Washington Post reports: Colleges Want Passion, Not Well Rounded

<p>New Hampshire</p>

<p>BlahDeBlah - I vaguely remember a thread about a year or so ago re whether or not video gaming could be considered a passion. I believe the consensus was, not really. So if your hobby basically involves self-entertainment it probably won't help you. But it could be something like origami, gardening, reading, cooking, etc. And my son did write one essay about DDR - can't remember if it was a school where he was accepted or not!</p>

<p>Ah, see, like I said...purposely didn't mention what it was that my hobby was, but simply what it isn't, and people go off making assumptions. Had to reduce the description to something like 'making and running a website and community' on most applications, because I could only send the 3-page essay on how I taught myself from scratch all about coding and programming and making graphics and successfully managing a web-based community to one school. I was quite impressed with myself, actually, but I never got more than a "well, I guess if you don't have any real hobbies..." look from people whenever I mentioned it. Because we all know that the only thing we do with the internet is sit around and waste time. They thought I was writing a glorified account of making a livejournal entry, for all I know. Not an acceptable passion to have.</p>

<p>Marilyn, your close, but not quite. :) I do live in New England though. </p>

<p>BlahDeBlah, aha! Yeah, I've thought of that also. Why wouldn't videogames be considered a passion? If chess is considered a passion (which I assume it is), then why wouldn't similar strategy games, though digitally enhances, but of the same tradition as chess, be considered a passion? I am specifically referring to pc strategy games, such as Age of Empires or Civilization 4, not mind-less games on PS2. Interesting thought I think.</p>

<p>....but I never said that the hobby was playing video games. :( I would just equate them to forms of entertainment, like watching tv, watching movies, reading books, watching paint dry, and so on. If it was something like playing chess then you could just say 'chess' and not bother to mention if it was digital chess or not because it's not really relevant. But I suspect chess isn't an approved passion either, unless you are on a competitive team.</p>

<p>So what do you tell a kid whose passion is not part of one of the regular catagories (sports, music, academics or volunteering)? For example my S is very passionate about rock climbing, mountaineering and backpacking. Just because they do not fall under one of the above catagories (even though bookstores clump these activities under sports) would a college be more likely to view them as hobbies? What about kids who are dedicated to activites such as horseback riding, motocross, and skateboarding? How do colleges determine the merit of these? In other words, what distinguishes a passion from a hobby?</p>

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Why wouldn't videogames be considered a passion? If chess is considered a passion (which I assume it is), then why wouldn't similar strategy games, though digitally enhances, but of the same tradition as chess, be considered a passion?

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<p>I think it can be, but it's probably not an easy sell. That said my son did talk about a mod he worked on for Civ 4 on one of his essays for MIT.</p>

<p>Bethievt, re Mu Alpha Theta (M, A, TH). I've seen it described a couple of times on cc as math club, which is not incorrect, but my son's chapter approaches it as a math service society as well as a club. Members spend a lot of time tutoring students at a lower math level (you must be at least enrolled in calc to join). Also, they help run ACT prep sessions. I've found myself a little rankled on another thread when Mu Alpha Theta is dismissed as some self-centered thing Asian math geeks do to pad their resume, when S and his friends spend a good deal of time helping others who are struggling with math.</p>

<p>
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For example, I'm interested in Politics and History, but there is virtually no clubs or activities that are even remotely related to either in my school.
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<p>I think I showed my passion for history in high school by getting our school to teach two history courses it had never taught before (British history and AP Euro - back in the dark ages when APs where pretty new.) I also wrote a few chapters of an historical novel for my senior project and my history teacher wrote one of my recommendations. My nephew showed his interest in politics by working in a campaign office one summer.</p>

<p>CSLeslie, if your kid is passionate about something and can express it, it doesn't matter what "category" the activity falls into.</p>

<p>


What were you doing this past election? When I was 14 years old (way back in the stone age), I was on the bus every day to Democratic headquarters, where I made phone calls to suport the candidate for president. (The cool thing is that I got to go up on the podium and meet the candidate when he came to our town for an appearance -- I've learned since that political candidates really like photo ops with children - and I ended up being the nearest thing to a cute kid the local party organizers could find on short notice).<br>
Later on, when I was a senior in high school, I helped organize and publish an underground newspaper. When my daughter was about 15, she was active in many anti-war activities on her school campus and off campus in the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Her senior year, she was a pollworker during a statewide election. </p>

<p>None of these things has anything to do with the goal of getting into college. I don't think I wrote about my political stuff on my college essay - I think the underground newspaper stuff came after I already was admitted to college. My daughter listed her pollworker experience, but didn't tell colleges about the day she walked off of campus to participate in the city wide high-school rally agains the war. But one aspect of the "passion" is simply that the person is following their own inclinations about what feels important to them. Those of us who lean toward political involvement generally find ourselves working at a grassroots level on some issue or on behalf of some candidate. This may or may not turn into a plus for college admissions -- but the point is that it is the natural result of a strong interest in politics. </p>

