Every Friday, I send out a lighthearted question to all of our Collegewise colleagues. Dubbed Friday Fun, answering these questions is completely optional, and our responses are shared with everyone in the company. Our offices are spread out all over the country (and one office internationally), so we don’t all get to interact face-to-face very often. But along with all the banter that inevitably ensues, questions like What was your first job? What’s your favorite family tradition? and Do you have any hobbies? help us get to know each other better and bond over things that have absolutely nothing to do with getting into college.
Last week’s question–What’s your guilty pleasure?–reminded me just how likeable and self-effacing our Collegewisers are. Here are a few of the responses.
I definitely like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez songs more than a man my age probably should.
If it takes place in space and there are laser beams or photon torpedoes, you can count me in. I love sci-fi tv and movies. #noshame #trekkies4life
Chocolate. Any kind. But not with fruit; that’s just wrong.
It’s not unheard of for me to go through a two-pound block of cheddar in less than a week.
I’ll admit it. Watching The Bachelor, group texting about it, and eating directly from a bag of Costco-sized potato chips, all at the same time. I’m not ashamed.
We hire people at Collegewise with long track records of over-achieving. They’ve accomplished great things in school and at work. But that’s not what makes them so likeable. Their personalities, their confidence to be themselves, and their willingness to admit things like their guilty pleasures are what make people want to be around them. They’re not embarrassed. They’re not trying too hard. They are who they are, and they know that’s enough.
Future college applicants, take a page out of our counselors’ books.
Colleges need to know that you’re prepared to handle the rigors of college and that you’ll contribute both in the classroom and on the campus. So they’ll pay close attention to your transcript, test scores, activities, and letters of recommendation. Those are the parts of the application that tell colleges whether or not you’re qualified for admission.
But colleges are also asking themselves who you are and what it would be like for other students to live and learn with you for four years. That’s what the essay and the interview are for—to get a better sense of your personality and what makes you tick. To get into college, you need to be likeable. And the best way to be likeable is to just be yourself.
High school students feel a lot of pressure these days to outwork, out-achieve, and out-accomplish the competition. Those aren’t necessarily bad instincts as long as they don’t hurt your health or happiness. Hard work is the key to succeeding.
But you are not just a collection of grades, test scores, and accomplishments. You’re a real person, with your own story, personality, likes, dislikes, foibles, and yes, even guilty pleasures. Those are what make you who you are, the parts that are uniquely yours that no other applicant gets to claim. So embrace them. Be proud of them. And use them, when and where appropriate, to help colleges get to know the real you.
I’m not suggesting that your entire college application should focus on your love of science fiction, cheese, or reality television. But while you want colleges to be impressed with you, you also want them to like you. And nobody ever fell in like with a resume.