Would someone be able to suggest some passion projects for me? I’m aiming for somewhere in the top 50 colleges in the US (using forbes and QS rankings) but I will also be applying for UK universities at the same time. I want to apply to political science in the US and law in the UK so I need a passion project that fits both degrees (maybe social advocacy or something?). I am an international student from Hong Kong though I go to a secondary boarding school in the UK.
My CV
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Predicted Grades for GCSEs (for some subjects my teachers say I fluctuate and have given me two grades which they think I’ll get):
-History: 9
-English Literature:9
-English Language: 7
-Religious Studies: 8-9
-Maths: 9
-Ancient History: 8-9
-Chinese: 9
-Biology: 8
-Chemistry: 7-8
-Physics: 7
-French: 5-6
Awards
Short Story published
2020 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition Gold Award
4th place, Top Finalist and Honourable Mention in the Trust for Sustainable Living 2023 International Student Essay Competition (Secondary category)
Highly Commended Essay in the 2023 Minds Underground Medicine Essay Competition
Highly Commended Essay in the 2023 Minds Underground Young Minds Essay Competition
Second runner-up in the Hong Kong 100 Fun Christmas English Writing Contest
2023 School McEachran Prize (english lit and speaking) Junior Category Winner
Highly commended in the 2023 School Junior Essay Prize
School Junior Debating Prize Winner
Trust for Sustainable Living Debate Winner-Secondary Category
One Outstanding delegate award at Model United Nationals (MUN), 1 Highly commended delegate at MUN, 1 commended delegate at MUN and member of a highly commended delegation at MUN
Community Involvement
School Volunteering Publicity Team
Volunteering at Primary School
Volunteering at Elderly Care centre for those with cognitive disabilities
Using VR technology to raise awareness for refugees in Hong Kong
Extracurriculars
Leadership:
-School Eco Committee Leader
-House representative to Eco Committee
-House Debating Team Captain (won school competition)
-Member of Inter-School Conference MUN Organising Committee
-Ambassador for School’s delegation to MUN Conference
-School Chapel Choir and Grade 6 Proficiency at Hong Kong Schools’ Music Festival (Piano)
Personally I would not add a “passion project.” First you may have enough. Second, a resume like yours with an additional “passion project” may make it look like you are hyperbusy in order to get in. Be yourself. Clearly you are good with words and that is apparent already. IF something interests you naturally, by all means pursue it, but not for college admissions.
A passion project is something you do because you truly love it, versus doing it for some sort of external validation. If you are doing it to help you get into highly selective colleges, it is definitionally not a passion project. If you are doing it because some anonymous people on the Internet told you it would be a good idea for a passion project, that is very much not a passion project.
So we can’t tell you what would be a “good passion project”. But I can tell you a process you can use.
Imagine you are already admitted to whatever is your dream college. For that matter, imagine you are also already admitted to whatever higher education positions and selected for whatever entry-level jobs you might want.
Knowing that it would be completely irrelevant to those placements, what would you do with your time?
Whatever that is, that is a possible area for a passion project.
Alternatively, imagine you couldn’t put this on a college application, and college admissions officers would never know about it. What would you love to do even if that was true?
It is important to understand you cannot cheat on this. You can’t pretend to imagine it is irrelevant to college admissions, but actually still be thinking it has to be good for college admissions. If you do that, it won’t work.
This truly has to be something that you would love to do even if it did absolutely nothing to help you get admitted to college, or any other selective position.
A passion project by definition should stem from your passion. What is your passion? You need to start there, then look around for opportunities to pursue that passion. It could arise from any of your current ECs, if there is one you are particularly excited about and want to do more with.
Don’t force a passion project. You won’t find fulfillment from that, and it will remain a relatively hollow activity that will not substantially enhance your applications.
Find your passion, then develop a passion project if that’s what you feel compelled to do.
But really the list of ECs you have now looks pretty solid. So don’t feel like this is something you have to do.
By the way, in the spirit of actually trying to be helpful, I will try to come up with something I think would be cool on the spot.
So, let’s see, what do I love these days? Well, I love my COVID rescue dog. And my dog loves active play.
So . . . you know what would be cool? To try to build my dog an active play zone in the backyard. I am sure I could just buy stuff, but I think it would be fun to actually research what dogs love to do for play, maybe try out some stuff with my dog, and then build a custom thing. I bet I could do it out of mostly found/free/recycled materials too, which I also think would be cool. And maybe we could use it for doggy play dates too, once it was finished. I’ve actually had this in the back of my mind for a while, but asking the question reminded me.
OK, so a possible passion project for me would to be build a backyard dog activity park out of found/free/recycled materials for my dog and friends. Actually, I should really do that! And I am not applying for anything . . . . And yet, I suspect a bored admissions officer slogging through their 53rd application of the day would at least be momentarily amused to read about that, and certainly would learn something about me.
So that would be a passion project for me. It (probably) wouldn’t be a passion project for you. But I got there by really thinking about what I love.
But don’t feel obliged to do something like that. Because if it is an obligation, it isn’t a passion project.
Just want to mention that making a truly meaningful contribution to an existing organization and/or demonstrating excellence in an area of interest are all very worthwhile pursuits. One need not have some kind of a “passion project” to find success in college admissions (even with elite colleges). In fact, I expect admissions officers can see through so called “passion projects” that an applicant isn’t truly passionate about.