Give me some advice, please.

PinotNoir
Sun, 14 Nov 2010 08:24:31 +0000

Hi TallKid. This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but I do have some advice for you. You should spend the next 3 years leading up to the application process becoming an interesting and interested person. You should maintain your good grades, your school activities, etc. You should also find some things to pour your energies into things that are not organized and created by adults for kids to participate in. You should pay attention, and if you ever feel overwhelmed by how busy you are, or are finding some of your EC’s to be a drain on your time without being fun/interesting/challenging, you should know how to prune those activities out of your schedule. Have enough down time (time where you aren’t doing school work, sports, clubs, facebook, TV) that your mind can wander and wonder and develop opinions and questions about the world around you. Follow these opinions and questions into areas that aren’t the typical EC-that-high-school-kids-do-to-look-good-to-colleges. As hard as it may be to get what this means, get to know yourself and BE yourself. Don’t be shy about approaching people, groups, organizations that are in the world you are curious about. If you find yourself fascinated by something (pure bred dog shows, retention pond requirements around developed areas, why the heck is journalism so warped these days, shopping trends, home made guitars…), write emails to people in that world with questions about how to become involved, where to start developing expertise about the subject, etc.

If you spend the next few years doing this, you’ll have good grades, friends of all ages in your areas of interest, you will be an interesting and fulfilled person, you will have knowledge about something that most people don’t, you will have learned how to listen to your inner voice and follow where it takes you, you will know who you are and what environments you thrive in, you will have learned what it means to work for something other than a grade, you will have built fun memories, and you will be an interesting and aware person. And a byproduct of all that will be that you can identify what schools will offer you the academic opportunities and living environment that will be good for you, and you will probably be qualified for admission.

Good luck!