Talented Ivy League Applicants

What is considered a talent in Ivy League admissions, you ask? You think you might know the answer to this but you likely don’t…

A few years ago, we wrote a blog entitled “What is Considered a Talent?” and in driving the point home, we cited notable examples of Barnard College’s admitted class for that year: “…two Junior Olympic Tae Kwon Do medalists (twin sisters); a New York State champion golfer who has played on PGA Junior Tour Tournaments; a state champion fencer; a top-level high school figure skater from China; a winner of the ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Scholarship sponsored by the New York State Lottery; a winner of the New York City Shakespeare Oratory Competition; a world finalist in the Odyssey of the Mind competition; a Massachusetts State speech finalist two years in a row; a semi-finalist in the National Biology Olympiad; and two trapeze circus performers.”

“With its excellent dance and theatre programs, Barnard admitted several accomplished actresses, dancers, and musicians, including three professional actresses (credits include the films Lords of Dogtown and Spanglish and three Broadway productions); a student who founded a community Shakespeare troupe; a world champion Irish dancer; a dancer with the Boston Conservatory; a violinist with the New Hampshire philharmonic orchestra; and an accomplished bag-pipe player. Other students who applied to Barnard have led lives distinctly different from the urban experience encountered in New York City, including a student who helps birth lambs on her family’s farm; the winner of an outstanding dairy goat exhibition, and a student who works on the family ranch from Colorado.”