As a sophomore in high school, I’ve heard it over and over again.
Just follow your passion, and you’ll be able to get into the college of your dreams! Just be true to yourself! Just be honest and show colleges who you are!
Let’s be realistic.
If colleges truly saw who we are, they’d burn out their eyeballs and run screaming… save for the few angels of the world that actually do have a passion.
Okay, fine, it may just be that I’m the only who isn’t willing to lay down their life for mathematical formulas or debate resolutions. But really, I think the focus on passion is harmful for a lot of teenagers.
First off, even if EVERYONE had a genuine passion… colleges have to cut off people at a certain point. A lot of youtube videos make it seem like people can just do whatever they want/be honest on their essays, and get into whatever college.
I have better advice. There’s nothing wrong with tweaking your essays to make yourself more interesting. There’s nothing wrong with choosing an EC purely to get into college.
At the end of the day, college admissions are a competition. I believe that not acknowledging them as one is dangerous… and those that are willing to put more into it will be able to go far.
I understand that this is a pretty controversial thing to say, so please don’t use (ad hominem) attacks. But I’d love to hear from others!
Philosopher Georg Hegel said, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” Top colleges want students who will someday do something great (hopefully something great that will also enrich their endowments, but I digress).
But you’re correct: being passionate isn’t what gets any given student into a prestigious college. And colleges won’t take your word that you are passionate about something. You need to show, not tell. It is your accomplishments that interest them, especially those that might lead them to believe you have potential to do even greater things.
No one is judging you on your level of passion. If you feel you can earn a gold in an academic Olympiad or win the Intel Science Fair - or attain whatever accomplishment you think will impress an admissions officer, you are welcome to try, whether or not you actually enjoy the subject or not. You have to admit, however, given the time and effort that goes into a standout achievement, the experience and the journey - win or lose - will be more pleasant if you indeed love (or at least enjoy) what you are doing.
You have natural skills in both for a sophomore in high school! You seem like a pretty interesting and fun kid.
Study hard and enjoy the ride! And look forward to seeing your skits on SNL after you graduate from NYU or Wesleyan ! Or great state flagship U or wherever!
OP: I have never heard or read (until now) “Just follow your passion, and you’ll be able to get into the college of your dreams.” I have heard & read that following one’s passion can lead to success & satisfaction in life, but never in reference to college admissions.
Creative intelligence is, however, valued in college admissions just as in the professional world.
Passion can indirectly help if it leads to some level of achievement in something that impresses the admission readers at the colleges you are interested in. But if your passion is in something that college admission readers are not interested in, or in something that you do not become good at, then it will not help.
Being passionate doesn’t guarantee you get accepted at a T20. But it helps.
Submitting an application that looks like the applicant just formulaically ticked all the EC etc boxes s/he thought the college would want to see probably won’t get you admitted, either.
To quote/paraphrase Mark Cuban, “don’t follow your dreams, follow your work”. Do that which you will work hard at to get in to the top 10/5/1 percentile, whatever it is.
Making excuses is easy. Working is hard. Decide what you will want to be.