Building a Passion Project for College Applications

Webinar Transcription

2024-05-02 – Building a Passion

Project for College Applications

Lydia:

Hello. Hello. Hello, everyone. Welcome to, “Building a Passion Project for

College Applications.” My name is Lydia Hollon, and I’m your moderator

today, and I’m also a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor. I’ve been with the

company for about three years now, and in addition to advising students, I’m

also the proud co captain of our essay review team.

I’m also a proud graduate of NYU, and in addition to my work with

CollegeAdvisor, I’m an education consultant as well as a former teacher. I’m

also a proud graduate of NYU, and in addition to my work with

CollegeAdvisor, I’m an education consultant as well as a former teacher. To

orient everyone with the webinar timing for tonight, we’re going to start off with

a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q& A.

On the sidebar, you can download our slides, and you can start submitting

questions in the Q& A tab. We’ll also be recording this session so that you can

review the webinar again later. Now, let’s meet our presenter.

Maria: Hey everyone, my name is Maria Acosta Robayo. I graduated from

Harvard in 2020. And I studied sociology and global health policy as a student

who was also on the pre med track.

I’m really excited to get a chance to talk to y’all about building a passion project,

especially because I built one myself for in, in high school. And, um, it was

continued even while I was in college. And so I’m really excited to get a chance

to talk not only about. You know how that was in the beginning stages, but also

talk a little bit about what that looked like to build sustainability in there and to

make sure that it was something that carried on even after high school.

Lydia: Great. So before Maria jumps into her presentation, we’re gonna do a

quick poll to figure out what grade you all are in. If you’re a parent, just feel free

to choose that other option instead. And while we give people a chance to

answer that question, Maria, I’m just curious, what was your experience like

going to Harvard?Maria: Yeah, um, I thankfully had a really great experience. I loved the

community that I was a part of. I, um, really loved the professors and the classes

that I took. Obviously there were some that were, um, even more exciting or a

bigger favorite for me than others. There were some classes that were

requirements and others that were electives that I really enjoyed.

And so. I think there was an aspect of classes that was really exciting and

talking to professors who were like, at the top of their fields and like sometimes

even started a field. Um, and so that was really fun. And then the extracurricular

slash like social portion of being able to explore lots of new hobbies, lots of

new interests and make friends along the way.

Lydia: That’s great. So I’m looking at the results. Now we’ve got 17 percent in

10th grade, 58%. That’s the bulk of our attendees tonight who are in 11th grade

and 25 percent who chose that other category likely parents. So I’ll go ahead and

pass it off to you now, Maria, to get us started with the presentation.

Maria: Thank you. So I’ll start off with just a general kind of context setting for

what is a passion project. Um, a lot of folks can hear that and maybe have never

heard of a passion project. Don’t really know what it has to, the role it plays in

your college application. And so. I’ll just start off by saying that this has lots of

different definitions, but essentially it’s an activity that you start or that you do

because you love it.

Hence the name passion. Um, I think it has three main characteristics. The first

is that it’s curiosity fueled. So you have to have interest in this topic. This is

something that again, is coming from a space of like, it’s not a requirement for

high school. It’s not a requirement in your life. It’s something that you’re doing

because you truly love it.

And because you want to use your free time, um, to do something. And then it’s

impact driven. So you recognize that there is a need that isn’t being met, that

you can hop in into that gap and say like, okay, I’m here to bridge the gap

between, um, something that I see not happening in my community, um, a lack

of resources, uh, an injustice, something that you’re seeing is a lock and you’re

stepping in to fill that gap.

Um, and the third is that it’s joy inspired. You actually find joy and fulfillment

in participating in this activity. It’s something that gives you life and Sometimes

like it can be stressful. Sometimes it can be difficult, but it’s something that

overall you have a drive to do. And so these are hopefully things that are

positive connotations that go along with the passion project.Again, it’s not school requirements. It’s not a college requirement either. It’s

something that just naturally, something that you’re interested in. And I’ll talk a

little bit more about this, but not everyone just knows that right off the top of

their head. Um, it takes like a lot of introspection to think about.

You know what’s going on in my community or in, um, in a particular

community that you’re a part of, um, that could be local and geography or it

could be on the internet, it could be something, um, again, that’s just spans to

other groups of people and allows you to connect with others or help others.

And it takes a lot again, introspection and thinking about those, the things that

surround you, what you can do in the skill sets or just things that you want to

step into and again, kind of help fill a hole that’s not being filled right now.

Um, so you, um, I’ll guess I’ll give a little bit of background on my passion

project experience just to give an example of what this will look like. So, um, I

started a project called the salt and light project and it was curiosity filled fuels

in that, um, I was really curious about international service.

I grew up in Miami, which is a port city. And a lot of folks, um, all over the

country would stop there before going off to do like a global humanitarian aid

project. Um, and again, because it’s a port, it would be like a halfway point and

they’d fly out to different places in the world. And, um, in my community, a lot

of people hosted, um, folks that were going out and doing international aid.

And so it was something that I grew up just hearing stories and being really

interested in. Um, impact driven in that I realized there was a need in my

community because, um, or a need that I noticed even in the global community

of, um, there wasn’t like this match between supply and demand of resources

like I, a lot of the folks who came through Miami were sharing that when they

go and do humanitarian service in other countries, sometimes they’re there, their

services are there, um, but there aren’t actual supplies that they need.

So for example, like there was a group of teachers that were going out and. Um,

teaching in like a city in Ecuador or actually a more rural village in Ecuador and

another that was going to a completely different part of the world, um, and we’re

both seeing the same problem, which is that. they were teaching and they were

there, but the resources for the kids to be able to put that teaching into practice

wasn’t there.

