What is intellectual vitality? Stanford's meaning explained

RReaders in Stanford's admissions office rated every applicant on a trait they called intellectual vitality, academic energy you can feel on the page, and in the office we learned from it was the quality that mattered most. Most colleges describe the student they want in soft language, while Stanford's readers had a precise term, and other selective colleges use their own word for the same thing, most often intellectual curiosity.

Families tend to assume a strong transcript proves it. It does not, and a file full of A's and honors can still read as flat on the trait readers cared about most. Knowing what vitality looks like to a reader is the difference between a student who is merely impressive and one a professor would want to keep talking with.