When college admissions officers, high school guidance counselors, and how-to-get-into-college books describe the perfect college applicant, they all describe more or less the same person. The ideal candidate, they say, has good grades, high scores, solid extracurricular activities (editor of the newspaper and captain of the football team), a fascinating after-school job (teaching English to immigrant children), terrific hobbies (managing a food relief program in Africa, playing medieval instruments), and a shelf filled with awards for everything from writing poetry to playing tennis. This candidate also lives on a farm, conducts unusual physics experiments, holds an elected political office in his town, restores old houses, coaches a Little League baseball team, and never once mentions SAT scores during an interview.