High school students have invested in the search for the “what-looks-good-on-an-application” list for years. It has become a popular idea that the best way for a student to get accepted is for them to be involved in as many things as they can. However, there is a group that insists against this application technique – the colleges themselves.

If colleges are anti-well rounded, why is it such a common belief they are for it? Allen Cheng, the co-founder and head of production of PrepScholar, discusses this evasive issue in an article over applying to Ivy League schools; Cheng says that although students think being highly involved comes across as multi-talented, colleges believe well-rounded means “mediocre at everything; Jack of all trades, master of none.” Because students pile their schedule with several things, they don’t have the time to truly develop skills at one particular curricular. In his book, “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell has estimated that up to 10,000 hours are required to become talented at a skill; if those 10,000 hours that each student has are spread to several different things, no one skill is truly mastered. Schools are looking to educate students who are going to benefit the communities they strive for, not students who feel they have to juggle several subjects they aren’t even particularly interested in.

This doesn’t mean that colleges shut down students wanting to be involved in more than one thing. They just advise against having too much on your plate to the point you aren’t gaining anything beneficial from it; NextStepU.com warns that over the years, “admissions officers {have} become quite skilled in teasing apart activities truly pursued out of love from those done ‘just to look good.’” Those students who show passion in what interests them are what colleges will pick out from the crowd of applicants. Students have been trying to achieve what they think colleges want to see, but it’s simpler than they think; colleges want to see what the students want to achieve. Those passionate qualities are what they believe make students worth acceptance.

“Extracurricular Activities | Ivy Coach.” The Ivy Coach. Ivy Coach, 26 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Cheng, Allen. “How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum.” How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, by a Harvard Alum. PrepScholar, 30 May 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Jewell, Joe. “NextStepU.” College Planning. NextStepU, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Thys, Fred. “‘Well-Rounded Versus Angular’: The Application Colleges Want To See.” WellRounded Versus Angular The Application Colleges Want To See RSS 20. Wbur, 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.