It's gotta be a bigger bump than the vaunted "fashion merchandising major" bump.vanwinkle wrote:Oh, I probably had the most interesting application ever. My softs were extreme. The problem is that while I had some awesomely unique things to talk about (a sleeping disorder that was only discovered and treated two years ago), I also had some huge negatives (withdrawing from college three times to avoid failing classes, a semester with two F's, inability to hold down a job for a while, etc.). These are all things that went into my application, too. I just talked about everything, in a "hopefully someone will bet on me in spite of the bad school record" kind of way.OperaSoprano wrote:Unusual majors unite!
Most people on TLS will scoff at this, but there is something I refer to as the interesting applicant bump. This is also a reasonable descriptor for me. I do NOT have great softs, but, by virtue of my academic background, I was unique, or near unique, in the applicant pool. It should be noted that this cuts both ways. I was convinced that I was toxic until the head of my own admissions office told me otherwise.
It could have been something else in your background; It could have been nearly anything. If you're thrilled, though, UVA did it right.
I honestly wasn't expecting T14 schools to be the "betting" type though. I mean, they're bombarded by so many applicants with much stronger GPAs? Maybe it was a "film major bump".
I had a disability to talk about, too.
It sounds like you were truly memorable, though, and the bet was full of win.
Damn, and I thought I was living a charmed life. That is a seriously insane story.
