<p>I certainly don’t think the list NSM gives in the thread she linked is by any means exhaustive, but I do think the buzzword “passion” is thrown around a bit too much on CC. While you should do things that interest you to some extent, passion is less important to colleges than is accomplishment. This isn’t to say that someone who accomplishes a lot but resents their activities will get into top schools (as I imagine their disdain will come across through lackluster recs or essays), but that passion in and of itself is not what schools are looking for. They need diverse, talented student bodies, not just in theory (“I love X!”) but in actuality (“I won this/was published in that/spent the summer researching [obscure science topic]!”).</p>