00:00when i was in high school my friends and
00:01i wasted hundreds if not
00:03thousands of hours on extracurricular
00:05activities that were a complete
00:07waste of time in hindsight these
00:09activities were fun but they didn't
00:11necessarily help me or my friends get
00:14and i know this not only from my own
00:15experience but because of the fact that
00:17later on i helped out with the admission
00:20at the university that i went to so this
00:22is the video that i wish my friends and
00:24i had in high school and not only am i
00:26going to go over the things you
00:28but i'm also going to give you some tips
00:29on the things that you should do
00:31because when it comes to your activities
00:32in high school your time is very limited
00:35extremely selective about what you do
00:37when it comes to trying to get into your
00:39dream school but i'll get to that more
00:42all right so the first one on the list
00:44and this is probably going to be the
00:45most common one you see
00:47is going to be generic volunteer work
00:49and this is going to include
00:50things that just about anybody and
00:52everybody does all the time
00:54anyways regardless of whether they're
00:56applying to college anyways so we're
00:58talking about generic community service
01:01there's nothing innovative here there's
01:02not going to be any original ideas
01:04and if i had a dollar for every hour of
01:08community service that i did in high
01:12now don't get me wrong i think
01:13volunteering for charity community
01:15all that sort of thing is great and
01:17everybody should do it i've done lots of
01:19it in my life and i think it's great to
01:21develop the habit of giving value and
01:23expecting nothing in return
01:24not only does it make you feel great but
01:26it also helps the world out but with
01:27that being said this video is all about
01:29being effective and we're focusing
01:30specifically on the things that are
01:32going to help you get into a good
01:33college and when it comes to high school
01:35so much of your time is already taken
01:37up and so time is such a limited
01:40resource and you have to be very careful
01:41where you spend your time think about it
01:43you're already spending about eight
01:45hours a day at school and you're
01:46probably studying at least another two
01:48hours a day so right off the bat that's
01:5050 hours a week that's more than a
01:52full-time job so you need to be very
01:54specific with your time and doing
01:55generic volunteer work like walking
01:58helping out at a local library or
02:00picking up trash isn't going to help you
02:01all that much when it comes to standing
02:03out and that right there is the key
02:05standing out is extremely important
02:08because when it comes to getting into a
02:09very competitive college
02:11you don't want to look like everybody
02:12else because most people
02:14end up not getting in depending on what
02:16situation you're in sometimes in life
02:18it's best to not stand out
02:19and then other times it's best to stand
02:21out and this is one of those times when
02:23it comes to getting into your dream
02:25college this is one of those times where
02:27you want to stand out so instead of
02:28doing generic volunteer work maybe you
02:30can start your own organization or start
02:32your own project where you're helping
02:33people out just as much if not more if
02:36that's not an option maybe you can join
02:37an organization that you're passionate
02:39about and work your way up to a higher
02:41and then you can be in charge of an
02:43exciting project that will showcase your
02:44leadership skill and initiative
02:46going and picking up trash on a saturday
02:48and doing a few laps around a track for
02:50charity is great don't get me wrong i
02:52think that's amazing
02:53but it is not going to help you stand
02:55out and it's not going to show colleges
02:57that you have initiative
02:58and leadership so don't do community
03:00service because you think it's going to
03:01be impressive on an application
03:03do it for the right reasons and stop
03:05banging your head against the wall
03:06all right so number two on the list is
03:10debate and forensics and i can already
03:13can already see it some people are
03:14getting getting a little hot in here
03:16some people are gonna be getting
03:18angry at this one and keep in mind guys
03:20uh you know i'm not making this video to
03:22like make fun of anyone or anything like
03:24uh write down in the comments if you
03:26disagree with me on these
03:27because this one is unfortunate i think
03:30debate in forensics might be one of the
03:32important classes that you can take in
03:34high school because looking back on high
03:36school there were lots of classes and i
03:39that were pretty much a waste of my time
03:41i have never once used any of the skills
03:44in many of these classes however there
03:46are a lot of classes that i wish
03:47were in high school like personal
03:49finance for instance but seriously
03:51debate and forensics teaches you skills
03:53actually going to use the rest of your
03:56life like communication
03:57critical thinking formulating an
03:59argument giving a speech
04:00debate in forensic is amazing for
04:02developing these skills and it will
04:04basically make you a big brain
04:06but the truth is the college admissions
04:08people are not going to be like
04:09oh my god i heard he did debate in high
04:11school like pretty much
04:13every smart kid does debate like it's
04:15extremely common for people who are
04:17applying to like ivy league colleges
04:19to have done debate and forensics now
04:21i'm not gonna lie if you win something
04:23like a regional or a national
04:24championship in debate or forensics that
04:27is impressive but very few people are
04:29going to get to that level and this also
