I just came across this past post on the venerable MIT admissions blog. It answers the question, “How do I get into MIT?” with a simple concept: apply sideways.

I’ll let the writer, Chris (who is also an assistant director of admissions), explain what he means. But it involves working hard, pursuing passions, and being nice, recommendations that regular readers of this blog have heard before. I’m sharing Chris’s version as further evidence that this simple approach works.

No matter where you hope to go to college, just insert the name of your dream school and follow the advice contained within Chris’s post. It doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get in. But it guarantees that you’ll be successful someplace.