So there weren’t a lot of notebooks. Um, a lot of times kids were sharing like the

same book and throughout the class and there weren’t enough resources to go

around. And so, um, kind of hearing some of those things. And again, seeingthat in other fields as well, where. Some of the doctors who would pass through

would say like sometimes the clinics that they were working out were really

under resourced and there weren’t enough like just basic supplies.

Um, and so I noticed I was at the time volunteering at a hospital in, in, for my

high school or during my high school years and it was right next to my high

school, my high school. Um, and I noticed that there was a lot of like supplies

and a lot of donation drives that were happening. And so I was able to, my

passion project was seeing, okay, there is.

a demand for supplies in other countries. There’s institutions in the U. S. that do

donation drives and have a surplus of supplies. And so I would work with the

different humanitarian aid workers who are going abroad and asking them,

okay, when you go to the communities that you’re working in, ask the

community leaders in those communities.

Areas, like what are the supply needs? And if you tell me like, what, like, can I

give you a materials list? I will go and see like here in, or in the city of Miami,

where I was like, what institutions can help fill that need. And so I would then

coordinate with different schools and universities and hospitals and see, okay,

what materials list can those folks, um, contribute to.

And so I served as like a bridge between resources needed abroad and then

institutions that had a surplus, um, in the U S so that was kind of the. impact

driven portion of it. Um, and then the third is Joy Inspired. Um, I really loved

getting to visit different schools and hospitals and doing the coordination with

different service organizations.

It was really cool to meet folks who are going all over the world to Um, for

different purposes and with different, um, skill sets. And it was just really cool

to hear more about that lifestyle. And I also love getting to know people in my

community more. There was people in the schools and the hospitals that I didn’t

know before.

And this was a great chance to just connect with them and find new friends and,

um, and mentors in my life. And so I think that is one, like it clicked all of those

three. Um, factors that I put there.

Um, so how did completing a passion project help me in the college admissions

process? So first, I think it allowed me to showcase my personality. Um, it

allowed me to show that I was resourceful. Like I was able to not just recognizethat there was a need that needed to be met, but also think about, okay, what is

my role in being able to meet this need?

Um, It allowed me to think about, like, okay, if there is different needs, again, it

could, it was hygiene materials sometimes, it was school supplies, it was

clothing in other places, and it was like, okay, well, what do I know in my

community that exists? That I can plug into, like, what organizations are here,

what stores, what, uh, hospitals, what schools, and I got a lot of no’s, like, there

was a lot of people who said, like, actually, we don’t have oversupply, we’re

actually, you know, right at the limit, like, we’re, all the demand is being

supplied, like, we don’t really have extra things to give, um, and it wasn’t, like,

uh, To me, that didn’t feel like something that would make me give up in finding

this.

I found different organizations, found different resources. And so, um, it was an

opportunity for me to show that like, even when some doors close, I would find

opportunities to open others. Um, it showed up also in being creative. A lot of

sometimes being resourceful, resourceful is thinking outside the box and

thinking about, okay.

Maybe this organization doesn’t traditionally deal in clothing, but it’s something

that they might have an oversupply for. So, an example of that is, um, the

University of Miami had a lot of, like, fairs and opening days for, um, freshmen,

for incoming freshmen, and sometimes there was a lot of clothes that were, like,

left over from swag bags or, You know, like there is, um, parents, like, um, I

think junior parents, we get, or like different weekends on specific themes and

therefore merch was printed with those themes and couldn’t be reused.

And so a lot of those clothing with going boxes and storage are eventually

donated. Um, and so obviously, UM is not like a clothing, the University of

Miami wasn’t like a clothing store, but I recognize that they had a lot of leftover

clothing from these events. And it allowed me to creatively match, you know, an

organization that doesn’t usually.

Like, clothing doesn’t come to mind with the opportunity to use that left, that

oversupply clothing, um, for, uh, or another community that did really need that

clothes, um, those clothings. Um, and the 3rd is just service oriented. Um, it

was an opportunity to show that I wasn’t just cognizant of a need that needed to

be filled, but that I wanted to be part of the solution.

And then it also allowed me to showcase my skills. So that was a little bit of all

my personality, but for a lot of me show my skills because it showed that I hadexperienced public speaking. Like there is all of those opportunities to connect

with different organizations involved me. You know, having to do some cold

calls and having to take some meetings.

And that was something that a lot of high school students don’t have the

opportunity to do unless they’re like working or engaging in different

conferences, or, um, it’s just not something that you often have to do unless

you’re presenting in front of class. Um, so it allowed me to show that that’s an

experience that I had under my belt.

And then just command of logistics and data software because there was a lot of

inventory. I had to take a lot of things. I needed to just input and see, like, what

is the state of the nonprofit that I was starting? And so, um, those are an

opportunity to, again, showcase, like, more of my administrative and, like,

operational skills.

And I think that translates to, you know, even though I’m sharing like how this

helped me kind of display or kind of, uh, show some of my strengths, um, in the

application process, I would take like just the bigger picture of, as you’re

working on a project, what are the different skills that you’re building for

yourself?

What are some of the things that you are, you know, kind of the personality, the

identity that you’re stepping into and growing in that you can then like keep that

in mind and make sure that you’re using that too. You know when you’re talking

in your interviews or when you’re like writing your essays You can think more

about how that persona that you’ve been building and how that identity that

you’re building And the skills that you’ve gotten through that is also playing into

Or is also demonstrated by your passion project.

