What if I have more than one passion?

Applying to College
1

<p>I always hear that colleges love to see applicants that are able to concentrate both on academics and extracurricular activities about which they are passionate. Ok, yes, this makes total sense. People who only study all the time and make no time to have fun and do things they love and/or help their school and community just don't seem attractive as additions to a class at, let's say, Harvard, where the students supposed to have the potential to be the most interesting and brightest people to go out into the world.</p>

<p>But I have a problem. It certainly isn't lack of passion or extracurricular activities; it is the complete opposite. I should say that if you asked anyone that knows me remotely well, they will say that I am a generally passionate person, meaning that I work hard with love and care in almost every single thing I do. I am a sophomore in high school and I am heavily involved in my school and community by means of clubs in which I hold many leadership positions. People have told me, that because I am a member of so many clubs (namely 4-H, Student Council, Beta, FBLA, Drama) as well as personal activities and hobbies (ten years of piano, passion for writing, etc.), I will be viewed as someone who was simply trying to do as much as I could to impress colleges. </p>

<p>I tell you, in complete honesty, that this could not be further from the truth. I am someone who is interested in almost anything that is revealed to me. I have a drive to learn more and more about everything new that I discover in the world, whether it is music, books, film, leadership, community service, sports, or academics (I personally consider academics to be an "activity" because some people, like me, have a genuine interest in and joy for learning about history and science and culture, whatnot). </p>

<p>So my question is, what do I do if can't force myself to "focus" on one thing. Does it seem that I have no passion because I can't decide what excites me the most? I love, mainly, music, writing, and film-making the most, but many of the activities that I participate in during school as well as out of school do not reflect this. I have a feeling this simply makes it seem as though I don't try and pursue my passions, when in fact all I ever do is think about a song I want to write, a book I want to write, or that movie for which I would receive the Academy Award for Best Director (I can dream, can't I?). I also simply love being an organizer and a leader. I am the president of my class and the president of the student body, and I do it because I want to do it so badly. I never ran for any position because it would make me popular or give me something to brag about on my college application, but I ran because I was so literally excited about planning monthly community service projects and homecoming week, and everything that I have had to do.</p>

<p>I know that I am probably rambling and not really getting to a real point, but I want anyone's advice as to what I should do. Should I make an adjustment to my activities (nothing dramatic, like I said, I am passionate about so many things) or is there any specific way I could convey the fact that I am interested in such a variety of areas not because I want to seem like the guy who can do anything but because I just can't imagine focusing on one thing when I want to accomplish so much to fulfill my dreams. That last sentence was a bit over-the-top, but I have been worrying about this subject for a while now, because my dream is to go to Stanford, and we all know what it takes to get into a school of such caliber. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for taking the time to read my very very long post (I probably made many grammatical errors, and I apologize) and thank you again for any advice!</p>

2

<p>People like you are rare, but they exist. You’re what resume padders attempt to be, but because you’re genuinely interested in all of your pursuits, you don’t burn out.</p>

<p>The biggest problem I could see you facing is a lack of meaninful accomplishment (like state/national awards).</p>

3

<p>Thank you for a quick response. Major national recognition, or lack of, is probably my biggest weakness. I have a lot of things going against me actually; I go to a very small school with low standards and only with the help of some very passionate teachers (there I go with passion again) have I realized that even though I don’t have access to AP classes and the like I still have the drive to go to the colleges of my dreams. Thanks again I should probably work in that area.</p>

4

<p>I think you’re overthinking things, like many people do.</p>

<p>If you have a passion for many things, you’re not going to be punished. Being President of four clubs isn’t going to hurt you as opposed to being President of two clubs. I think Colleges don’t like it when you are a part of clubs that you don’t take seriously, not when you’re a part of many clubs.</p>

<p>Just do your activities and hope for the best. I didn’t even find CC until after I was admitted to Yale. Most are in the same boat, and just do the best they can to get admitted to Ivies.</p>

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<p>I hope I am overthinking it!</p>

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<p>^ I like this kid.</p>

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<p>^Agreed.</p>

<p>Honestly, OP, you could rewrite your first post and have an interesting Common App essay. Something to consider.</p>

8

<p>Great idea glassesarechic!!</p>

<p>OP - Just make sure when you’re writing your essays that you let that passion show through. Use the essay space to SHOW them instead of telling them. (Which I’m sure you’re already good at because you say you have a passion for writing!)</p>

