What if your college-bound hs student hasn't found a "passion"?

[Anonymous]

So then make one up. You do realize that most kids don't even write their own essays, right? It's the parents or paid consultants. And there's lots of creative writing on the applications....that's why everyone now has to pretend they have a passion.

[Anonymous]

Is this how one's kids get into an elite college these days? is there a good web site to read up on for this stuff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So then make one up. You do realize that most kids don't even write their own essays, right? It's the parents or paid consultants. And there's lots of creative writing on the applications....that's why everyone now has to pretend they have a passion.

Well, not exactly. Lots of kids write their own essays - mine did, and got into Columbia with it. Sure, your kid's school counselors and maybe even an english teacher or two will probably offer to read the essay and give suggestions. But that's very different from hiring someone to fabricate a passion for you, and then to fabricate an essay about this fabricated passion. I don't think many people do this at all.

Plus, colleges are well aware that passion is demonstrated by consistent ECs and effort in the so-called passion. So it's not like DC can claim a passion for, say, oriental art, or maybe italian opera, if he can't list any activities or clubs or achievements in the alleged passion. So get DC to go through his activities for the last few years, and try to find a consistent pattern with lots of ECs and other work in a specific area. Claiming to have read books in his bedroom on the middle ages won't be convincing, he needs to have taken classes or done reenactments or worked at Medieval Times or something demonstrable. Junior year is probably not too late to start building the ole' resume. If he's received an award for something, that might be a good thing to claim passion about. And frankly, if DC does have a track record in some area, better yet an award or two, then it's most likely something he actually does enjoy, even if it falls a bit short of actual "passion." Run with it.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of wonderful colleges that will take a strong student who has a few extracurricular activities. A kid can have a wonderful experience at many of those schools. There are also a handful (maybe 20 or so) elite schools, such as the Ivies and some of the very top private LAC's who can afford to be pickier than that and look to fill their classes with kids who go above and beyond that.

However, the notion that a student won't achieve their goal of going to a good school if they don't know exactly what they love in 10th grade, is simply not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really matter where he goes to school. Just that he gets the right degree. That degree is the one with highest potential for a good job. The economy sucks and we are rolling back to the old days where people who were lucky enough to go to school got the most practical degree. Think foreigners who get degrees in the US. No art or english degrees. Hard technical degrees.

Couldn't disagree with you more. Hard technical degrees are for individual contributors. Managers and executives have education with a broader reach. I believe your approach is short-term and tactical not long-term and strategic. My young niece with a humanities degree from a top 20 national university (and is a very hard worker with tons of emotional intelligence) has a senior position at Google. Businesses, even those in the technology sector, need personnel with skills other than the technical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So then make one up. You do realize that most kids don't even write their own essays, right? It's the parents or paid consultants. And there's lots of creative writing on the applications....that's why everyone now has to pretend they have a passion.

Anonymous wrote:Is this how one's kids get into an elite college these days? is there a good web site to read up on for this stuff?

No. Read the Choice blog in the education section of the NYT or the Gatekeepers written by a former Wesleyan Univ. admissions rep. The Washington Post frequently has some good articles too. College Confidential (website) is also an interesting place to peruse. Go to individual college websites and look at the Common Data Set under Institutional Research for info about who was actually admitted.