Home Run vs. Hitting Singles - Different Approaches to College Admissions

Level 4 - Highly Selective

Welcome back! Today we are going to discuss one of the most important things you will ever read about college admissions. 

This is the most fundamental question that anyone who has a child or knows of a child going to college will ever have to answer. 

Are you a home-run hitter or are you trying to get on base? 

Our philosophy is to focus on getting on base, but a lot of applicants we see are focused on hitting home-runs. 

No matter who you are, you will fall into one of these strategies. If you do not, you will not be accepted into college. 

But before we get into that - let us define what the differences are in these philosophies. 

Hitting the Home Run

A lot of applicants approach college admissions with a narrow focus. That focus can be:

• A specific college or university

• A specific type of school (e.g., Ivy League)

• Playing a specific sport

That is not necessarily a bad thing. It is good to know where you want to go or what you want to do. 

The problem is that the goal becomes fairly singular - you either got into the school you wanted to or you did not. 

That in turn leads someone to “chase” a school - which can be very problematic.