Will being "Well-Rounded" Hurt Me?

Applying to College
1

Hi Everyone,

I don’t want to come off as “doing things just for college admissions.” I already have ECs that I love and have been continuing for some time. I just want the honest truth and for things to be set straight: Is it being “well-rounded” a bad thing?

Personally, I LOVE a variety of activities. I play a sport, play two instruments, have leadership positions in community service and music related clubs, volunteer in disaster relief, special needs, and med, am doing biochem research, part of a selective science program etc…but the major themes of my ECs are: Music, Service, and Science.

However, lots of sources and articles have claimed that colleges are more likely to accept students who have a “spike” or are the “best” at one thing.

I personally find that there is too much pressure to be “Number 1” in one thing versus being Number 3 in 3 things. I believe variety is the spice of life and I show dedication and commitment, having at least a leadership position or awards in all activities (except maybe the sport, as I’m only JV, but that’s not the main focus of my app).

Do you think it would be more advantageous to quit, let’s say, a service club where I have leadership, to study more for science competitions like USABO and Sci Oly to “focus” on one part of me?

Listing a bunch of my ECs is making me realize how many “small” things I am a part of…but honestly, I have made all of these decisions myself and am fine with everything, not overwhelmed.

The standard stuff, like grades and courseload, are fine. I’ve only taken one standardized test and haven’t gotten the scores back yet, but I doubt I’ll be “unable” to get the score I want since I’ve started earlier.

Any advice? Sorry for the long post! Thank you in advance!!

(If it matters, I want to be competitive for college. Ivy’s are a crapshoot, so I’d say I want a solid chance at schools such as Northeastern, Lehigh, Stony Brook etc. I want to be a Biochem major for Med School. I plan on minoring in health policy/global health/medical business and if the school offers it, have multiple minors or a duel degree. As demonstrated above, I love a lot of things and love learning new things on a daily basis.)

2

Being well rounded is perfectly fine. I’ve heard an admission officer say that they want to create a well rounded college class – and that will include some students who have special interests/talents and others who are well rounded. Do things you care about and you will be fine.

3

It would be better for you to do all the things you love. Then, you will be attractive to a school that is a good fit for you. I’d suggest you read this article that is relevant to anyone applying to any school: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways

4

Lushlillies, to me you sound like a great candidate for all kinds of colleges. I wouldn’t do anything differently. I think that spike stuff is nonsense, personally. Maybe if you are a super A-type personality whose goal is Harvard or bust, that might work. You seem to me the exact kind of student that tons of colleges will want. Do the things you enjoy doing. If you want to devote more time to something, do it by all means, but not to create a spike. As long as you keep up your grades and do well in your tests, you are on track to receive lots of good news in your senior year.

5

In my opinion, yes and no. First off – I think you’ll have no problem getting into a very good university. Looks like your a sophomore in high school and have done well in BC calc already, so that puts you ahead of the game.

With that said, when I went to do the few ivy-league applications that I submitted, I found it harder to compete because of my breadth. I was drum major/president of band and spent a ton of time with that, but I wanted to do science. I was president of the math club, but didn’t want a career in math. I was president of speech and debate, but it was just a hobby. So I ended up in a really great program here at northeastern, but wait listed for Harvard and Yale. My girlfriend, on the other hand, put a lot of effort into her astrophysics research, went to the international science fair for four years, and was accepted to MiT/Standford/Harvard/Yale, even though she also plays piano and competed in math and debate competitions with me. She focused her essays on science fair, even though she wants to go into management.

So, as a summary, perhaps some specialization can help you stand out in really elite admissions. But being well rounded doesn’t hurt.

6

I encourage you to continuing participating in the activities that interest you and don’t look back. My D was the dreaded well-rounded applicant and had very good results.

7

There is life outside of college admissions and value on who you are and what makes you happy. One of my daughters is a well rounded kid, very good at a lot of things but not tops. She was bothered at the lack of awards or recognition and during freshman year she quit a few things and put everything she had in two activities. She did see measurable results but she so utterly missed the things she quit that by the end of the year she started feeling depressed. Not worth it. The following year she went back to doing what she always did and she is very, very happy. Some people need the variety to feel centered and happy.

8

I think what colleges most like it a kid who is really into the things she does. So I agree - stay with the things you love.

My D also had good results with a variety of ECs (2 sports, service, lots of science stuff).

