<li>Problems getting into college
The majority of colleges indicate that they are looking for well-rounded students. Essentially, they prefer applicants who achieve balance among their academic pursuits, their extracurricular activities, and their personal lives. When admissions officers look at resumes, they are attempting to assess leadership, commitment, and integrity. If you’re an overachiever, beware. More is not necessarily better.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m not sure if this has been posted already.</p>
<p>"The majority of colleges indicate that they are looking for well-rounded students."</p>
<p>Is that true? Isn't the new thing to have well-rounded classes and NOT well-rounded students?
i.e.--an amazing trombone player + an amazing athlete + an amazing...elephant bone analyzer= what the colleges are looking for, but not all of those attributes in one student.</p>
<p>That's bullcrap. Who do think has a better chance at any college, the average kid with 3.6 GPA, a couple of clubs and some volunteer hours, or the math genius who took Calculus in Freshman year?</p>
<p>I have my $ on the latter, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Colleges would rather have you damn good at one or two things than mediocre in a bunch of other stuff. Sometimes I think people say that stuff to reconcile their feelings about that nerdy antisocial kid they KNOW is getting into an Ivy. "Well, I have a lot of friends, I'm outgoing, and I play sports and stuff!" yeah, and you have the same grades as the bottom 50% of your class.</p>
<p>I have a lot of friends, I'm outgoing, I play sports and stuff, I'm number 3 in my class, I'm considered (by my district's superintendent) the most influential student in my city because of my leadership positions, I make myself have time to relax and I genuinely like everything I do. </p>
<p>Too bad I still only have a 9% chance of getting into Harvard or Yale.</p>
<p>The College Admissions Process is a big hypocrite. Go figure.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Sometimes I think people say that stuff to reconcile their feelings about that nerdy antisocial kid they KNOW is getting into an Ivy. "Well, I have a lot of friends, I'm outgoing, and I play sports and stuff!"
<p>
[quote]
That's bullcrap. Who do think has a better chance at any college, the average kid with 3.6 GPA, a couple of clubs and some volunteer hours, or the math genius who took Calculus in Freshman year?
[/quote]
that's a horrible hypothetical example... wow.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Colleges would rather have you damn good at one or two things than mediocre in a bunch of other stuff.
[/quote]
what you said doesn't make sense because the top schools we are talking about don't take mediocre students period. also, overachievers are usually the ones who are mediocre at a lot of things since they cannot become invested in their ECs since they have so many; read the introduction of the article and it will make sense.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sometimes I think people say that stuff to reconcile their feelings about that nerdy antisocial kid they KNOW is getting into an Ivy.
[/quote]
a "nerdy antisocial kid" is not the same thing as an "overachiever" and those type of students don't get into ivies as often as wellrounded, social people do. i think you aren't understanding what the article means by "overachiever." an "overachiever" is a person who could be a "nerd" but overextends himself in a bunch of activities hoping to impress colleges. the article is saying that kids who can find a balance between being social, smart, and involved, are the ones who are most likely to get into top colleges.</p>
<p>I find that people who are overachievers tend to be more social because of their heavy involvement in their activities. But, the problem is that they are the type that tend to melt down if something doesn't go their way. I've seen that happen quite often. But, some of the kindest people I've known are overachievers. No need to generalize about them. They're just good at many things..</p>
<p>I like my situation, where I'm involved very heavily in just a few things. I also have concrete awards for all of them, to show I really excel in those areas. I'm still extremely busy, but I'm not constantly running between all these different activities and clubs and volunteer places.</p>
<p>Well...doing alot of stuff/doing it well is not that hard. What I see people doing is putting more effort into things when it's not necessary. An A is An A!!!!! If you have a 92 or and 99 it's still an A, but alot of people I know still go for the latter. If you don't make yourself crazy over insignificant things you will have loads of free time/ec time/sleep time. </p>
<p>Taking a step back and looking at what you're doing can save you hours of work.</p>
<p>^ exactly! i completely agree with you, an A is an A no matter how close it is to a B. People at my school always shoot for perfect grades, why they do that is a mystery to me.</p>
<p>^The people I know, shoot for perfect grades(at least until finals) is so they're allowed to fail the final and still keep the A. Actually, they don't even have to take some of them.</p>