Effort and College Admissions

The most successful people in gaining admission to the college of their choice do it because of effort.

We all hear about the football star who got into Yale because he runs a 4.4 40 yard dash and his dad donated a building.  We hear about the slacker who had C’s in high school, but nailed the SAT and got into Princeton.  We hear these stories of luck and lottery and it makes up mad, and hopeless at the same time.

But it shouldn’t.  These people are the exception.  Seth Godin, a brilliant blogger who writes about marketing and entrepeneurship (among many other things), wrote a great post about effort in business. His view about luck, however, applies to anything in life:

While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.

If you really want to go to a specific college, and you aren’t a second semester senior already, there is good news.  You can go just about anywhere you want, with effort.  I know this may sound hokey, but its true, and you know it.  The only catch is that it is hard.

In his post, Seth Godin outlines a way to make the effort, and I have adapted it here for you.  Effort is a choice, you just have to decide if it’s worth it:

1. Eliminate 90 minutes of waste in you day.  This means spending less time watching tv, talking on IM, cruising myspace/facebook, whatever.  I’m not saying don’t do any of these things, just trim the fat.
2. Spend your extra 90 minutes/day doing these things instead:
   • Stay up with current news.  No need to be a fanatic, but know what’s going on in the world.
   • Learn about things they don’t teach you in school.
   • Ask you parents how their day was, and what they learned.  Then ask them five more questions.
   • Do something you like for 30 minutes.  Read, write, exercise, blog, play music.  If you devote 30 minutes a day to something you really love, not only will you be happier, but your passion will show through to college admission boards.
   • Volunteer
   • Keep up with what is going on at the colleges that interest you.
3. Spend at least 10 minutes a week with a teacher after class, asking questions.  You’ll get more out of class, get better grades, and set yourself up for some awesome teacher reccommendations.
4. Organize an event once or twice a semester at your school. Bring a speaker to campus who you admire or share interests with.

I could go on longer about all the things you could do with 90 extra minutes per day, but you get the point.  If you make the effort to be an engaged, active person who is interested in the world, I promise you’ll stand out from the crowd.