The Challenge
Levi’s work ethic drove him to accomplish incredible academic and extracurricular feats throughout high school. His interests in math and computer science dominated his decisions when choosing classes, activities outside of school, and summer plans. This resulted in a narrow focus at an early age and lack of development in other critical areas, namely in the humanities.
Possible Approaches
At first, I saw this narrow focus as an example of a young student who knew his academic and professional interests; my assumption was that this early interest would give him the necessary edge to stand out among his peers. If he were to focus on a specific area, he would be able to make significant strides toward his professional goals. However, after fully considering an admissions officer’s perspective, I realized that this narrow focus might be taken as more of a limitation in the student’s ability to succeed on a college campus. I also realized that he was limiting himself; he was not giving himself the opportunity to explore and experience things that fell outside his comfort zone.
The Admissionado Approach
My approach was to apply his work ethic and intrinsic motivation to a variety of areas that he had expressed a bit of interest in. Through some brainstorming and digging, he discovered many opportunities in math, debate, professional internships, literary magazines, speech and writing competitions, and technology that he had never considered before.
Through long discussion exploring the very general fields that could potentially interest him, and then diving deeply into each topic, we focused our attention on the intersection of technology and business. With this focus, we explored opportunities that concern both fields, came up with some potential future career goals, and began making a logical connection between all of his experiences and how they’ve contributed to his overall objectives.
We then established his focus by gaining professional and academic contacts in the technology and business sectors. He was able to learn quite a bit about the intersection of these fields and confidently narrow down his interests.
The Result
As a result, Levi is a much more curious, free-thinking, and well-rounded person ready to pursue his interests with more conviction and certainty. He will be pursuing an undergraduate degree in Data Science at Stanford University.
Personal Shoutout
Levi’s quirkiness and intensity complement my own so we’ve had the great fortune of learning equal amounts from each other. I can honestly say that I’ve gained a friend and I’m so honored to have had the opportunity to help him achieve all of his goals.