Every year, hundreds of thousands of students apply for positions in universities all across the United States. Everyone would die for a place in an Ivy League university or any other institution ranked among the best in the country. However, the reality is that although thousands apply, only a handful of students make it in. People usually say that if you plan on going to Harvard, you have to start working hard even before you are born! Of course that’s an exaggerating. But many parents still believe that by enrolling their children in a million courses throughout their school career will be the pass their need to get into such a reputable establishment. Student A has been studying French, German, and Italian, and has learned to play the piano, saxophone, violin and the guitar. During any free time he has, his mother takes him to swimming lessons, folk dancing and a few different martial arts classes. The rest of this students’ time was spent learning and learning more and even more than that.

The result: a student with EXCELENT grades, very skillful in many areas, but was not accepted by Harvard or Yale or Princeton or any other university his parents thought was good. Why? Because student A is the same as student B and C and D and E and so on. There are thousands of students (if not more) around the world who spend all their time studying, practicing and learning but not living. Student A is so similar to student B and C and D and E and so on that they were all rejected at the first glance of their application files.

What universities (at least the good ones) are looking for is originality, exceptional talent and remarkably interesting individuals that will bring something new or different to their student bodies. So what happened to student A? Well, we enrolled in a second rate university and his parents haven’t learned their lesson - they are currently adding pressure on student A’s younger sibling.

The moral of the story is that you need to stand out of the crowd for your passion, your drive, your uniqueness. Next time you go to your seventh lesson of the day, look around at the other students. Are you the same as them?

If you are, you probably need to re-think your options. Harvard is not going to call you just because you aced your tests.