So now a little bit about just like the logistics of developing a passion project

Um the way that I started and I think is probably the best place to start is just

identifying a need that isn’t being met So I think sometimes it’s hard to, if some,

if there is, like, a need being met in your community, then there oftentimes isn’t

somebody who, like, You know is really going to partner with you or think that

this is something that they should be devoting their time to and so thinking

critically about like not just stepping into a space because you want to step into

it and more so because it’s a space that needs you or folks that need you Um is

just going to be a bigger driver of one your motivation to stay on the project and

two your opportunity to connect With folks who are also interested in it and

who can support you And so I think starting by identifying a need that isn’t

being met or something that you just really enjoy and want to share with others.So again, it’s not trying to invent a need. That maybe isn’t there, but also maybe

offering a new opportunity or something that maybe your community or the

folks around you didn’t know existed. Um, so, for example, like, there are times

where, you know, there, if you’re living in a community where students are

getting really good access to school, like, that’s great, but maybe there is a way

of, like, peer to peer.

Tutoring that you didn’t know was a need in your community, but actually could

enhance the way the students learn in your community. Um, that’s again, an

example of something that wasn’t traditionally a need, but maybe something to

enhance something that already exists. So I just want to put like kind of that,

those different type of ways of thinking about a passion project.

Um, second step is planning out your idea in writing. Sorry, that’s the typo

there, but it should be in writing. Um, it just helps to solidify your thoughts of

like, okay, so what will you do? Who will you do it with and who, uh, will need,

who will need to help you and who will you be helping? Um, and then how,

how will you carry out your idea?

Like, what are the kind of big picture logistics of what this looks like? Um, and

then as you get those big categories, okay, like what, what needs to happen for

this to actually move forward? You’ll start recognizing there’s a lot of sub bullets

under each of those. Um, and then carry out your plan. Use a timeline and a

program plan document to figure out.

Okay, so what are you doing? What, who needs to be involved? What are the

tasks involved and kind of get yourself organized so that it feels more concrete

and the steps feel more doable than just a big picture idea in your mind that

might seem more nebulous.

Um, so what are some things to consider when building a passion project? Um,

one is scope. So thinking about like you, you don’t want to boil the ocean. Like

it’s sometimes, um, Thinking about doing a passion project just feels like a huge

thing that you have to do and so Figure it even just like battling that thought of

like, oh my gosh a passion I’ve never done a passion project before like this

could be you know range from doing something really small to like getting

really involved You know, I did stuff internationally and like that wasn’t the I I

didn’t think it was gonna go Two different countries.

I thought that the hope that I was part of would just stay in one particular

country where I knew folks, but sometimes it grows out of proportion. And

that’s awesome. Um, I obviously like at some point didn’t have the resources tocontinue scaling. And so that’s when you think about, okay. What is going to be

my scope starting out and how can I plan for my scope to grow?

That’s not something that I really thought about when I was starting. And so

again, when it grew out of proportion, uh, it just ended up having to stop

because I didn’t have the resources to continue, um, coordinating it anymore.

And so when you first start think about, um, the focus of your time and

resources, like, where is this going to go?

Like, who are you? How big do you want this to be? And maybe you start off

really small, again, with the idea of like the peer to peer tutoring. Maybe you

start this in your class, like not even in your job school, but you start small, and

then you think about how do you scale this if you see that there’s success.

Um, and some ways, or some questions to ask yourself in terms of like how do

you start is, okay, how much time do you actually have to devote to the idea,

and how long would it take to accomplish your goals? Um, and those two are

really important questions because you might have really awesome, great goals,

but if you don’t have the time to devote to your studies, to your application for

college and also to this, then like a passion project doesn’t take precedence over,

um, like any of these things on a college application like this, definitely like

your grades, your ability to apply to the college is something that’s gonna just be

a core portion of, of applying.

And if, um, The passion project is definitely something that adds a lot of color

and like a lot of good. Um, insight into who you are and like what your passions

are, it can be really impressive thing, but it’s not a necessary requirements of

focusing on like the core things that you do need to do. I think in terms of just

college applications is where your head should be at first.

Then if you have free time to continue building this, like, that’s great. Uh, but in

terms again of like applying to college, making sure that you’re making wise

decisions about where to spend your time. Um, is really important. And so

setting yourself up for success looks like figuring out how much time do you

have to devote to this project?

Um, how long will it take to accomplish your goals? Um, and there’s

remembering that you’re also a student embarking on the college application

process. So I kind of just alluded to that, but there’s a lot of things that you’re

balancing. So make sure you have the right scope of where you want to start.Um, the second is purpose. Um, just trying to remain genuine about why you’re

pursuing this passion project. Sometimes as we get deeper into like the college

application process, it just feels like this is something I have to do in order to

get into college. And the truth is No, not everybody has a passion project.

This is something that like you can talk about if it’s something that you’re doing,

but you don’t have to do it for college. Um, so having a, a very clear purpose of

why you’re doing this is going to help you one to just like stay, um, Consistent

to stay committed to this project, but to also just, it’s going to help you, it’s

going to show whether you’re, you’re genuine or not, um, in your, in your

applications and your interviews.

And so that’s really important. And then the 2nd is thinking about how you’re

helping others and the power dynamics that might be involved. So, 1 of the

things that I noticed early on in the, in the project that I was doing is that, um, I

had a lot of ideas for what people needed, but that was only informed by.

The community that I currently lived in, and like, or that I lived in then, but

only by the folks I knew around me. Um, I didn’t really know what the needs

were in other places, and like, to think that I did otherwise was just really proud,

and not something that was going to help people there, so I needed to partner

with people who knew exactly what the needs were in their communities.

When I, um, was starting to do this, I made sure to ask, like, the humanitarian

aid workers that were going to and fro who were temporary workers, they didn’t

live in the communities that they were going to, to make sure and I, to, like,

help me get the contact info of folks who lived in the community. So that we

could all be in conversation about what unique needs were needed in each place

and that we weren’t adding an additional power problem or power dynamic

there, that we were at least conscious of the power dynamics that existed.

