2017-18 Admissions Spreadsheets

[Stranger]

yes thank you! Someone should delete it from the other site.

Is the one on the other site the one compiled by the Blue Devil? He's a different poster, alas, and I don't know if he made it over.

[erose]

What's a CF?

[Mikey]

What's a CF?

character and fitness issues

[et84]

Sorry if this has already been asked, I'm new to the admissions game, but what does WE on the spreadsheets mean?

[AvatarRoku]

Sorry if this has already been asked, I'm new to the admissions game, but what does WE on the spreadsheets mean?

WE= Work Experience (measured in years)

[Mon Viller]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (never used TLS) - what are examples of below average, average, above average, and highly unique softs?

What I've gathered is -

Below average: nothing?
Average: clubs, sports, internships
Above average: advanced degree, TFA, AmeriCorps, work experience
Highly unique: Rhodes Scholar, Olympic athlete, president's kid

Is this accurate?

Following on to this question, which category best describes military experience? Also, for these classifications purposes would all military experience be treated the same? Thanks.

[rachelac]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (never used TLS) - what are examples of below average, average, above average, and highly unique softs?

What I've gathered is -

Below average: nothing?
Average: clubs, sports, internships
Above average: advanced degree, TFA, AmeriCorps, work experience
Highly unique: Rhodes Scholar, Olympic athlete, president's kid

Is this accurate?

Following on to this question, which category best describes military experience? Also, for these classifications purposes would all military experience be treated the same? Thanks.

My relatively baseless opinion is that the military would be above average and everything would be treated the same except for maybe being a SEAL

[Mon Viller]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (never used TLS) - what are examples of below average, average, above average, and highly unique softs?

What I've gathered is -

Below average: nothing?
Average: clubs, sports, internships
Above average: advanced degree, TFA, AmeriCorps, work experience
Highly unique: Rhodes Scholar, Olympic athlete, president's kid

Is this accurate?

Following on to this question, which category best describes military experience? Also, for these classifications purposes would all military experience be treated the same? Thanks.

My relatively baseless opinion is that the military would be above average and everything would be treated the same except for maybe being a SEAL

Gotcha that's about what I suspected, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't overestimating my softs.

[Stranger]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (never used TLS) - what are examples of below average, average, above average, and highly unique softs?

What I've gathered is -

Below average: nothing?
Average: clubs, sports, internships
Above average: advanced degree, TFA, AmeriCorps, work experience
Highly unique: Rhodes Scholar, Olympic athlete, president's kid

Is this accurate?

Following on to this question, which category best describes military experience? Also, for these classifications purposes would all military experience be treated the same? Thanks.

My relatively baseless opinion is that the military would be above average and everything would be treated the same except for maybe being a SEAL

Gotcha that's about what I suspected, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't overestimating my softs.

We have a tendency to overestimate our softs, really. I suspect the reality is more like:

Nonexistent - literally K-JD with no work or extracurricular activities
Weak - attendance at a club or two, or a brief unskilled job
Below Average - sustained participation in clubs, sports, internships, but without leadership roles, or a year or two in a real job
Average - leadership roles in the aforementioned activities, or significant work experience in addition to that typical sustained participation, or a simple advanced degree, things that might actually stay on your resume for real job applications
Above Average - significant work experience along with leadership roles and/or advanced degree, doctorate, entrepreneur, something you can write a personal statement about that they don't see every day
Strong - started a company they've heard of, highly decorated veteran, pro athlete, something you can write a personal statement about that they may not see the likes of in a given year
Highly Unique - Congressional Medal of Honor, Olympic medalist, Presidents kid, something you can write a personal statement about that they'll likely never see again

Once you get to above average, you're likely talking about something an interviewer wants to bring up early just to hear more about. It's not just something that makes you well-rounded, it's something that makes you interesting.

[Mon Viller]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (never used TLS) - what are examples of below average, average, above average, and highly unique softs?

What I've gathered is -

Below average: nothing?
Average: clubs, sports, internships
Above average: advanced degree, TFA, AmeriCorps, work experience
Highly unique: Rhodes Scholar, Olympic athlete, president's kid

Is this accurate?

Following on to this question, which category best describes military experience? Also, for these classifications purposes would all military experience be treated the same? Thanks.

My relatively baseless opinion is that the military would be above average and everything would be treated the same except for maybe being a SEAL

Gotcha that's about what I suspected, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't overestimating my softs.

We have a tendency to overestimate our softs, really. I suspect the reality is more like:

Nonexistent - literally K-JD with no work or extracurricular activities
Weak - attendance at a club or two, or a brief unskilled job
Below Average - sustained participation in clubs, sports, internships, but without leadership roles, or a year or two in a real job
Average - leadership roles in the aforementioned activities, or significant work experience in addition to that typical sustained participation, or a simple advanced degree, things that might actually stay on your resume for real job applications
Above Average - significant work experience along with leadership roles and/or advanced degree, doctorate, entrepreneur, something you can write a personal statement about that they don't see every day
Strong - started a company they've heard of, highly decorated veteran, pro athlete, something you can write a personal statement about that they may not see the likes of in a given year
Highly Unique - Congressional Medal of Honor, Olympic medalist, Presidents kid, something you can write a personal statement about that they'll likely never see again

Once you get to above average, you're likely talking about something an interviewer wants to bring up early just to hear more about. It's not just something that makes you well-rounded, it's something that makes you interesting.

That is super helpful! I was considering writing about my unique experiences in the military in my personal statement before and this definitely confirms it for me. Thanks!

[jeremybearimy]

Hi! I'm pretty new here, so sorry in advance if this is a stupid suggestion--what if we made spreadsheets like this for the current cycle, and posted them in each school's thread, and people could update them as the cycle goes on? That way it's not left to one person to compile all of the info at the end of the cycle, and we can see how the cycle is shaping up as it's going? I know lawschoolnumbers sort of serves this purpose, but just wanted to toss that out there!

[Stranger]

Hi! I'm pretty new here, so sorry in advance if this is a stupid suggestion--what if we made spreadsheets like this for the current cycle, and posted them in each school's thread, and people could update them as the cycle goes on? That way it's not left to one person to compile all of the info at the end of the cycle, and we can see how the cycle is shaping up as it's going? I know lawschoolnumbers sort of serves this purpose, but just wanted to toss that out there!

It's your cycle. You can handle data however you want.