I am often asked, “how do I get into college?” I propose asking a different question to help boost your odds of admission: why do I want to go?  Right now the buzz word in the college admissions process is passion.  There is so much pressure in the college admissions process to build a story that shows passion and how you will pursue it in college and beyond.  For many students, it is stressful to have to declare an interest at such a young age when you’ve had precious few opportunities to explore and discover.

Strong applications tie together academic and professional interests through community service and extracurricular activities.

This is why we recommend that you develop a strategy for why you want to go to college and pair it with your strategy for getting in.  It allows you to focus on building a story.  However, do not worry if you are unsure of your plans for college.  The most important thing in high school is to try to discover what you love.  If your interests change, you will be able to change your mind when you get to college; if you need to change direction, then it will be healthy to do so

Success beyond college comes from knowing what motivates and inspires you and knowing what does not.  Taking a class or participating in an internship or extracurricular activity that reveals you dislike something is as much of a positive step as trying something and loving it.  Do not be afraid to try something more “left-field” in the college admissions process.  Life is trial and error.  Every time you try something and do not like it, use this as a catalyst to do an about-turn and find things that do inspire you.  Once you have the inspiration, this will help guide you to the courses and careers that are right for you...

I have included a fantastic article featured in Forbes by Mariko Silver explaining why a terrible internship may be the most important one you ever have.  Click here to read the article. 

Welcome the chance to have positive and negative experiences as part of this process.