Um, so that’s something that’s important to keep in mind, especially if you’re

doing work outside of a community that you’re involved in and that you live in.

Um, so what are examples of passion projects? So, um, there’s a couple listed

here. These are definitely not exhaustive, but, um, it’s a list that has a lot of

variety in it. So, um, you could start a new club or a group on campus. You

could start a non profit or a branch of a non profit. Um, you can write a

children’s book.

Um, you can compose songs. You can start a mentorship program, develop an

app, start a blog, or blog about a topic you’re passionate about. Um, and as yousee, like, there is some that are very community service oriented, right? Like,

starting a non profit or starting a mentorship program. There are some that are

just purely, like, passion, like, composing songs, developing an app.

These are things that are less so necessarily tied to, like, oh, there’s a community

we’re finding that needs help. And more so, like, I’m really excited about

something. Um, I want to learn more about it. I want to dive deeper into it and I

want to build something or make something. Um, and so that’s more again, kind

of like, that’s, those are all passion projects because again, they’re like fall into

that category of something you’d love to do in your free time.

And it could be either just for the sake of making something you love and that

you’re proud of, or potentially having that help other people. Um, so those are

different kind of. Types of projects and I guess just like a grounding question

here is like, do you need a passion project? The answer is no, you don’t need a

passion project, but you do need to showcase your passion.

Um, throughout your application. So you might not have like one project

specifically. Um, but you do need to show that you’re passionate about things.

And so that usually shows up in your essays, in your extracurricular lists, um,

sometimes in your classes, or like themes that go through. Like your classes and

your extracurriculars.

An example of that is I had a friend who didn’t have a fashion project, but he

was really involved in running. And so he took a lot of classes that were about

human physiology. Um, things relating to sports and health. And then he also

like did a lot of sports, um, especially like track and field and cross country and

things like that, where it was really clear that his passion wasn’t running and

then he was able to also compete in running and, um, and became a big part of

his application.

And it was clear that, um, this was maybe not a passion project for him, but it

was a passion and he was able to showcase that. Through the threads, um, that

spans like academic extracurriculars and eventually like professional career.

Um, so many applicants are doing passion projects. How do you stand out?

So I think one thing that’s really important that I’ve mentioned before is making

sure that you have a genuine story. Sorry, that’s a typo too. Uh, a genuine story

about why you started this project. Um, One, like I said, it’s going to just keep

you committed, um, to working on this, on this topic and in this project, um, but

it’s also going to just show in your applications and in your interviews, um, if

it’s not something that you’re genuinely interested in, it’s going to be easy topick apart, um, especially for an interviewer who’s been doing this for a while

and can tell who’s being genuine or not, um, so make sure that it’s something

that you’re actually interested in and that you’re excited to do.

Um, and then, too, you can also stand out by having clear goals and an

organized documentation of your work. Having clear goals is going to help

because then you have an idea of, okay, like how much time do you need in

order to like get to X stage in your project? Like, is this something that you

want to put up for, um, a competition, a scholarship program?

Um, I knew that there was something called Silver Knights, which was like this,

um, award given to folks who start. Um, a passion project, and I knew that I

wanted to get the passion project that I was working on to a stage where it had

been running for multiple years so that it wasn’t something that was just brand

new, but actually something that I had been building and I had a story to tell

about how this wasn’t just about the award.

It was something I’ve been building for a while. And so. Um, it was clear that

regardless of what awards there were going to be in the future, I wanted to start

early because I wanted to show years of commitment. Um, and so that was a

clear goal that I had, you know, having at least two years of like committed

work, um, and then organized documentation because regardless of its, if it’s in

your applications, if it’s for a scholarship, um, if it’s for a certain award, like

you’re going to have to show.

how you did and what you did and how you did it. And so having

documentation of your work, taking pictures, um, making sure that if there was

like an event that you print out flyers, that you keep the emails, that you keep

the work that you’ve done documented, is going to be really helpful in the long

run.

Lydia: Okay, so now we’re going to jump into the question and answers portion

of our presentation. So our first question for tonight is Maria, do you think that

if a person doesn’t really have a clear passion in mind that they should still do a

passion project? And if they’re not sure what their passion is, what would you

recommend they explore?

Maria: Yeah, so I think It sometimes just starts with thinking about, okay,

maybe you don’t have a clear passion project in mind right now, but you can ask

yourself different questions about, okay, is there something that I would be

doing in my free time that I can continue building and be really focused in and

have some goals in doing?And so. Sometimes it starts like that. Sometimes it starts again with just the

question of, I don’t have a passion project in mind, but I know there’s a clear

need in my community in X, Y, or Z areas. And then having maybe, um, a

friend, a teacher, a high school counselor, a mentor kind of talk with you

through, okay, what are some ways in which I can help meet this need?

Um, and sometimes it starts, it usually starts like that, not just like a full fledged

idea that just hatches. I think that’s a lot more rare.

Lydia: Great. Another question that we’ve got in the Q and A is, do community

service oriented passion projects make a better impression than those where we

build something that we really love?

Maria: Um, not necessarily. A lot of projects just tend to be community service

projects because they’re like, they’re like, Sometimes easier to spot like where

there is a need, um, and sometimes when there’s something that you really love

doing, it more easily becomes a hobby than necessarily something you build or

create, like building a community, creating a tool or an app or designing

something like that.

