What exactly are individual top colleges looking for?

gardenstategal
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 02:14:54 +0000

A young person can fill his days pursuing the things that interest him or he can fill his days doing what he thinks will impress some admissions officer. Whichever it is, there are only so many days. Both approaches will require a story on the application or in the interview. One will flow quite authentically. There’s a difference between packaging who you are and making yourself into who you think you should be.

Blocking out what needs to be done (testing, visits) and by when is important and can relieve a lot of stress. This is not at odds with doing what interests you; it’s simply good time management.

Learning at an early age to be who someone else wants you to be is not, imo, a good life lesson. And let’s face it, most smart kids can “be” whatever they need to be whether it makes them happy or not. It’s not surprising at all that mental health issues abound at top schools,…