guarantee you'd get into any school," she said to the girl. To another student who enjoys studying Latin, Hernandez suggested learning Greek over the summer, too: "It's a great selling point." When a ninth-grade boy said he might be interested in his school's tech club, she told him: "You can take it over and take it in a new direction."

The article makes it pretty clear that there is a quasi-science to college admissions. That comes as no surprise, but you might wonder what happens to first-generation college applicants/poor kids, etc. who aren't aware of this approach to college admissions. Here's a companion article that talks about college admissions counseling for low-income kids. It sounds like a really good start, but how are poor kids supposed to package themselves the way that Hernandez describes? Poor kids may not have access to a camera to take pictures of homeless people, may not have the opportunity to compile a book, and may not have the resources to go to a summer program on Greek.