Sometimes just takes. A lot more expertise in an area, and so not a lot of, or I

think it’s a lot, um, it’s less frequent, I think, than a community service project,

at least in the ones that I’ve seen, um, but I don’t think it’s seen as, like, less

important or less. Less of a success for a high school student to be able to do

that, like, both are equally impressive.

Um, I think that a perfect blend of both is like, if you’re able to start a passion

project based on something that you really love, and then that leads you to do

something that shares it with other people and shares that passion that you have,

and it becomes a community service project, like, oftentimes that’s what ends up

happening.

And, um, I think that’s, Kind of the best of both worlds.

Lydia: Makes sense. Um, I know in an earlier slide you were talking about a

friend who didn’t necessarily do a passion project, but they did have a really big

passion, for example, for running. And that kind of was how they pursued their

passion. How can you distinguish between a passion project and just an

extracurricular activity that someone does?

Maria: Yeah, so I think a clear defining attribute is like, it’s something that you

start, like something that wasn’t there before that you began, and that doesn’tmean that I’m like, you know, if you’re wanting to do a passion project on

running that you have to invent running, like, that’s not what I mean. It’s like,

okay, maybe you really love running and you realize like, there aren’t a lot of

running programs for like kids in a low income area in your neighborhood or in

your own neighborhood or wherever it is.

And so you start recognizing, okay. There’s something I really love doing,

which is running. Maybe it’s your hobby. Maybe it’s like what you do in your

free time and it could have just stayed there. But then the passion project is

saying, okay, I want to start something. I want to create something. I want to

build something.

Whether that’s, again, just based on your passion. Maybe it’s just an app that

helps people track their, their, their running better. And like that just becomes an

idea. And it’s a passion project. Um, Or it like you turn it more into community

service, right? And it’s like, actually, I want to start a program to help train or

coach kids who want to start running.

Um, and so that is like one way to differentiate just running as a hobby and

running in the two different types of passion project, which is just building

something based on something you really love and building something that’s

more geared towards helping other people.

Lydia: So another question that I have, and I think that what you just said is

really helpful, just about making sure that it’s something that. Make sense for

you. Um, I’m curious. Do you feel like passion projects should be something

that takes a more extended period of time like over a span of months or a year

or can a passion project be something that, you know, it’s just like a one time

event?

Does it matter?

Maria: Yeah, so I think usually it’s seen as something that you build in that’s

more than a one time event. Not because a one time event isn’t extremely

impactful or purposeful, but because oftentimes there is for a passion project,

there is a planning stage, there is moments of delivery, but there’s also like

moments where that delivery carries out and the impact keeps on kind of

carrying out.

And so it just depends on the scope that you have at first. Um, like if, for

example, you’re doing, um, a donation drive, like that is definitely community

service, but it might not necessarily be a passion project unless. It started withyou, you recognizing a need, you starting to bring all the different stakeholders

together to do this donation drive, having it be something that’s.

built into like either like your school or like something where you’re partnering

with other people and you’re developing those relationships. And so even

though the donation drive might just be a one time event, all the planning and

things that went around it, if you’re the person directing that, that’s a lot more

hours, a lot of things that you’re doing.

Um, and then what I recommend is like just to make the delineation very clear,

like think about like, okay, what is the effect? Or like the so what after that like

is it that you’re continuing to keep in touch with like these organizations to set

up a um, you know an annual like A drive or something like that where like the

impact carries on I think those give harder evidence That this is something that’s

a project and not just a one time event.

Lydia: Got it Yeah, I I think what I agree with what you’re saying there. I think

that Doing a passion project that is a little bit more extensive. I think has a little

bit more meaning to it You Granted, I have seen students who, you know, they

do just like plan one really big event. Like, let’s say it’s like a big fundraiser for,

you know, some sort of local nonprofit and things like that.

And that can sometimes be, uh, uh, something that can amount to a passion

project, especially if it requires a lot of planning. But even in those situations,

for example, if you’re doing a really big fundraiser at your school to benefit this

cause that usually It’s still going to require, you know, months of time invested

ahead of time, even if the actual payoff only is one day.

So whether you’re doing something like that, that builds up to one single event

or one single moment, or you’re starting a club or a nonprofit or something like

that, generally a good passion project, it’s going to take, you know, a good

amount of time, regardless of what you do.

Maria: Yeah. And I think to clarify that, um, is like, Definitely your passion

project could like the main key external event could be one thing like you

mentioned like a big fundraiser.

Um, I think the important part is making sure that like you are the person who is

spearheading a lot of the planning, the delivery, like those things that are more

than just one time events. Um, and I think the key differentiator there is like

you’re not just attending this fundraiser. Like you are a key part of having it like

of the planning phase of the delivery and the evaluation phase.Lydia: Another question that we have is, should a passion project always be

connected to the student’s intended major, or is it okay to do something that’s

completely unrelated?

Maria: Totally okay to do something that’s unrelated. If it’s something that is

related to your intended major, that’s great, and you can definitely, like, make

that connection.

Um, but if it’s not related to your major, that’s also great. Like it just shows that

you’re someone who cares about lots of different things. And that just makes

you a more well rounded student as well. Um, again, if it does connect to your

major, it’s not bad to say that it’s connected to your major. Like again, just

different strengths in the application and you can leverage those based on like

what student profile you’re trying to present.

Lydia: I definitely agree. I think it doesn’t, I think it’s fine to do something that’s

not related. It’s fine to do something that is. I think there is. If you’re in the very

beginning stages of deciding what passion project you want to do, um,

especially if let’s say that you’re interested in majoring in something like, I don’t

know, biology on the pre med track.

If you don’t have much experience in STEM related extracurriculars or

something like that, it could be helpful to do a passion project that is related to

that in order to show that you are deeply invested in that, you know, area of

study. Um, so. But that doesn’t mean that you always have to do it. It’s really

just about thinking about, like you said, Maria, what is your entire profile as a

student?

