I still remember that day ten years ago when one of the smartest students I ever counseled presented me with his response to a college essay prompt about his favorite class. One paragraph into reading it, I realized he’d copied the concept—and a good chunk of the language—from an example shared in a book that purported to advise students how to get accepted into Ivy League Schools. And I called him to the carpet over it.
“_________, you cannot submit this.”
“Why not?”
“Well, first of all, it’s just not that good. Second of all, I read that book, too.”
It was one of the few times I felt smarter than him.
What surprised me most was that this was not a kid who’d cheated his way to academic success. He was legitimately curious and intellectual, both interested and interesting. He had all the tools he needed to get into plenty of colleges, including the highly-selective ones that he wanted to attend.
But still, in the face of pressure, this otherwise bright, mature kid was trying so hard to give his dream colleges what he thought they wanted, he was ready to ape a (bad) essay from a book about Ivy League admissions.
Learning from the success of others is a smart thing to do. But copying them isn’t. And I don’t just mean outright plagiarizing someone else’s work, which is an obvious one. I mean following someone else’s path. If you choose your high school activities, or plan out your summer, or approach your college essay, just because that worked for another student who was accepted to the college in question, you’re not learning from their success—you’re trying to duplicate the steps they took to get there. That’s like trying to win the heart of someone by wearing the same outfits as someone they once dated.
Trying to out-copy the competition is not a viable college admissions strategy. Instead, observe the traits that successful applicants likely exhibited, like taking a challenging workload, studying hard, and committing to activities that meant something to them. Then apply those traits to your own high school career and chart your own path. You will be more successful this way and more interesting for admissions officers.