WHATexactly the FU** is a GOOD SOFT FACTOR

[sunglee]

I hear people say, I have a good soft factor...isn't any EC thing one does outside of academics good?

Am I wrong?

[myfriendtoldmeimkeen]

Yes.

[Laura Roslin]

I hear people say, I have a good soft factor...isn't any EC thing one does outside of academics good?

Am I wrong?

You're right that insofar as doing anything is better than doing nothing, any extracurricular could be considered a 'good soft factor.'  But there is a spectrum of quality of ECs/WE, and I assume that's what other people mean when they talk about good softs.  Being a Rhodes Scholar is a 'good soft' relative to volunteering at your dorm's subsidized snack bar.  (Which I did, and loved, but I don't expect the adcoms to care.)

Unfortunately, we can't easily compare our softs to other applicants.   You may consider your softs 'good', but will the adcom?  Who knows?

[PaleForce]

Like Laura said, a good soft factor is kind of hard to determine, since we don't know what everyone else applying this cycle has.  I would say a really good one is something that sets you apart- a semester abroad in Thailand as opposed to one in England (apparently a lot of people that apply to LS have done the latter, according to some admissions books I've read), starting your own non-profit, having a book published, etc.  I think most everything else would fall into the "good" category (nice, but not extraordinary). 

[Ninja1]

Military experience seems to go a long way at some schools.

[myfriendtoldmeimkeen]

FInding the cure for AIDS would probably help out a lot.

[mbw]

I've been told I have fairly decent soft factors, and while most of them are work related (operative on national and tribal campaigns), a few are not (candidate for state leg, published, etc.)  I think for younger people, soft factors with the most weight are Peace Corps and Teach America.  Yeah, Rhodes and Fulbright are up there, too.  A Nobel wouldn't hurt .

[Mori]

Is there such a thing as a "BAD SOFT FACTOR?"...lol

DITTO to what everyone said, a good soft factor is something that sets you apart from the crowd. Imagine the adcomm reading your application and seeing what you have done and actually being impressed and wanting to learn more, and more than likely, if it is really good, has the ability to save you from an automatic rejection.


Maybe we can form a list of what is actually considered an extracurricular vs. good soft factor.




 

[Laura Roslin]

Bad soft factors:
-amateur cup-stacker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_stacking)
-strong network in corporate world developed while in minimum security
-won frat award for highest exam score earned while drunk
-learned importance of responsibility from court-ordered child support payments

...anything else?   

[mbw]

Bad soft factors:
-amateur cup-stacker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_stacking)
-strong network in corporate world developed while in minimum security
-won frat award for highest exam score earned while drunk
-learned importance of responsibility from court-ordered child support payments

...anything else?   

Yo!  You and your awesome score - what need have you of soft factors?  Back to the library, geektress!

:::<3s LR despite these flaws:::