<p>Marilyn's comment (post #51) about reaching beyond the school offerings to support individual interests and passions is very important. My kid wanted to study Russian so she went to Russia. Twice. This wasn't a lifelong "passion" -- she didn't even want to take Russian when she started high school. She wanted to take Spanish but the classes were full. Then it turned out that she liked Russian. Then she decided she wanted to study abroad, and it made sense to choose the country where they spoke the language she was studying. She didn't think about how it would look to colleges -- the truth is that the disruption to her high school schedule in order to spend a semester abroad "looks" pretty terrible, since she was off studying in another country while her classmates were racking up AP credits. She simply thought that the best way to learn Russian would be to study in Russia, and it seemed like a really cool idea at the time. In hindsight, it worked for her... in part because when she started looking for colleges, she looked for colleges that were likely to appreciate that. </p>

<p>So if a kid is running into a problem like BlahDeBlah... big "passion" but the schools don't seem to care.... then BladDeBlah is looking at the wrong schools. The goal isn't to try to figure out what colleges want and then shape your life around that. The goal is to figure out what YOU want and actively pursue those interests, and then to find a college that will be a good fit for someone with your interests.</p>

<p>excellent post calmom! Well this election year I did volunteer in the campaign office for a US Senator. It was for the last 2-3 weeks, I spent around 40 hours. It was a great experience (I actually got to meet the senator and shake his hand :D) ...though its over, and there's nothing else politically related I can think of doing, which is why I am looking for ideas. </p>

<p>Undergound newspaper sounds so interesting. How did that work? Apparently it wasn't a formal school club you mean? It was about politics in general, or slanted towards a particular issue? I like the idea alot.</p>

<p>"Grassroots" is a great word. Though I wonder, is there much political action going on after elections?</p>

<p>"Why wouldn't videogames be considered a passion? If chess is considered a passion (which I assume it is), then why wouldn't similar strategy games, though digitally enhances, but of the same tradition as chess, be considered a passion?"</p>

<p>Video games can be a passion. Duke's adcom told us not to write it as an EC, but it worked for a few people. Then again, they were professional video game players. I guess it is like playing a sport. You do it for fun, but unless you are varsity level, colleges really don't care too mcuh.</p>

<p>"because I could only send the 3-page essay on how I taught myself from scratch all about coding and programming and making graphics and successfully managing a web-based community to one school. I was quite impressed with myself, actually, but I never got more than a "well, I guess if you don't have any real hobbies..." "</p>

<p>I suspect that it was how you presented the info in your essay, not the subject of the essay that caused those responses. Certainly teaching oneself coding, designing graphics, managing a web-based community all seem to indicate a passion. Just because the essay was three pages long, however, doesn't mean that it conveyed your passion. If your essay was written in a way that techies would understand, but not regular folks, the importance of what you did could have gone right by the readers.</p>

<p>A-san.... you can get into trouble with underground newspapers, since they tend to espouse viewpoints that are not popular with school administrators, so I don't particularly suggest that as far as college resume building goes. Actually, I don't see the point of doing that these days -- it would be easier and more efficient to set up a web site or blog than deal with all the issues of getting something printed up and distributed. </p>

<p>The point is simply that we were concerned about issues and (in my day) the way to express our opinion was to make our own printed newspaper. These days the internet opens up a lot more options, because news on the internet travels faster and farther. </p>

<p>There are ALWAYS grassroots political volunteer opportunities, even between elections -- it is just that between election cycles they tend to be more issue oriented than candidate oriented. So basically, you simply find out more about the activities of whatever advocacy group appeals to you. This can crossover into charitable groups as well -- for example, if you start trying to raise money to fight hunger in Darfur, it's hard to draw the line between charity and politics ... and if your political inclinations lead you to want to work to fight hunger or end poverty, then the local food bank or Habitat for Humanity is probably doing charitable work that fits well with your politics.</p>

<p>I hate that college admissions can dictate what kind of activites people pursue. </p>

<p>It'd be a shame for someone not to try new things because they need to focus on their "passion" so they can get into college. Shame.</p>

<p>i find it hard to believe that they expect us to find a passion in one thing. In other words, they want to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives. O well, im applying this year, so it's too late to change my well rounded ec</p>

<p>I have a passion for dirt bikes and off road racing. In turn, I participate in trail cleanups and fight (against the Sierra Club and whatnot) to keep off road riding open.</p>

<p>I wonder if that would get me anywhere... Hell it would probably keep me out of places like Berkeley :)</p>

<p>doiy...
i don't understand how people go through school thinking that colleges want book worms and trivial enthusiasts. doesn't any ever think about what makes college programs good? innovation laced with excellence... and the best breeder for that is passion, not straight A's.</p>

<p>washington post saying that "colleges want passion, not well roundedness" (to me) is like saying "the sky is blue".</p>

<p>I recently visited a friend at her school (an Ivy).</p>

<p>My observation while we were seated eating dinner was that I could stereotype everyone in the room. Sure, I'll assume that those kids were the best of their stereotype, but the kids were so simple to definitively label.</p>

<p>-Indy Music crowd
-Black Athletes
-Punk Rockers
-Female Athletes
-Prep School crowd
-Jewish kids (yarmulkes, the whole deal)</p>

<p>That was in the one room we were eating. I guess Passion means lifestyle, which means stereotype, which means segregated social groups.</p>