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What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:18 pm
by contrapositive1
Like volunteering, clubs, etc. What will stand out?
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:20 pm
by stillwater
Uh none of that TTT soft shit. Rhodes Scholarship would be a pretty good one. Olympic medal would be another pretty good one.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:21 pm
by potterpirate04
I believe curing cancer is the most popular one on TLS.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:25 pm
by ph14
contrapositive1 wrote:Like volunteering, clubs, etc. What will stand out?
Stop making threads.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:28 pm
by RhymesLikeDimes
Unless you have something amazing that 99% of applicants can't touch, nobody cares what clubs you join or what activities you spend your time on.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:33 pm
by Richie Tenenbaum
Dude, just delete all your previous posts from the rape thread and maybe ask a mod if you can change your username. Making pointless posts and threads to try and bury your past posts is just a huge fail. (I assume that's what you're doing.)
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:38 pm
by ManOfTheMinute
contrapositive1 wrote:Like volunteering, clubs, etc. What will stand out?
Not being a rapist.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:40 pm
by potterpirate04
ManOfTheMinute wrote:contrapositive1 wrote:Like volunteering, clubs, etc. What will stand out?
Not being a rapist.
Just realized this is the same poster. In that case, TITCR.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:43 pm
by bk1
If you can't respond in an on-topic way, don't respond at all. Further failures to adhere to this policy will result in bans.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:28 am
by WanderingPondering
bk187 wrote:If you can't respond in an on-topic way, don't respond at all. Further failures to adhere to this policy will result in bans.
Likewise, OP is spamming the boards with nonsense to cover up his/her previous thread. Seems like that should be an issue, no?
And to answer the question: anything actually unique and interesting will make your application stand out in a good way (usually).
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:34 am
by Kabootar
.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:36 am
by bk1
WanderingPondering wrote:Likewise, OP is spamming the boards with nonsense to cover up his/her previous thread. Seems like that should be an issue, no?
I wasn't kidding when I said it. Enjoy your time off.
If anybody has an issue with a user spamming, use the report function.
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:32 am
by Huey Freeman
Be black/cure cancer/Olympic medal/military service/Rhodes Scholar/prestigious work experience, in that order. Anything below that threshold really doesn't matter (club presidents, minor volunteering, etc. are all things many people have).
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:35 am
by alwayssunnyinfl
Huey Freeman wrote:Be black/cure cancer/Olympic medal/military service/Rhodes Scholar/prestigious work experience, in that order. Anything below that threshold really doesn't matter (club presidents, minor volunteering, etc. are all things many people have).

Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:54 am
by ManOfTheMinute
alwayssunnyinfl wrote:Huey Freeman wrote:Be black/cure cancer/Olympic medal/military service/Rhodes Scholar/prestigious work experience, in that order. Anything below that threshold really doesn't matter (club presidents, minor volunteering, etc. are all things many people have).

I mightttt put cancer above being african american...
Re: What are the best soft factors?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:24 am
by Ling520
Huey Freeman wrote:Be black/cure cancer/Olympic medal/military service/Rhodes Scholar/prestigious work experience, in that order. Anything below that threshold really doesn't matter (club presidents, minor volunteering, etc. are all things many people have).
It’s worth pointing out also that there is a lot of difference between the type and perceived quality of military service between applicants. An applicant who spent a few years as a supply guy in the national guard and an applicant who is a decorated green beret are going to be looked at differently. This is why some applicants with military experience out-perform their numbers by large margins while other applicants don’t.
You’re sort of right on URMs; it is certainly the strongest factor when it comes to getting into school with weak numbers. It’s not really a soft, however, because schools have a compelling and overarching interest in diversity (with respect to URMs). Schools don’t have the same compelling interest in Olympians and military veterans. In other words, schools need to admit URMs so they begin as the most attractive applicants whereas softs can only increase the attractiveness of a sometimes unattractive applicant.