What is the program that you’re intending to pursue? Are you demonstrating

your passion for your intended major in other ways? If you’re not demonstrating

your, your intended major and your passion for that intended major in other

ways in your application, then it probably is going to be more important that

you’re able to pursue a passion project that lines up with that major.

We’re going to take a quick break just to remind you all that, um, we’re here to

talk about CollegeAdvisor. And for those who are in the room who aren’t

already working with us, we know how overwhelming the college admissions

process can be. CollegeAdvisors team of over 300 former admissions officers

and admissions experts are ready to help you and your family navigate the

college admissions process and one on one advising sessions.We’ve already helped over 6, 000 clients in their college journeys. After

analyzing our 2021 to 2023 data, we found that CollegeAdvisor students are 3.6

times more likely to get into Stanford, 4.1 times more likely to get into

Vanderbilt, and 2.7 times more likely to get into Harvard. Increase your odds

and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a

free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team

using the QR code that you see on the screen.

During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic

profile along with some initial recommendations. At the end, you’ll also learn

more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who

can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much

more.

Now we’re going to get back into the Q&A. So another question that we got

from the audience is, is it okay to use a middle school service project or

volunteering as your passion project on college applications? For example,

maybe a community service project that you did with Boy Scouts, or is that too

far in the past?

Maria: Yeah, so I think, um, the preference is definitely for high school, even

when you’re writing your resume, when you’re writing your activities, like you’ll

want to put. High school, not middle school. Um, I think a big caveat there is if

you start something in middle school that you’re continuing on into high school,

and that’s totally okay.

If anything, that’s better. It shows years of dedication and commitment. And so

that’s That sounds good. But, um, if it’s something you stopped, you started and

stopped in middle school that I think it’s not something that within the time

frame that normally you would use for college. I think there may be some

variations, but that’s something I would talk specifically with your

CollegeAdvisor about.

But I think the default is you want to keep within your high school years. Again,

unless you started it. Before and continued into high school. Um, and then the

note about, uh, Boy Scouts, uh, Boy Scouts is definitely something that you

want to probably put in your community service in your activity section, but

unless you like started a project.

So I know a lot of Eagle Scouts, like part of the. Uh, what they have to do is

start, like, do a passion project, pretty much a community service, like, self

initiated project. And I know a lot of students who have used that as theirpassion project, but it needs to be again, something that you’re starting and

you’re the lead person in, like, developing or the co lead in developing.

And carry out. Yeah,

Lydia: I, I agree with that. I, I think any advisor that you would speak to a

CollegeAdvisor would agree that using, um, things that you solely did in middle

school on college applications is just, it’s not something that is really helpful.

Because the whole point of college applications is to share the things that you’re

doing in high school.

And also, even if that were something that you were able to do, when you’re

applying to colleges, you want to show that you’re on, you know, an upward

trend, an upward trajectory. So saying, Oh, I did all these amazing things when I

was in seventh grade or in eighth grade, but not having much to talk about when

you’re in high school, that doesn’t really show that you’re on a upward trend as

you progress towards college.

So, you know, Like Maria said, if there’s things that you participated in since

you were in elementary school or middle school and you’re continuing to do it

and you’ve gained more leadership and experience since then in that area, that’s

great. But if it’s something that you only did when you were younger, it’s not

really helpful to, to mention it.

Another question that we have is what about a failed passion project? So let’s

say that someone put together, you know, a club, but it just kind of flopped.

People didn’t really come, or maybe they did a fundraiser, but they didn’t really

raise any money. But they did gain a lot of experience or they’ve learned from it.

Is it still worth it to include that in a college application since it didn’t really

have the impact that they had hoped for?

Maria: Yeah, so I think there, it’s not necessarily about like, Talking about it as

a passion project that you’re like doing right now necessarily, it’s probably or

like, I think there’s a difference if like you’re when you’re The best way to

answer this question, I think, is thinking about where do you talk about your

passion projects in your application, right?

There’s different places you could do that. That can be in an essay, that can be as

part of your extracurriculars, that can be an additional portfolio that you have,

that could be in your interviews. And so, Definitely that, like, even though it’s a

quote unquote failed project, um, it’s something that you spent hours doing.And so it at the very least falls into your activities. It’s something that like,

again, was took a part of, um, your time and you devoted, um, like resources

and things to it. And so that’s at least an activity, uh, that you could decide to put

on your activities list. Um, another place to talk about it is your essays.

I think especially a lot of the essay topics are like, what’s the time that you, you

know, um, failed and got back up again, or like something that you’ve learned,

and you can definitely include up, like, the passion project there. I think

sometimes when you’re trying to show a passion project, like, there, you can

talk about the way that that helped you grow as a person, and it showed the, it

helped you build the interest.

That you currently have, or like your potential interest in your intended major.

Um, I’ve mostly seen passion projects pub as passion projects if they are

currently something that you’re doing it doesn’t have to do as much with like the

level of success of the passion project necessarily but that it’s something that

you’re currently working in when I hear or the way that it was like stated it

seemed like it’s something that happened in the past and that it didn’t have the

results that you wanted to.

And so I think there, it’s harder to advertise it or like, not advertise it, but to

label it as a passion project. Then if it’s something that you’re currently working

on, and maybe you talk about like, No, there are some goals that we didn’t meet,

but it actually allowed me to show like these goals that we do want to meet and

these things in which, or these ways in which we want to change the way we’re

working and thinking about this to accomplish these other goals.

And to me, that’s not like a failed passion project. It’s just a passion project in

progress. So that’s the way I would kind of think about it.

