Notes on College Admissions
First, you must discover what you’re passionate about and only focus on that. For me, it was public speaking and writing. You cannot be a “jack-of-all-trades.” These colleges want young people who are excellent at just one or two things. They want Math Olympiad winners, international debate champions, chess prodigies, etc. If you spread yourself thin, admission officers cannot picture where you will be 20 years from now. Remember: all that these universities ultimately care about is producing future leaders in their respective industries.
Fortunately, you do not need to be on the extreme level of “Math Olympiad winner.” I was president of two clubs (Model UN and Debate) and ran a blog and that was it. But you must orient your application around just one or two passions and excel in related extracurriculars to demonstrate your competence. That is crucial.
