For me, one theme came up again and again at this week’s IECA conference: the strongest applicants are not necessarily the most polished ones.
Admissions officers repeatedly talked about seeking alignment among a student’s interests, activities, academic choices, values, voice. Not perfection or the longest resume. Not the most strategically engineered academic narrative. They really want to know, why do you do what you do? That question matters more than students (and parents!) often realize.
If a student says they care deeply about equity but their activities are solely pay-to-play, AdComs notice the disconnect. If an essay is about valuing balance and being anti-hustle culture while the transcript reflects a relentless accumulation of APs and leadership/membership in 5-10 clubs, that tension is visible too.
More and more, AdComs seem less interested in polish and more interested in coherence, sincerity, and self-awareness. Oh, and humanity and character.
Not: “Is this student the founder/president/captain of everything?”
But more like: “Is this a good person?” “Would this student contribute positively to a community?” “Can they collaborate, not just lead?”
One admissions officer essentially said, stop trying so hard to be so perfect, it’s exhausting for us all. That doesn’t mean ambition is bad. It means students are often more compelling when their lives reflect genuine engagement—and even a little lighthearted fun—rather than constant optimization or outcomes orientation.
The students who stand out most are usually not the ones who heavily curate experiences. They’re the ones actually shaped by them, and many of those experiences are not that glamorous!
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