<p>I was wondering how important it is to have an academic passion in admission to highly selective schools?</p>
<p>I have good grades, test scores, passions for various non-academic ECs, and I do like learning, but I have yet to develop a burning love for an academic subject yet. I haven't found a love for Latin, or genealogy, or Asian history, or some topic that I could write about and would make me memorable and make me seem like I have intellectual firepower and could excel in college. I'm really sure I will in college and am excited for it mostly for that reason--but I haven't found that something yet, that thing that I am just so EXCITED about. Do top colleges expect you to have that kind of focused passion?</p>
<p>What do people think about this topic in regards to admission at top universities and LACs..</p>
<p>You don’t need to have a focused passion. For the most selective colleges, you do need to have a passion about intellectual stimulation. In other words, they want students who are motivated to learn due to more than a passion for high grades. They want students motivated to earn high grades who also are passionate about learning.</p>
<p>The most competitive colleges tend to admit students who offer something atypical to each class. Often it’s athletic prowess or under-represented minority status. Students who grew up in a city, state, nation, etc. not commonly seen in the applicant pool would be “atypical” too, as would applicants who came of age on a houseboat, in a homeless shelter, etc. Those with special talents (e.g., music, arts, writing) would qualify, as would students with demonstrated academic passions. Thus, academic passion is just one of many routes to the hyper-selective schools. </p>
<p>Admission folks are also pretty good at sniffing out faux or fabricated passions. Parents who have been reading Ivy how-to books since their offspring were in diapers sometimes decide that Alexandra will be raised as an astronomer or Brian a botanist, and thus the parade of specialized summer programs begins. Sure, these early seeds–first sown by Mom or Dad–can blossom into genuine interests, but adcoms will look beneath the surface to try to determine if the love is true.</p>
<p>Of course, top grades and test scores are critical, as well, but admission officials at the most sought-after colleges usually say, “The ‘numbers’ are there, now what else is special?”</p>
<p>Yes, the fact of the matter is that there are far too many applicants to far too few seats at the most selective colleges. When it comes to the numbers game, anyone can emerge victorious with a good deal of hard work and several thousand dollars spent on SAT prep courses.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned Latin, I’ll use that as an opportunity to talk about myself =)</p>
<p>In my case, Latin was the only subject at which I excelled consistently throughout my high school career. While my classmates had difficulties at first, I found the language enjoyable and straightforward to learn. In my sophomore year, I was offered the opportunity to tutor Latin to underclassmen who were having difficulties with their studies, and I gladly accepted. On the Common Application, I wrote my extracurricular essay about how much I genuinely enjoyed helping out my fellow classmates, and how much sharing my enthusiasm for Latin meant to me. I also managed to do very well on National Exams and the SAT Subject Test.</p>
<p>I consider my “passion” something that I enjoyed pursuing diligently over my four years of high school. It was something that came naturally to me, and I didn’t realize until come application time that I could use it to my advantage. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or anything. Write about something you care about, something that means a lot to you.</p>
<p>In your writing, convey a sense of honesty, dedication, and intellectual curiosity, and that should be enough.</p>
<p>“Passion” is just a hackneyed word thrown about by applicants (and some ACs). Try ‘excellence’ instead. Ultimately that’s what carries the day. “Passion,” is so subjective that it’s meaningless, which is the precise reason certain people use it. You can be passionate about something and still be mediocre. That is clearly not going to do it for you. Excellence is what you want to demonstrate.</p>
<p>If you have a true passion, it should show not only in your academic pursuits, but in your activities out of class and beyond the schoolroom. For instance, my D2 (who’s headed to a top university) has been interested for a number of years in the Middle East and wrote on her essays that she was applying to the school because it was one of the few that offered this area of study. In addition to Spanish, she had gone to our local state university during HS to take four years of Arabic. But she’s also studied belly dancing, visited a nearby Islamic center, gotten familiar with Middle Eastern music, joined her professor for her Ramadan observance, researched the most appropriate Arabic-speaking settings in which to do a college study abroad, etc. I think that those kinds of pursuits give credence to an interest as a true passion rather than a mere application strategy.</p>
