Why being EFFECTIVE is far more important than being EFFICIENT (College Admissions Advice)
The other day I was listening to a podcast with two of my all time favorite productivity Gurus, Tim Ferriss and Chris Williamson.
During the interview, Chris asks Tim:
"How are you so darn efficient all the time?"
To which Tim responds:
"I actually don't think I'm very efficient. Not really at all. But I do think I'm very effective."
Tim goes onto explain to Chris just how important this distinction is, ultimately summarizing it as follows:
"Efficiency is all about doing the task in front of you well...Effectiveness is about choosing the right task at the start."
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Queue mind blown GIF
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When it comes to properly preparing for college, both qualities are more important.
But guess what?
Being effective is significantly more important than being efficient.
Seriously.
Now before I break down why this is the case, let me provide an overview of a typical high school class profile (after all, it wasn't that long ago that I, myself, was a high school student):
(In my opinion) - The majority of high school students are likely neither effective nor efficient when it comes to a) high school study habits and b) college preparation tasks. They are unaware of how to choose the right things to focus on with their limited high school hours...and when they do choose those things, they don't have a clear plan of attack to efficiently tackle those tasks head-on. Without effectiveness nor efficiency, these students are nearly constantly struggling to find consistent success in both the classroom and with college preparation (and, as a by-product, their loving parents are in a near-constant state of stress trying to support them on this hampster-wheel style journey through high school).
...but the students in this segment who are truly willing to grind (ultra-long hours of work), may find marginal success. NOTE: This was me for my early years of high school. I didn't know what to focus on, nor did I have a proper plan to tackle my tasks head-on. But I put in tons of hours to make up for it, and, therefore managed to get by.
(In my opinion) - Some high school students are likely efficient when it comes to a) high school study habits and b) college preparation tasks...and the more efficient they are, likely the higher up they are in terms of class rank. BUT, many students in this traunch are sadly focusing tremendous amounts of efforts on incredibly time-intensive, ineffective activities. Why? Because they're likely receiving outdated or misaligned advice on where to focus their efforts (either from parents, peers, or--gasp--HS guidance counselors themselves! ***NOTE: not all HS guidance counselors provide mis-aligned advice. But sadly, many do...we've seen it first hand). Here are a few examples of super ineffective activities we see many, many high school students spend boat-loads of time on (overall goal in parenthesis):
(HS Grades): Late night studying with no actual study plan...just blindly charging forward, aimlessly reading the textbook until you get too exhausted to read any more.
(HS Grades): Grinding through essays without checking in with the teacher at multiple iterations throughout the process
(College Admissions): Spending hundreds of hours on community service to eventually, hopefully 'impress a college admissions officer at my dream school'
(College Admissions): Joining 8 different clubs & activities to eventually, hopefully 'impress a college admissions officer at my dream school'
(In my opinion) - Very, very few high school students are actually effective when it comes to a) high school study habits and b) college preparation tasks...and those who actually are realize that A) Getting straight A's in high school, B) Sleeping 8 hours per night, C) Having time over to be with family and friends and D) Gaining DREAM college admission...is actually far, far easier and more attainable than they ever expected. Want three, real-life examples of these types of students?
Me: Remember that 'grind' student I mentioned above in early high school? By late high school, I discovered the teachings of Cal Newport who helped me be effective with HS grades. The result? Straight A's senior year (didn't get a single A-minus, seriously...and spent 1/2 the time studying). On the college admissions front, I also learned how to effectively 'pitch' myself to college admissions departments, learning exactly what they wanted to see in a prospective student. The result? Admission into Vanderbilt University, where I had an incredible, life-changing 4 years of my life.
Massimo (CC.us Class of 2023): You can learn more about Massimo's background here. But after we taught him how to be effective with his choices on what to focus on in high school, he gained admission into his dream school, Cornell...even though his test scores were below Cornell's average. He just finished up his freshman year there and is loving life (and, as you can imagine, his parents are loving watching him thrive, knowing they supported him in reaching his goals!).
Emily (CC.us Class of 2024): You can learn more about Emily's background here. But after we taught her how to be effective with her choices on what to focus on in high school, she gained admission into her dream school, Notre Dame. Oh, and ND was so impressed with her ultra-effective profile...they wrote her a handwritten note begging her to attend (Talk about a stand-out effective profile!). We're serious. They actually mailed her a handwritten note! Here it is:
Learning to be effective is a tremendously valuable skill.
It will help you yield far more outputs (results) for your inputs (efforts) than you thought possible.
So the next time you're faced with a challenge or task at hand, before blindly charging ahead, think to yourself:
Is this an effective choice? Is this the right way to spend my precious time?
If the answer is 'yes'...go for it.
If the answer is 'no'...think twice about it.
And if the answer is 'I have no idea'...(which is the case for many, many HS students and parents these days, when it comes to college planning)...you can feel free to reach out to us and we may be able to guide you towards the effective path.
To your college planning success,
Jack Delehey
Founder, CollegeConsulting.us
P.S. - Have a high-performing high schooler w/ a 3.7 GPA or higher? We'll help get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges...and if we don't get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges, you don't pay us a penny. Seriously! You can learn more about our world renowned all-inclusive, start-to-finish college coaching here and to see if your family qualifies for an introductory call.
P.P.S - Our most common question is "When should we start?!" The answer is, if you truly care about giving your high schooler the best chance of college planning success, you should start NOW. 9th grade is not too early to start! 10th grade is certainly not too early to start! And 11th grade is far, far too late! (supporting data here to show just how much of an advantage you give your child by starting the process early).