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<p>I saw the same thing glassesarechic saw… When I was reading your post, I saw the hints of a great commonapp essay.
Just to give you an example of how you could write it, though there are many, you could set up the crisis you put in front of us right now. “My college counselor/college admission experts told me to focus on a few of my ECs and drop the rest; could I suppress my passion to get into college? Is that really what the admissions process is about? Should I let resume padders ruin the opportunity to pursue my many passions and still go to the college of my dreams?” Then, as long as you then showed them some tangible evidence that you’re truly passionate about the many different ECs in which you are involved, you’d put the burden on them to reevaluate why there is a problem taking too many extra-curriculars. BTW, as mentioned before, showing them that you’re passionate about all of these ECs does not replace the need to show some level of excellence in at least one of them.</p>

<p>That being said, I hope the angle I showed you above (which I think is only one of many possible) illustrates a way for you to continue chasing your many passions without looking like a resume-padder. Good luck, claytont94!</p>

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<p>Trevorjbs that is some of the best advice I have ever received! Haha thanks you guys! This has eased some of my concerns.</p>

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<p>One more point, re Stanford: I remember a conversation with someone in admissions saying that while they used to focus on finding the kids who were ‘top achievers’ in some area (`a well-rounded class, not a well-rounded person’), they discovered that large groups of people who are all sharp edges is not necessarily a great idea. They now consciously look for those kids who seems to provide the ‘grease’ between social groups and move easily between ‘crowds’-they are the musical jocks with roles in student govt, for example, whom everyone likes. We know of at least three kids there now who meet this description. They also have outstanding academic credentials-but no state or national awards. So don’t count yourself out-just let 'em see your ‘grease’ factor.</p>

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<p>M’s Mom has a brilliant piece of advice. Colleges are building armies of thinkers. They need heavy artillery, tech specialists, small guns experts, pilots, etc. But they, almost more than all the other positions, need commanders and officers, “grease.”</p>

<p>The kid who could pull of this application might write an essay about directing a play or conducting an orchestra. Give an example of how you synchronize every part and keep the engine running smoothly…</p>

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<p>This has given me many ideas about a potential essay, seeing as though my many interests has enabled me to befriend and meet people who are totally different from each other. I have the uncanny ability to fit in with people of all kinds of backgrounds, or so I’ve been told. I would think colleges would like to see someone who could connect with such a variety of people with a variety of interests. Oh I don’t know you guys have just gotten me thinking!</p>

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<p>Sorry to veer away from the focus on OP, but I wonder how prudent it would be to write the Common App essay about having multiple passions or desiring to be super(wo)man, stellar at everything you dabble at. It seems like this would be a trite topic, no? I mean, personally, I also have many passions (albeit I’m a bit more focused than OP), and wouldn’t think to write about that for that very reason.</p>

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<p>^In the OP’s case, he is not approaching it as though he’s a superman but as a conflict he sought to resolve–a problem which then became an asset. Of course, any essay that focuses on its author’s awesomeness and reveals no personality or idiosyncracies is going to be trite, but that is hardly where I see the OP taking this. I think sometimes CCers think the only way to be unique or interesting is by having one unique or interesting EC, but that’s hardly the case.</p>

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<p>Thats fine. Just write about how you have a passion for everything in your essay.</p>

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<p>@glassesarechic
I just don’t believe having multiple passions and worrying that colleges won’t see passion over resume padding is a rare feeling (and thus not a rare essay topic). And it’s only a problem if you make it one by stressing out over it. </p>

<p>You don’t have a problem OP. Continue to do what you love. Hopefully, your actions will speak for themselves, and you won’t /have/ to write about this topic. But if you are just a dilettante in all these endeavors (even though you do love them), then yeah maybe it would be good to write about it to show that you didn’t just sign up for a bunch of nominal positions, etc.</p>

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<p>More than likely your teacher recs will bring that aspect up when they are writing about what makes you unique. When you choose which teachers to write a rec for you then you can always fill them in on your activities if they are unaware of all you do. Not that you need to give them a rundown of everything but usually you will choose someone that you have a good relationship with and they will weave in your outstanding leadership roles. Imo the consistency that adcoms will see on your resume and recs as well as transcript will show a true picture of someone who is a high achiever.</p>