The Impressiveness Trap

Ivy League Prep Academy Podcast

Most ambitious teens (and their parents, if we're honest) ask the question "what's most ambitious to an admissions officer" early on in the process.
They figure that they can sacrifice the things they are curious about for a few short years, then later when they get into their dream college they can start doing those things they love so much.
Of course, being as impressive as possible means taking the most rigorous coursework available to them, and then working hard to get great grades in all of those 'impressive' classes.
On top of that, they hear that they should demonstrate leadership. So it's not enough to just join 8 clubs, they need to lead 3 or more of them.
It's not enough to just be on the sports team-- you need to be the captain.
You can't just compete in MUN, you need to be a leader...
Later on they may hear that the most impressive students have published books or won national awards or worked alongside professors and doctoral candidates to conduct biology research.
These families will push and push and push to fit in more and more novel ways to become impressive.
But...
Even if you are successful. Even if you are the ONE in your school who is valedictorian and captain of the team and president of the most clubs-- you are THE MOST impressive student in your school-- the reality is that there are 30,000 high schools in N. America. And each of them has a valedictorian.
So there are tens of thousands of people who spent all four years of high school stuck in what I call The Impressiveness Trap.
And all of those tens of thousands of teens submit applications that look nearly identical.
they look nearly identical because they were all over-scheduled in order to become as impressive as possible.
Ironically, the things that they sacrificed in order to be more impressive-- those things they would have spent time exploring because they were interesting to them-- THOSE are the things that are interesting to an admissions officer.
So that is why it is good advice for your teen to approach activities without considering future admissions officers.
The key is (over time) to explore those curiosities to a deep and meaningful level, and connect that interest and exploration to some positive impact in the community.
This is where parents or mentors can make a big difference.
Listen up to learn more!
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