S2E10: Do I Need a Passion Project For Success in College Admissions?
In this episode, Thomas talks about Passion projects, as commonly presented, often involve activities outside of your daily life that showcases your dedication and enthusiasm.
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Question of the Week: "Do I need a separate passion project to help with college admissions?"
Have a question you'd like answered? Reach out to us on social media @admittedlypodcast or send us an email at hello@thomascaleel.com
Passion projects, as commonly presented, often involve activities outside of your daily life that showcases your dedication and enthusiasm. While initiatives like volunteer work and charitable endeavors are commendable, the way passion projects are often framed can sometimes appear disingenuous. As an experienced reader of countless applications, I've come to recognize genuine passion when I see it.
Key Points:
Common portrayal of passion projects can seem insincere, often tied to volunteer or charity work.
Genuineness is crucial; experienced readers can distinguish true passion.
Advice: No need for separate passion project; focus on what genuinely excites you.
Example: If chemistry is your passion, engage in lab work, internships, or research.
For public service enthusiasts, meaningful volunteer work aligns better than contrived projects.
Authenticity prevails; your passion is reflected in consistent, deep involvement over high school.
Don't force a passion project—concentrate on what truly drives you.
Admissions officers value dedication and growth, not artificially created projects.
About Thomas
Thomas is a parent and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA at the Wharton School in 2003, he moved to Silicon Valley. For three years, he was director of admissions and financial aid at Wharton School. He worked closely with admissions professionals, students, alumni, and professors to create the best possible MBA class.
Thomas has been an entrepreneur his entire life in the fields of finance, agriculture, wellness, and sporting goods. As the founder of Global Education Opportunities, he works with diverse and underserved communities to help them become successful college students. Thomas started the podcast Admittedly because he is passionate about demystifying the application process for parents and applicants.
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Hello, and welcome to the admittedly podcast. My name is Thomas Caleel. I'm the former director of MBA admissions and financial aid for my alma mater, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In this podcast, I don't promise easy answers or quick fixes. But I will use my decades of experience to help you achieve your education goals. Now, let's get started.
Today's question of the week has to do with passion projects. Some of you are scratching your head, my listeners from Asia, in particular, are saying, Oh, yes, the passion project. That's very important in the admissions process, isn't it? Thomas, I really dislike the concept of the passion project, I'm just going to put that out there. The way passion projects are framed by a lot of consultants and counselors is something outside of your day-to-day activity in life that you show passion for and so that's usually kind of a euphemism for volunteer work, or, some kind of charity drive.
And look, I'm not saying that giving back by doing good and raising money for a good cause is bad. Far from it, I think it's wonderful. I see so many inspiring young students who do get involved and who do raise a lot of money and drive change. And that passion truly gives me so much hope for the future. You know, as I look at, my children and the world that they're walking into, I love the passion and awareness of their generation. It's, it's inspiring. However, the passion project, as pitched and as kind of presented tends to be artificial, right?
And so it's something that comes across as fairly disingenuous to the reader and to the admissions officer. And look, they know, right, again, is somebody who's read 10s of thousands of applications, you know, immediately if somebody is serious and genuinely invested in something. And so, what I urge people is, look, don't you don't need a separate passion project, right? What are you actually passionate about? What do you love to do? What do you love to study? Let's figure that out. Let's find that intersection.
Because if your true love is chemistry, for example, then don't go out and volunteer at a soup kitchen and force yourself to do that. If that's not where your passion is, right? Spend your time in the lab, spend your time working with your teacher, go find yourself an internship or a research lab where look, you can go wash the beakers and just learn and absorb and prove yourself, right?
Similarly, if you are focused on a life of public service, then yes, absolutely go out and volunteer, and spend your time doing that you don't need to have a passion project around trying to write a research paper for your statistics class. Okay, what shows passion and what true passion is, is something that you want to do all the time you wake up, you have five minutes free, and you're focused on that. And so it's really, really important to find that that activity that's able to blend your interests, so that passion project, academics, extracurricular activities, those things are one path and it's okay, obviously, to have different extracurricular activities.
But you don't need to create a separate bucket just to have something to demonstrate your passion and I'm using that word in quotes to admissions. Your passion is evidenced by an increase and increase of depth of activity over time continuously throughout your high school career. Thank you. Thank you for joining us today. Please take a moment to subscribe to the admittedly podcast and download this episode. I welcome you to share your thoughts and questions with you can find us on social media at @admittedlypodcast. I look forward to continuing our journey together.