Lydia: I like that, that mindset. It’s not a failed passion project, but just a

passion project in progress. So, um, yeah, I think that’s a good way, a good way

to frame it. I think that, you know, if you want to showcase your passion

project, even if it was not successful, I think it can show like a lot of maturity to

take the time if you want to, to just kind of reflect on it and be like, you know,

this was something that I really cared about.

I put a lot of time and a lot of effort into it, but it just didn’t pan out. And like to

be able to Be honest about a time that you failed, but like reflect on it and say,

this is how I want to do it differently. Or this is how I’m going to grow from that

experience. Um, I can just demonstrate a lot of virtue in your essay.Another question that we have is what about someone who does a very specific

like building type of passion project? So let’s say that they build like a gazebo or

they build birdhouses for a park or something like that, but it’s not necessarily

through a specific organization or an extracurricular activity.

How could they talk about that in their application when it’s kind of just an

independent build that they do?

Maria: Yeah, so again, I think an important part there is to still frame it as like,

Okay, what is, what are your goals? What’s your scope? What’s your plan?

Because it’s usually more than just like, you know, I’m just gonna out of the blue

build something.

Usually there is some thought process around like, Okay, what am I going to

build? What, what needs are this? Is this going to be like me? What is the design

process? How am I going to like do some of the trial and error for this? And so

there’s a lot of planning, even if it might come supernaturally to you, and you

might not identify those hours as planning, but there is planning that goes

behind that.

I would think about how to improve the process to, like, even if you’re building

something, like, maybe something that you want to add to that process is, like,

some research into, like, how to improve the design that you currently have,

maybe talking to people in the area where you’re going to be placing that, um,

that, like, built object or built shelter, whatever it is, and making sure that it’s

something that is going to benefit the community and kind of having more of

that insight.

Um, our thing, our ways to like build that passion project, like the heart behind

a passion project, which is like being really thoughtful about how is what I’m

making affecting and impacting others? How am I growing through it? I’m

building in some of those reflection questions throughout. Um, I think it’s also

thinking about, okay, is this something that you’re doing once?

Or is it something that you are continuously doing? And if so, like, how are you

able to grow from one milestone to another? Like, the first time you build

something versus the second time and the third and like, what have you been

learning and documenting those things? A third question to ask yourself there is

like, who can I bring alongside?

Like, maybe this can be someone who is co build like, who is helping build this

with you. Maybe you’re more of a solo builder, maybe it’s someone who’shelping you, like, add Advertise this to the community or being able to share

this with the community. And so those are all ways to build this from just like a

1 time activity to like, a passion project that involves other folks that involves

the planning delivery.

And again, kind of. Thoughtful evaluation of how this went and how you can

build this out in scale.

Lydia: Yeah, and for people who are in the early stages of a passion project

How late is too late to begin working on a passion project? So let’s say that

we’re talking to the juniors right now who are about to enter their senior year

and start applying to colleges.

Is it too late for them to start working on this? Would it be too late for them to

start working on this over the summer or at the beginning of next school year?

Um, when is the best time to work on that?

Maria: Yeah, so I think, um, a passion project can come at any time. Um, it’s

not too late to pursue something that you’re passionate about or that you want to

do to help your community.

I think definitely the earlier the better in terms of presenting it to a college. Um,

but I think again, the heart of the passion project is that this is not done for

college. It’s something that you’re doing from your free time because you want

to do something that just because you love it or because you want to help

people.

And I genuinely think that there like lots of people that have that heart. It’s just,

you know, The time that you might have to do, it might be smaller, or you might

be more pressured for time with other responsibilities. But I do think like, that’s

a natural part of us being humans is that the creativity and the ingenuity of

wanting to make something or build something and pursue things that we love.

So, I think I just want to set that context as it’s never too late to do that in the

context of sharing that with the college. I do think that the earlier, the better.

And I think like, if you’re starting a project senior year, that’s totally okay. You

need to like, share like, You know, maybe a little bit of context of like why that

timing was the best timing and it might just be, you know, this is when I first

noticed there was this problem or, you know, it was over the summer that I

figured out I really love this and like I want to spend my summer my, my fall of

senior year like really trying to build this out and That’s totally okay.I think just sharing that is helpful context for college application. Um, but again,

in like an ideal world, like that realization would come maybe at the beginning

of high school so you have time to like plan and prep and maybe have like one,

two years under your belt of like having done like something like this so that it

gives you some time to like think about scaling or growing it.

Um, but again, that doesn’t happen all the time and that’s totally okay.

Lydia: Yeah, I think I really like what you said about just like Even if you do

start a passion project a little bit later in the game, that doesn’t mean that it’s not

something that you can mention in your application. I think that’s a really good

point because I think sometimes students think that if they didn’t the jump on it

from the beginning of high school, then it’s just like something that they can’t

mention at all.

But sometimes it’s still worth it to mention, especially if you are making a lot of

progress on it, um, in the time that You know, you’ve spent, you know, maybe in

the past few months before you apply to colleges and things like that. But the

good thing is everyone on this, um, webinar is getting enough time in advance

where they can make an impact.

I know summertime is a really common time for people to dedicate to their

passion projects because they’re not in class and things like that. So, there’s

definitely, um, definitely still time. Uh, another question that we’ve got is for

parents. So, how can parents best support their students in doing successful

passion projects?

Maria: Yeah, so I think that there’s different ways that, that parents can be

involved. One is just being a good thought partner, like if your child is, or, yeah,

if your child is curious about something that they want to try, something that

they’re interested in, being a good thought partner and like, okay, like, how can

we help this come to fruition?

