how much do sports REALLY help?

mikesown
Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:51:20 +0000

Colleges want to see DEDICATION and PASSION, not you desperately doing everything you can to get into Harvard. That means, instead of joining the chess club, model UN club, key club, darfur club, political club, yearbook club, straight gay alliance club, debate club, habitat for humanity, and diversity club, spending just a small amount of time in each club, you would be better off focusing on just one or two clubs, but dedicating yourself to them(think 10-20 hours a week, or something like that).

And, the clubs shouldn’t be random “I’ll-do-anything-to-get-into-harvard” clubs, but should reflect your passion. Interested in environmental science? Join or start a club, and dedicate all of your time to doing environmental research.

Joining 20 clubs sends the message: “I have no clue what I want to do with my life, but I know I want to go to Harvard no matter what, so I’m doing every last thing I can to get into Harvard.” This is not what Harvard would want. Instead, they want someone who sends the message “I have a passion, something I want to pursue in life, and I think Harvard will help me get there.”

The main difference between the two messages is that the first has an implication that Harvard is the applicant’s final goal(i.e. beyond Harvard the applicant has no interests), whereas the latter sends the message that Harvard is only a stepping stone to getting to where the applicant wants to go. Harvard wants people whose end goal is not to attend Harvard, but to change the world.

So, in summary, NO number of activities can match a passion! If you want to have a much better chance of getting into elite schools, develop this passion; it will serve you much better than a bunch of random clubs!