[sharms]

In a world of 7 billion people, you will find that just about everyone is a dime a dozen.

To use your own words, the following is equally as true: there is nothing "impressive" about signing up to lobby the U.N. as an unpaid intern.

Show me a student making real money, and that is actually valued by the free market, and I will be impressed.

[nostrademons]

"Show me a student making real money, and that is actually valued by the free market, and I will be impressed."

I think posts like this actually reinforce the article's meta-point, which is that people are impressed by accomplishments that fit with the person's values where it's not obvious how to accomplish them.

You (and many other readers of this site) value success in business. Even if you're currently making real money, you probably weren't at age 17, and probably didn't have much of a clue how to at age 17, and so a 17-year-old making real money is impressive.

The football player here values the skills he learned from football, and knows how difficult it was to balance them with scholastic achievement, and so he's impressed by the guy who captained the football team and yet still managed to take calligraphy and get good grades.

The college admission's officer is tasked with assembling a unique, diverse, interesting class. She obviously would not have taken the job if she didn't value uniqueness. And so when somebody shows up that doesn't fit the profile that she sees all day, and has accomplished something a little out of the ordinary, she's impressed.

Don't mistake the specific examples for the general principle. You may not share the same value system as a college admission's officer. Hell, you may not even value college. But you can still use this to impress people who have things that you want.

[kiba]

You (and many other readers of this site) value success in business. Even if you're currently making real money, you probably weren't at age 17, and probably didn't have much of a clue how to at age 17, and so a 17-year-old making real money is impressive.

I suspect the parent poster loath people who enjoy rent-seeking, political jockeying, and anything that scream power for power's sake.

He want to make useful products that benefit the world and make a difference. Business success, per se, is not what he's looking for. Business success is only a measure of how much he was able to make a difference in the world and how much he expand the pies for everybody.

[rue]

Or maybe they just value the ability to make more money than others.

[alexgartrell]

To be fair it's not that I was a huge fan of the athletic angle, I'd be equally impressed with anything that was a time waster (and even MORE impressed if the person went out of their way to work hard at their real passion). I was more aiming to contradict the parent poster who was under the impression that track was some easy waste of time, unlike the UN stuff.

[wakeupthedawn]

So you think the best way to judge whether an applicant might be a good addition to a college is whether he makes money in the free market? If he had been a Paid intern, that would make his experience more valuable for the college? Does someone who works at McDonald's for minimum wage have more to offer a college community than someone who has a somewhat unique volunteer experience?

And nobody's trying to impress you. These kids are trying to impress college admissions, who are in turn trying to build interesting and diverse student bodies.