Imagine this…
Jack had done everything he was told was right: join every club organization known to man, check. Become president of said organizations, check. Have a 4.0+ GPA, check. Play on three varsity teams, check. Become captain of said teams, check. Win a posh award for good measure, check.
“I got this in the bag,” he thinks to himself, “What could possibly go wrong?”
Decision day rolls around and he is rejected from every top university. This is the worst day of his life.
Jack had crossed every “t” and dotted every “i” on this checklist so what went wrong?
Well, the problem is most applicants follow the exact same formula: quantity over quality. And as a result of this more-is-better mentality, too often do we see applicants juggle a nauseating amount of extracurriculars.
They end up spreading themselves too thin and not doing any tasks particularly well. It’s just as the saying goes “A jack of all trades is a master of none.”
To put it more simply: being “well-rounded” will be the death of your college dreams.
I know this comes as a surprise for many since it contradicts what I call “popular misinformation” or the spread of wrong and misleading information.
It is extremely persuasive because it is perpetuated by people we trust – our teachers, coaches, counselors, parents, friends, and even alumni – and this can really destroy your chances of getting an acceptance letter from your dream school.
So why is being a well-rounded jack problematic?
Well, when applicants have a hand in so many skills they can only spend a limited amount of time learning each one and therefore won’t have the experience needed to become an expert.
Ask yourself: “Do I want to be great at one thing or pathetic in a handful?”
It’s the same reason why professional athletes become specialists rather than generalists, and only focus on shooting the ball, defending the touchdown line, or sprinting the track.
Imagine if Michael Jordan or Usain Bolt focused on every possible skill in their sport, then we never would have seen that iconic mid-air dunk or historic sprint time.
Remember, anyone can develop a beginner’s understanding of a million different things but it takes a true master to understand a single thing well.
Furthermore, when applicants practice the same well-rounded strategy, they inadvertently blend together like a school of fish.
How do you tell them apart? You can’t. So how can we expect universities to?
The point of the college admission process is to show them who you are and why you deserve a spot at the school, but you won’t have that chance if you don’t stand out.
When you have too many activities that are superficial, your message becomes like a drop of paint in a bucket of water – it will be too diluted to mean anything.
Imagine being an admission officer combing through thousands of identical applicants with perfect grades and well-rounded extracurriculars. How would you objectively choose which one is accepted or not – would you flip a coin?
UCLA, for example, receives over 100,000 applications each year and only 12% will receive admission so many of these “well-rounded” applicants will be rejected.
Ask yourself: “If the college admission process was so easy and so obvious then why isn’t everyone at schools like UCLA, Harvard, or Yale?”
It’s because most people follow the wrong formula and strive to be well-rounded. However, the select few who do earn admission to these elite universities are the ones who know the secret.
So you’re probably thinking, “What’s the secret?”
Well, it’s having an expertise or a specialized skill set. I strongly recommend using my “master of one” strategy which is the complete opposite of the generalist approach since you will instead focus on 3-5 activities you intend to master during high school or community college.
These activities must be relevant to the program you’re applying to and you must be willing to pour your heart and soul into them as they will be the main focus of your college applications.
Related: Read this article to learn what colleges really look for in an applicant and how you can leverage it to your advantage.
Related: Read this article to find what your expertise is and why you need one to stand out in the college admission process.
This way you will have more substantive things to write about in your essays and discuss in your interviews. You should use that time to talk about how these activities have impacted you and why you want to pursue this as an occupation.
A less obvious advantage of sticking to a few extracurriculars is that there will be more opportunities with your mentors and advisors, which translate to better letters of recommendation.
Overall, strong letters coupled with relevant extracurriculars and awesome essays will separate you from the other applicants and shoot you to the finish line.
