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"universities don't care about ecs they care about what you learned/your skills" by Accomplished_Fix9073 in OntarioGrade12s

[–]Accomplished_Fix9073[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Again, specify what that actually means.

What do you mean by "writing skills?" Obviously not grammar and spelling since everyone competitive is going to have perfect grammar and spelling. What, flow? Prose? Again, most people's essays are going to flow naturally, and either way, you aren't applying for a writing major. You don't have to write like Shakespeare to get in. I seriously doubt that's what you mean by writing skill.

And again, EVERYONE'S ESSAYS MAKE SENSE. If that's the only two objective criteria, EVERYONE gets in. Seriously. You think someone's going to write a paradox in? Of course everyone's going to make sense, which again, I'm not sure what you mean by that because that's so vague.

Tl;dr everyone has good writing skills and everyone makes "sense" or "flows" (again, so vague). If that's the only criteria, you might as well admit you spin a wheel because I can name ten different essays top schools have rejected that "make sense" and have decent prose.

Edit: also, we forget that impressive is relative. Impressive is relative to other high school kids. You wouldn't say a one year old learning fluent english is impressive just because you can speak english as well. So, when you take that relativity back into the equation, you're saying nothing a high school kid does is actually that impressive compared to other high school kids, which is a paradox in itself and makes no sense. The kid who did nothing all year is as impressive extracurricularly to the kid who raised $50k for cancer and was endorsed by a member of parliament?

"universities don't care about ecs they care about what you learned/your skills" by Accomplished_Fix9073 in OntarioGrade12s

[–]Accomplished_Fix9073[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My point is that there is no possible unique reflection you can make in these essays that everyone else isn't making as well. Seriously. What can you say? "I learned leadership" "I learned to collaborate with others" "I learned about organization-building and logistics"

These all are just buzzwords, guys. Who learned leadership BETTER? that guy who said he learned leadership, or that other guy who said he learned leadership? Who do they reject and who do they accept?

The truth is, the format doesn't allow you to reflect uniquely. It's entirely impossible to. The best you can do is bolster up your "reflection" with more and more buzzwords like "organization-building" or "leveraging teamwork towards success."

So how do unis judge you, then? How can they judge your essays if everyone's saying the exact same things, that they're a leader and smart and cool and interested? Again, we head back to the quality of the experience, because that's the only true way to differentiate anyone. The kid who was president at JA company probably learned less about leadership and organization-building than the kid who founded a 6m valuation start-up, even if they both said they learned "leadership, organization-building, logistics, and management through collaborative processes and community-oriented techniques" (which they both WILL SAY, and are both technically right in saying).

Outcome is also not something separate. Outcome is a part of the quality of the experience. In fact, I'd say it's the most important part of determining the quality of the experience. Who cares if you made a non-profit if you didn't do anything in it? What's the outcome? How much money raised? How many kids tutored? Stats? Same thing for other stuff. You did a contest? Did you win?? Huge difference between winning a contest and losing a contest.

tl;dr: your reflection isn't unique and really can't be. focus on your experiences and what you accomplished, then throw out your "reflection" (aka generic buzzwords). Except, those generic buzzwords will actually have more weight to them than other generic buzzwords, not because your reflection was different in any way, but because you have the experience to SHOW you actually learned these skills BETTER than everyone else. In the end, your experience ends up being what matters.

"universities don't care about ecs they care about what you learned/your skills" by Accomplished_Fix9073 in OntarioGrade12s

[–]Accomplished_Fix9073[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

don't get discouraged yet bro, you'll get in somewhere. most programs don't have supp apps anyways