TIMELINE

What should you be doing right now?

Class of 2028: Still waiting to hear from schools OR comparing offers from different universities  OR picking out summer gear at the college of your choice

Class of 2029: Thinking about how you want to present yourself to colleges.  I know – and colleges know this too, actually! – that you are a complex person, with a variety of interests and abilities, some of them unexpected.  However, most students have a better chance of getting into their top choice schools if they organize and curate their applications to highlight an academic passion.  

Important Note: ‘Academic’ does not equal major or even subject.  It’s totally fine to show interest in both physics and engineering, classics and law, or even biology and government.  But if you do that, then your application should show ways that your interests come together – for example, you were a page at the state house where you worked on medical ethics.  If the interests don’t come together, it might be better to focus on the stronger one.

Important Note #2:  There absolutely are ways to highlight diverse interests – one idea might be to look at a common thread that links your different interests.  For example, maybe you’ve volunteered in a hospital, been the basketball team manager for three years and worked as a lifeguard at the YMCA, all of which have involved caring for others.  Then you can tie that underlying theme to a potential area of study – biology with an intent to go into healthcare, say, or political science because you want a career in public service.  

This is definitely doable! Note though that it can be more complicated to illustrate an underlying passion than something more straightforward, like a particular subject area.  

Important Note #3: Your activities and extracurriculars don’t have to exclusively be formal things like clubs or teams or events.  If you’ve independently read your way through all the ancient Greek tragedies, hiked every national park trail in your state or play a weekly D&D session, these are all extracurriculars.  But (in general – there are exceptions to everything!) only include them if they give additional context to your overall presentation.  For example, someone who wanted to major in classics, or had done a lot of theater, should definitely include that they spent a summer reading the Greek tragedies.  Someone who wants to study biochemistry and eventually become a doctor, maybe not.

I was going to talk about Organizing Your Summer, but I’ve added so many Important Notes that I think I’ll stop here for now.