Students, here’s a three-step process to add a little more joy to—and remove some stress from—your college admissions process.
1. Consider this question: If college admissions were nothing more than a lottery—no application or evaluation at all, just buy a ticket (limit one per applicant) to enter the lottery at any college that interests you, cross your fingers, and hope the luck-of-the-draw swings your way—what would you do differently? Really think about it. If the entire process were nothing more than just a random game of chance, what specific changes would you make in your life?
2. Make a list of the changes you identified in response to the question above.
3. Now, take a good hard look at each item on the list and ask yourself, “What is stopping me from making this change right now?” Answer as specifically as you can.
Sure, for many, you’ll probably have legit answers about what’s stopping you. You couldn’t make long-term resolutions to sleep until noon, refuse to do your homework, or play video games from dawn to dusk all day every day because those changes would probably prevent you from graduating high school, much less attending college.
But I’d wager you’ll have a hard time coming up will real, evidence-based answers preventing you from making every proposed change.
You have more control, more agency, more power to decide what you do and don’t do than you might think.
And even if only one item were legitimately doable, wouldn’t it be worth doing?