04:31ton of time i mean out of all the ones
04:34on this list i think debate and
04:35forensics probably takes the most
04:37time tmi here but you know the girl that
04:39i dated for pretty much most of high
04:41school did debate and forensics
04:43and i can say that it took a lot more
04:45time than any of the sports that i did
04:48it probably took up more time than all
04:50three sports combined and i did three
04:52different sports in high school i know
04:53you probably can't believe it i look
04:54like a nerd but i actually did football
04:56track and then i did boxing on the side
04:58and the time that she took to do debate
05:00and forensics man oh my gosh it took up
05:02so much of her time she would get home
05:04late at night and only get a few hours
05:06of sleep you know her grades suffered
05:08because of it but she did it because she
05:10really enjoyed it and it wasn't because
05:12she wanted to get into some fancy
05:13college or anything like that
05:15it was just because she enjoyed it and
05:16she thought it was going to be useful so
05:18again if this is something you're
05:19passionate about you absolutely love it
05:21then go for it but don't do this one
05:23just because you think it's gonna look
05:24good on a college application
05:26number three on the list is going to be
05:28participating in sports
05:30so this is going to be something like
05:31being a bench warmer on a varsity team
05:34pep squad that's right the glory days of
05:36high school sports i played varsity
05:38football back in high school i even
05:40started on the kickoff team that's right
05:42chesty lions football team we went 1-8
05:44barely won the last game of the season
05:46so we barely avoided getting swept
05:49finest moment of my football career was
05:52now speaking of nerds doing sports like
05:54i said i did football
05:56track and then i also did a little bit
05:57of boxing on the side in high school
05:59and to be realistic and honest with you
06:01guys i was very average at
06:02all of them so when it comes to sports
06:04do them because you love them
06:06not because you think it's going to be
06:07impressive on an application and again i
06:10just want to preface this by saying i
06:11think sports are amazing for developing
06:13teamwork and discipline
06:14but you should do it because you love to
06:16do it not because you think it's going
06:18to look good on an application now
06:20if you're really passionate about it you
06:21love to do it or you're in a leadership
06:24position like you're very good at it and
06:26maybe you make it to
06:27state or national something that's
06:28really impressive or maybe you're the
06:31then that might actually look good next
06:34one on the list is going to be
06:35summer activities like summer camps and
06:39these are going to be things that you
06:40went off and maybe did for a few days or
06:43now again i think these are great if
06:44you're doing it for the right reasons
06:46you want to go and explore another
06:48or help people out but when it comes to
06:49standing out when it comes to looking
06:51really good on an admission or an
06:54it's not really going to help you all
06:55that much because the truth is
06:57colleges want to see you demonstrate
06:59long-term commitment not something that
07:01you did for a few days or a few weeks
07:03and then you went back to your normal
07:05almost all people who are highly
07:06successful in life unless they got
07:08demonstrate long-term commitment right
07:10so pretty much anything in life that is
07:12worth doing is going to take a very long
07:14time of working and grinding
07:16before you see any reward and so that is
07:18what colleges want to see they want to
07:21you know working with an organization
07:22for at least a year maybe several years
07:24and doing a really exciting project and
07:27this is another thing that you see
07:28people put all the time on their
07:29applications and their resumes and again
07:31it just does not help you stand out and
07:33at the end of the day it's pretty much
07:34going to be a waste of space unless you
07:36don't have anything better to put on
07:38now instead you could be the person who
07:40either creates one of these events
07:41creates an organization or
07:43organizes one of these that would be
07:45much more impressive it wouldn't be just
07:47participating in something that somebody
07:48else created it's you
07:50actively going out there and having the
07:52initiative and leadership
07:53to create something yourself number five
07:56on the list is going to be one that i'm
07:58the most guilty of which is spam joining
08:02during high school and especially
08:04college i kind of spam joined
08:05organizations and the reason i did this
08:07is because i kind of knew that i was an
08:09and i wanted to force myself to get out
08:11of my comfort zone so i probably joined
08:13like 20 different organizations i would
08:15go to a bunch of the meetings and the
08:17and this would take up a ton of my time
08:19and i realized eventually that i wasn't
08:21actually accomplishing all that much so
08:24what i do i made it even worse
08:26by applying to a ton of different
08:27positions within these organizations
08:29there was seriously one semester where i
08:31five or six different positions within
08:33all of these different organizations
08:34there was one time where i was
08:36president of the class vice president of
08:38an organization i was the liaison
08:40between the pharmacy school and the
08:42i was head of fundraising for another
08:44organization and then i was on a bunch
08:45of different committees as well
08:46and on top of that i joined a bunch of
08:48organizations and i would attend their
08:50it was absolutely ridiculous it took up
08:55and looking back on it i didn't actually
08:56accomplish all that much
