Developing a Spike — Setting yourself up for college admissions success

Jack Beecher, High School Senior Here

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the common myth that being a well-rounded student is the way to get into top colleges. If you can stack your schedule with 8 clubs, 8 AP classes, and 4 hours of volunteering, you can get into an Ivy. I’m sure by now you’ve also heard that all that is a complete lie. No longer is the day of a well-rounded student. Maybe that technique worked years ago, but not anymore. Schools not only don’t like well-rounded, they actively look to admit students who don’t fall into that category.

In case you're not with me, let’s look at Harvard’s admissions statistics and try to extrapolate some trends. To set up some background for why we’re looking at Harvard:

1. They are pretty good about sharing data

2. They have a unique 1-6 rating system they admit students based on (read about it here)

3. It’s Harvard

For those who aren't interested in the statistical analysis into Harvard, here’s their system put simply. They have four categories—Personal, Academics, Athletics, Extracurriculars—and in each category, they give students a rating of 1-6. A 1 is really good (less than 1% of students get a one per category), and a 6 is not so good.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll break down what a 1 in a given category does for said student’s admissions chances. I won’t dive too deep into the nitty gritty, but if you want that, check out this reddit post. (This data is slightly old, but the general theme still applies.)

• A 1 in Academics (0.5% of applicants receive) gives students an 68% acceptance rate

• A 1 in Personal (<0.01% of applicants receive) gives students an 66% acceptance rate

• A 1 in Athletics (0.9% of applicants receive) gives students an 88% acceptance rate

• A 1 in Extracurriculars (0.3% of applicants receive) gives students an 48% acceptance rate

We’re talking about Harvard, a school with roughly a 3% acceptance rate, giving students a greater than 50% acceptance rate for achieving a singular 1. The odds increase dramatically for having two 1s, but let’s focus on getting one first.

If you don’t yet know where I’m going with this, let me clue you in: developing a spike. This term is common in the college admissions world, but for those unfamiliar, a spike is a clear revolt to being well-rounded. It’s going all-in on one thing and becoming world-class at it.

In this picture, an example of that is shown. Instead of dedicating energy to several activities, several clubs, and several classes, one activity is put as the focus. By doing this, you’re setting yourself up to achieve a 1 in the Harvard rating system and dramatically increase your acceptance rates.

But first, I’ll caveat this by saying the spike is not for everyone. Many individuals, those uninterested in top schools or uninterested in focusing on one thing, do not need to force themselves into this mold. There is a unique path for everyone. But those who do think the spike model fits them should follow it. Because yes, this is one of the most effective ways to get into dream schools.

Mathematically, I’ll break the concept of the spike down further by analyzing two students: a well-rounded one and a spiked one. First, the well-rounded:

1. Prospective Philosophy Major

2. Volunteers (10 hours a week)

3. Member of 5 Unrelated to Philosophy Clubs at School (10 hours a week)

4. Currently taking 4 APs (10 hours a week)

5. Plays JV Tennis (10 hours a week)

6. Secretary of Philosophy Club (10 hours a week)

This well-rounded student has an impressive resume no doubt, but they’re spending 50 hours, outside of school, to not achieve a 1 on the Harvard model, and ultimately to not increase their chances of admissions. Now, to the spiked student.

1. Prospective Philosophy Major

2. Wrote a book on philosophy (25 hours a week throughout high school)

3. Is mentored by prominent philosophy professor at local school (5 hours a week)

4. 2 APs (5 hours a week)

This spiked student on the other hand spent only 35 hours, compared to 50 hours per week, and has some impressive accomplishments to show for it. Accomplishments that will no doubt score her a 1 for Harvard’s Activity Rating and ultimately lead her to get accepted at a top-tier university.

I’m not saying you have to write a book. I’m not saying you have to drop everything you do and focus on one thing. I’m not saying you absolutely can’t be well-rounded. Here’s a little secret, I was a well-rounded student and got accepted into Dartmouth... but I also got rejected by 7 other Ivies.

For some, this mold fits. For others, not so much. It’s ultimately up to you to decide how you want to go about structuring your admissions journey. Everyone’s is unique.

But, even if you're not interested in the spike model, I will ask you to reconsider what you're currently devoting your time to. Is it a club you don’t enjoy? An AP class you’re regretting taking that doesn’t even apply to your major? If so, just know you can cut those things out. Colleges hardly care about the stuff you don’t care about, so save yourself some time, and focus on the things that matter.

Are you interested in talking through this concept in greater depth to potentially find out what your spike can be? If so, schedule a free 45-minute call with Jack Delehey to discuss how you can go about crafting a killer admissions resume. Or, you can also join the free College Confidence Community dedicated exclusively to helping families like yours crush college admissions.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Next week, I plan to expand more on this model and discuss the slightly tweaked multi-spike version.

Have a good one,

Jack