Two is just like allowing them to lean into their curiosity and being able to just

ask them questions around like hey Like what’s something you really like

doing? Like in your free time like if no teacher made you do this or like if this

wasn’t part of you know Something that you have to do where it is.

Your time naturally gravitates you and being okay with like sometimes it’s

watching a movie, sometimes it’s hanging out with friends. That’s totally

normal. And there’s oftentimes, you know, like what topics of conversationsmight come up and being open to, like, maybe for this generation, it’s different

than what it was for previous generations.

And like, you know, sometimes it has to do more with social media, internet,

and those are resources and tools to be able to help people in a way and to reach

people in ways that we maybe weren’t able before and kind of tapping into like,

okay, What are the tools and just natural inclinations of my kids generation?

How do I tap into that and think about like, okay, how can we do something that

helps people? How can we do something that allows a passion for something to

grow with my, to grow within my child? And so. Again, kind of being okay with

just like the cultural and generational differences to tapping into like, okay, what

are their natural tendencies and curiosities and things that they’re interested in

exploring and then three, just supporting them again in the planning process and

thinking about like how to actually deliver this, maybe pointing them to other

people who might benefit from this.

Be better suited to give advice on a specific topic or in our area and just being a

support system there. And I think a big 1 is making sure that even after a

webinar like this, taking a step back and realizing passion projects aren’t for

every student. Sometimes it can actually be a detractor from them really

thinking about other areas or topics of the application.

Um, not all students workload is the same, and it again could be a detriment to

be to just introduce a passion project for the sake of, like. It’s something that

you need to have in your application because it’s not and it could actually be an

added stressor and create a false idea of what a passion project is supposed to

be.

Lydia: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think that passion projects have

become this buzzword in the college admissions space. space. And I think now

a lot of students think that they have to do them in order to get into a college.

But like you said, there are so many ways to demonstrate that you are a strong

candidate for school and doing a passion project isn’t always the best thing.

Um, you know, if you’re really heavily involved in, you know, extracurriculars

that are aligned with your profile as an applicant that are aligned with the

programs that you’re interested in and things like that, and a passion project

would actually take away from, you know, your studies or other things that have

already made you as strong an applicant as you are, then it may not be the right

fit.But I think if you have the time to do something extra, and this is actually

something that’ll be meaningful, I think it definitely can make a difference. The

last question that I have for you, Maria, is, is there such thing as a passion

project that it’s just too overdone or too cliche? Like, I know there are some

students that, you know, For example, doing tutoring online is really popular.

There are just students that think that the passion project has to be creating your

own nonprofit or something like that. Is there such thing as a passion project

that’s just so overdone that it just doesn’t really have a strong impact on a

person’s application anymore?

Maria: I don’t think that there is like a, like one blanket statement of like, yes,

this is too overdone.

Like, it just depends on the context that you’re in. Like maybe their online

tutoring is something that’s popular broadly, but maybe in a specific area where

there’s that need, like, and that’s the need that you’re introducing. It’s perfect

because it’s actually making an impact. And so I think that it’s more of a

question of.

Given your context, like, the area that you’re living in, the community that you

want to serve, or, and again, if you’re interested, if you’re passionate about

something that hundreds of other people are passionate, like, passionate about, it

doesn’t mean that you have to re embed the wheel and find something

completely new to be passionate about.

It means, great, like, bring other people alongside you because there’s other

folks who really are passionate about the same thing, and so, Um, I would see

anything that you’re interested in the light of like, what are the strengths I can

bring to this instead of like comparing it to other people because I think that will

always sometimes, or I think that will for the most part bring out the negative

aspects of that, making you feel like you haven’t done enough.

It’s not unique enough when honestly, if it’s coming to you because you’re

naturally passionate about it, or because it’s a natural need in your area. Then

that doesn’t need to be compared to other, other people’s circumstances or needs.

Lydia: Yeah, and I think when, what will make a passion project fall flat is Like

what Maria said, it’s doing things that you feel like it’s just everyone else is

doing it.So I need to do it. It needs to be something that’s actually a reflection of what

you truly care about. So I think what ends up happening is a lot of people end

up doing the same kind of passion project, for example, you know, tutoring

students online. And for some students, that may be something that they really

do in earnest because they care about education.

They care about, you know, tutoring kids. Maybe they did it, you know, for a

long time and now they want to be able to give back in that way. But I think

people kind of end up doing the same kind of projects because it’s easy to

implement even if you don’t have a really big investment in that certain, you

know, community issue.

And so it’s kind of easy to identify which students are doing it to just kind of

check off a box and which students are doing it. Because it’s something that

they truly care about. A lot of the time, if you’re doing a passion project that is

really genuine to you, even if it’s something that a lot of other people have done,

you’ll see other signs that they care about that issue in their application.

Versus if you’re doing something Like again, with the example of like tutoring

students, but there’s no other sign of you doing any sort of community service,

any sort of work with students, anything related to education at all in your

application, then it seems a little bit less genuine that that’s something that you

actually did because you have a true passion for that issue.

So if you feel the pressure to do a passion project, if you have the time to do a

passion project and you want to pursue it, just make sure that it’s something that

makes sense with the rest of your application and that you. Can actually talk

about extensively if someone were to ask you about the fashion project You can

actually speak to why it’s something that you care about beyond just oh, I

thought it was a good idea for my college applications Okay.

Well, thank you so much to our presenter Maria. I know I learned a lot from our

session tonight So thank you for taking the time to present to us and thank you

to everyone in the audience Who was listening tonight really appreciate it And

hopefully we get to see you for the rest of this month. This is the end of our

webinar, but we have plenty of webinars planned for the rest of the month of

May.

So I hope that you all will be able to join us some point later this month. And I

hope all of you have a great night. Bye.