This post from Cal Newport shares a simple but powerful way to stand out while still enjoying your life: Do less.  Do better.  Know why. 

For high school students, that philosophy in practice looks like this.  Don’t spread yourself so thin that you’re just busy being busy.  Instead, quit activities that you don’t enjoy and focus on a few things that really matter to you.  Use that newfound focus to make an impact.  And most importantly, don’t do these things because you think it will get you into an Ivy League School.  Do them because you’re a smart, curious, motivated kid who wouldn’t want to be any other way. 

Parke Muth’s recent blog entry gives a clear and fascinating explanation about the history of college admissions, particularly the ways in which admissions has become more like a business for colleges.  It should be required reading for newer counselors still learning the admissions ropes but might also be of interest to parents wondering why the process seems so much different than when you applied to college.  Don't be thrown off by the title, "Essays, Editors and Ethics"–the bulk of the article is the historical discussion. 

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of doing things just because that’s how you’ve always done them.  Maybe your group meets every Tuesday no matter what.  Maybe you give a presentation to your junior families every year when the PSAT scores are posted.  Maybe you run the same employment ad, or provide training to your tour guides, or mail packets of information to families who express interest in your school.

One way to not just improve, but also to make sure you’re doing the right things for the right reasons, is to ask, “What is the desired outcome?”  What exactly are you hoping will happen as a result of whatever it is you’re doing?  And what actions are you taking to achieve that desired outcome?

At Collegewise, we give hundreds of presentations each year at seminars, high schools and conferences.  Depending on the audience, our desired outcomes are usually:

1. To be so good that we get invited back.

2.  To attract families who appreciate and might benefit from our approach to college counseling (they can sign up for our newsletter, read this blog, buy our book, or hire one of our counselors).  

Identifying those two desired outcomes completely shapes the presentation, from what we share, to what examples we use, to what we hand out to audience members at the end.

When I write an employment ad, when our counselors attend regional admissions events, even when we all get together at conferences or for trainings, we always start by asking ourselves what the desired outcome is.  Then we can focus on the process we’ll use to accomplish it.

I’m not suggesting that the end result is the only thing you should care about (In fact, I think the process is often more important than the outcomes).  But starting with your end in mind helps you decide what really matters most and what you have to do to get there.

When I made an in-person donation to a non-profit today, the woman behind the counter didn’t say hello or even look up from her computer screen.  She just motioned to a nearby clothing bin and said, “Do you need a receipt.”  I felt like I was bothering her.

Whether or not I was made to feel warm and fuzzy is not the point.  They’re doing difficult, important work, and I’d donate again because it’s the right thing to do.  But there’s a good lesson here for all of us. 

From which cause to support, to which store to buy groceries, to which college to attend, when people have options, they need to make a choice.  And those choices are made more often by emotions, like how the choice makes them feel, than they are by a rational comparison of features and benefits.  That’s why I often hear students make statements about a college based on whether or not they liked the tour guide.

We’re all in competition with someone.  And when you’re in competition, the little things matter.   It matters whether or not you’re respectful of your teacher.  It matters whether or not your tour guides refrain from bad-mouthing the competition.  And yes, it matters whether or not your business—and even your non-profit—interacts with customers in a way that makes them want to come back.

The little things might be easy to do, but they often make the biggest difference. 

When I started Collegewise in 1999, I began offering free college admissions seminars for pretty much any local group who asked—high schools, PTAs, National Charity League meetings, even AP and honors classes.  It was good for my business, it let me make a small contribution to the community, and it’s always been something I really enjoy doing.   

As Collegewise has grown to offices in six states, we’ve hired counselors who also have the gift of gab and enjoy sharing college admissions advice with their communities.  We have one internal rule that guides us in all of our speaking events—be so good that you get invited back. We’ve been pretty successful by just following that simple rule.  

If you’d like to invite someone from Collegewise to speak to your school or organization, here's some information about our free services for community organizations.