<p>Usually people are passionate about things that they also happen to have a natural excellence in or that they become excellent in due to the hard work that their passion inspires.</p>
<p>One can be excellent in something, but not particularly passionate about it. I’m a fast, excellent typist, but am not passionate about typing.</p>
<p>There are some instances when it would be important to have an intellectual passion. At the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, you have to apply to a specific major. Part of the Cornell supplement to the common app asks you to explain why you chose the school and the major. This portion is definitely a lot easier if you really care about what you are applying to study. If you can’t demonstrate a true interest, you will have trouble. This applies to the other kind of “specific” schools within Cornell, like ILR and Hotel.</p>
<p>I know you might not even be thinking of attending Cornell, but it is a top school where having an intellectual passion could matter.</p>
<p>kollegeyippee: I don’t think so, because trying to solve problems with human rights isn’t really so much about knowledge and understanding. It seems more like fixing a current situation. But it’s certainly good to be interested in human rights.</p>
<p>Yes, being interested in human rights could be an intellectual passion. There are, after all, human rights lawyers and institutes. One could demonstrate one’s interest in that field by being, for instance, active in organizations like Amnesty International, doing History Fair projects on human rights issues, etc.</p>
<p>Human rights could also fall under constitutional law. If you’re interested in asking the question what exactly are human rights? Are they natural rights derived from natural law? Are we to take a positivist approach to defining them? What is the legitimacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights if we self-define them?</p>
<p>So you may be able to connect human rights to an interest in law/ethics as an academic interest. Similarly, you could link the study of human rights to international affairs, anthropology, political science, etc.</p>
<p>In short, the answer to your question is yes - human rights can very much be an intellectual passion. Be careful though to differentiate the study of human rights from human rights activism though.</p>
<p>Sure… probably almost ANY topic could be. The question is, how has this passion manifested itself so far? A passion that is mostly in your head isn’t going to help much from an admissions standpoint, although college may well afford opportunities to pursue it. If you have built a coherent framework of academic work and activity outside the classroom around the topic, it will make your discussion of that passion a lot more credible.</p>
<p>In my opinion, a passion need not be purely intellectual. A passion for chocolate ice cream or Guitar Hero might not qualify, but a clearly demonstrated focus with some notable accomplishments in almost any area could be a hook.</p>
<p>OP interchanged “Academic passion” and “Intellectual passion” – but they’re really not the same. </p>
<p>Here is a quote from the Stanford admissions website…which, I think, gives a great response to the issue of intellectual passion/vitality:</p>
<p>"As we review your application, we will be looking for ‘intellectual vitality.’ We want to see your dedication and genuine interest in expanding your intellectual horizons throughout your application, both in what you write about yourself and in what others write on your behalf.</p>
<p>In short, we are looking for the thinking student who has a passion for ideas. We want to see throughout your application the kind of curiosity and enthusiasm that will allow you to spark a lively discussion in a seminar and to then continue the conversation at a dinner table. We want to see the energy and depth of commitment you will bring to your endeavors inside the classroom and outside, whether that means a research lab, a community organization, a performance, or an athletic field. We want to see the initiative with which you seek out opportunities that expand your knowledge and that will allow you to participate in creating new knowledge."</p>
<p>okay thanks to all those who responded to my question! yes, i have a couple of things to back up my passion for human rights. </p>
<p>i’ve moved around a lot so i was thinking of combining the study of globalization (and my background) to further the development of human rights.</p>
<p>It’s okay, don’t let this website or anything get to you; I think it’s pretty obvious and well-known that most of high school seniors go to colleges not knowing what they’re exactly going to pursue or what they’re majoring, and that even changes frequently (most people I know changed their focus; my cousin changed her major 4 times). As you keep experiencing new stuff and so on you’ll eventually get a kick…</p>
<p>I have the same problem. I’m not very worried. </p>
<p>(And I disagree with Roger Dooley, even being really passionate in guitar hero may just lead to unexpected things like finger dexterity, real guitar passions, game design, and such…the chocolate icecream I’m not so sure other than culinary…assortment. )</p>
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