9

@julianstanley I am not familiar with your GF’s programs but I think it was two things, assuming what she was doing was very prestigious, on the level of participating in Intel (no idea? is it?) that by itself and doing research seems to bump kids a notch. The second aspect is girls in STEM get much more of a boost than boys do, especially combined with top grades and SATs.

OP, you are already doing science research, that is a plus. If you can do a project for Intel that would be great. Maybe enter Toshiba if they still have that. I would not give up a leadership position because everyone wants to see leadership. Girls in STEM is always good, especially IMO physical sciences or math (many premed girls want to be a bio or psych major).

Community service is one of the new up and coming ECs. By that I mean there is an article from Harvard’s School of Education that talks about how schools should encourage applicants to do more.

I assume when you mention Stonybrook you are talking about one of their special programs for med school?

Honestly, other than the science research you are a typical applicant. Music, Community Service and Science ECs. I would continue to do the ones you enjoy, if you can win honors great, if not, great.

10

I’ll start by saying that if you’re doing these things because you like doing them, then keep doing them! You’re only going to be a HS kid once.

That said, you have specifically asked about well-rounded vs focused. Here is what one top school (Stanford) says on its admission site

They seem clear that they want to see achievement and initiative.

Which brings me to something else you mentioned. You talk about “leadership” in all yor activities, but to many HS kids this means a club officer position. That is not leadership in any real sense of the word. Leadership means making a difference, not just playing a role. The campus Red Cross club had 3 fundraisers a year for the past 10 years before you joined and will for the 10 years after you graduate. Helping run them during your stint as a club officer is not the kind of leadership elite colleges are looking for. You can see a video where an ex-adcom explains how she’d review an app listing a ton of “leadership” positions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XL8vBBB7o

11

My thought is that if a school doesn’t want you because you are well rounded, maybe you shouldn’t want them either.

12

YES!! A thousand times yes to @STEM2017 #10!

This whole crafting a persona to appeal to a very narrow, specific set of colleges, as if that very narrow slice of colleges makes up the only permissible place for smart kids to end up—is that really what we’re socializing our high school kids to be? If so, this can’t be good.

13

@dfbdfb One of the saddest thing I’ve read in CC was a student saying “I don’t even know the person in my application.” What has this process become?

14

This “spike” business, and I’m assuming you read that off of the PrepScholar article, only matters to the very best schools, like HYPSM and to an extent the other top 10 schools. To the schools you mentioned, being well rounded is absolutely fine, because you’re competing with similar people (and it seems like you will do well). I wouldn’t worry.

15

Thank you all for your responses! I never expected so much insight on this topic.

@STEM2017 that makes a lot of sense. I think certain “name-brand” colleges may be too hyped up and I definitely want to stay true to myself.

@mikemac thank you! I just watched the video and it’s really interesting. However, I’m surprised that the case raised a red flag; it wasn’t too strange in my opinion. I have leadership roles as a founder and one of two youth members, having “adult” and “college level” roles, and lots of fundrasing money raised (10K in 2 years for one)…but I understand that some “leadership” roles are easy to obtain and therefore I consider them minor.

@lostaccount yep, I’ve read that article! Very informative.

@SeekingPam nah, I’m not interested with the 7 year Med programs. I feel like they’re a bit restrictive as I can’t change if I don’t want to go into med for some reason. I want to pursue a double major/minor in finance or health management or public health but I’m sure the school as great med and research resources.

I like UPenn for dual degree, but I’m not necessary going to go crazy to get into an HYPSM lol

Thank you so much for all the replies!!

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@SeekingPam , don’t entirely agree that everyone wants to see leadership. My D got into some great colleges with the most piddly “leadership” role ever, as a “fundraising officer”. I guarantee she was not admitted to colleges because of that, lol! Wish I could remember which thread it was, but a student asked CC if having no leadership roles was a disaster and got a resounding “no” from lots of people. The people who responded had kids who went to schools like Harvey Mudd, Amherst, Notre Dame, etc… I think many Adcoms can see that some leadership roles are just on the app as a filler. A very good point made on that thread was that leading by example is far more valuable than a popularity contest. True leadership should be very obvious in the application, and no doubt adcoms do like to see that.

17

^ I do not disagree with you except OP was already a leader so why give it up since she seems to enjoy it AND it will enhance her application.