Laws of Exponents - When to SUBTRACT

Laws of Exponents - When to MULTIPLY

Laws of Exponents -When to ADD

What are you doing to make a difference??

Do colleges want well-rounded students or those with a passion?

Angel B. Perez

Director of Admission
Pitzer College, CA
Many students feel that they have to compile a very long list of activities in order to get into college, but as I read applications, I look for trends and more importantly, passion. You can tell when a student has joined 15 clubs and organizations in high school just to make the extra curricular page of the college application look long. Colleges are more interested in the students passion, the authenticity of the students involvement, and the impact they’ve had in their communities, teams, or organizations. Sometimes that means they’ve only done 1 or 2 things, but they’ve been involved in a way that has fundamentally impacted those organizations. That to me, is more important than being involved in 20 clubs and not having impacted any.

Eileen Brangan Mell
Director of Public Relations
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA
We are always suspicious of students with laundry lists of extracurricular activities because it suggests that the student is not developing an in-depth engagement with any one activity. Also, it suggests a level of frenetic busy-ness that may be more about building a college resume than about genuine interests on the part of the student. That said, we do encourage exploration on the part of young people and recognize that student interests can change rapidly. At a recent national conference, I heard the college counselor at a highly respected private school bemoaning the fact that many students squander their high school years "majoring in College X." In other words, students get so caught up in making a good impression, that they lose sight of the real goal, which is to develop their talents and their interests and to have fun. Who knows, with an attitude like that, they may even get admitted to college.

Believe