08:58in any individual situation i was
09:00basically just going through the motions
09:02i was participating but i wasn't
09:04actually accomplishing
09:05anything and the thing is when somebody
09:07sees that you have a certain position on
09:09your resume or your cv they're gonna ask
09:11you about it and if your answer is
09:13oh yeah i did that position and you know
09:15i just did like day-to-day tasks and i
09:17just like talked to all the other
09:18members and i attended meetings
09:20they're not going to be impressed what
09:22they really want to see is you had maybe
09:23one or two leadership positions
09:25max and you actually accomplished
09:28something so for instance you could be
09:29the president of one organization and
09:31you could start a new scholarship and
09:33anyone in an interview is going to be
09:34able to tell that if you join
09:36just a bunch of different organizations
09:37and you can't really say what you
09:40they're going to know that you just
09:40stretched yourself too thin and you
09:42really didn't accomplish anything you
09:44were just participating however if they
09:45see something on your cv and your resume
09:48and they ask you about it and you're
09:49able to passionately explain
09:51exactly what you accomplished that is
09:53going to impress them and just
09:54practically speaking here i would say
09:56maybe two positions max
09:57and you know maybe you should do one
09:59that's kind of higher up like president
10:01or vice president and then maybe one
10:02that's lower as well so that you can
10:05not only do you have leadership skills
10:06but you can also be a team player
10:08all right so now that i've told you what
10:10not to do let's briefly go over what you
10:13one i think that you should try to
10:15create something unique alright so
10:17everybody has their own unique gifts
10:19talents now of course you could just
10:23straight up invent something and that
10:24would be awesome but let's be honest if
10:26you could do that you probably should
10:27just skip college and become the next
10:29elon musk but a realistic example that i
10:31thought was really awesome was this
10:32student who created a website to keep
10:34accurate information on covid19 she
10:37realized that everyone was panicking and
10:39she took the initiative to create a
10:41accurate information and it's a little
10:43bit more user-friendly than a lot of the
10:45government websites out there
10:46a second thing you could do that's
10:47extremely impressive for a high school
10:49student is doing research with a
10:52one thing that's sort of unfortunate
10:53about universities i guess it's kind of
10:55a good thing and a bad thing
10:56is many of them are extremely research
10:59oriented they are all about
11:01researching and getting grants in my
11:03opinion i think they should be more
11:04focused on actually teaching the
11:06students and making sure that students
11:07get a lot of value out of their
11:08experience there but
11:10i mean you know that's just my opinion
11:12so demonstrating that you can do
11:14research with a professor even when
11:16you're in high school is extremely
11:19impressive and this is especially true
11:21if you are able to get your name
11:22published on a paper
11:23speaking of publishing it's not just
11:25papers you could do an app
11:26a book or even just an article this is
11:28something you could customize in order
11:30to make as unique as possible because
11:32you want to stand out number three would
11:34be some type of leadership position
11:36like being the captain of a club or the
11:38president and like i mentioned before
11:39you can have a leadership position i
11:42great but you need to focus on actually
11:44accomplishing something if they ask you
11:46what you actually did with this position
11:48you don't want to just be like
11:49oh i just uh did like presidential stuff
11:52day to day stuff you want to be able to
11:54tell them exactly what you accomplished
11:56when you were in that position of power
11:58and you want to be able to say something
11:59that you're extremely proud of you
12:01didn't just hold up the position and do
12:03absolutely nothing with it you actually
12:04accomplished things did you create a new
12:06fundraiser did you organize a new event
12:08did you create a scholarship for the
12:10local community these are all the types
12:12of things you want to be thinking about
12:13actually accomplish something with the
12:15time that you're in that position
12:16number four would be a founder so maybe
12:19starting your own business
12:20a non-profit or even a club being a
12:22founder of something is probably
12:24even more awesome than having a
12:25leadership position because it shows
12:26that you have true initiative
12:28it also shows leadership creativity and
12:30all the other buzzwords that they're
12:31going to be looking for
12:32so something like looking up a club that
12:34doesn't exist at your school but it
12:37and then being the founder of that club
12:39number five on the list is going to be
12:41an award winner so something like
12:43national award of some kind
12:45international would be even better so an
12:47obvious example of this would be winning
12:49a state championship that is definitely
12:52winning a national science competition
12:54going to nationals in debate and winning
12:56it or you know scoring really well
12:58and this is really rare just because of
12:59the fact that thousands tens of
13:01thousands hundreds of thousands of
13:03students try to achieve something like
13:06just like me and my one and eight
13:07football team we went into the year
13:08thinking we were gonna try to win a
13:12didn't work out too well if you haven't
13:13done it already go ahead and gently tap
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