How to stand out as a pre-med applicant to Harvard

HHarvard's admissions files sometimes describe applicants in stock phrases, and the SFFA trial put one of them on display. On the second day, a lawyer for the plaintiffs read an interviewer's comment aloud: the student was quiet and, of course, wanted to be a doctor. Later he displayed applications with the words shy and quiet in large type. Harvard's dean of admissions, William Fitzsimmons, said from the stand that the office abhors stereotypical comments, and the court found that personal ratings ran lower for Asian American applicants, partly because of weaker recommendations, and found no intentional bias.

We are not going to settle the case here. The lesson for every family is narrower, and it concerns what happens when two ordinary things appear together in one file.