Comments on: Debunking the Laundry List Fallacy: Why Doing Less is More Impressive

By: Roland

Roland — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:52:14 +0000

It occurs to me that counter-signaling is essentially another costly display (or rather a costly non-display) to distinguish oneself as a superior candidate. Since the “side channel” or reputation channel says good things about the top candidates only, then only the top candidates can afford to rely on it instead of showing off. Thus, not bothering to show off distinguishes the top candidates from the average candidates who can’t afford such a risk. And the signal is honest, since you must truly be among the fittest to build up such a reputation and rely confidently on it.

By: Well-Rounded Vs. Focused | Admissions360

Well-Rounded Vs. Focused | Admissions360 — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:43:15 +0000

[...] *Sustainable success and college admissions blogger Cal Newport has covered this topic extensively. See: Debunking the Laundry List Fallacy [...]

By: Extracurricular Excellence | College Grid Blog

Extracurricular Excellence | College Grid Blog — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:26:46 +0000

[...] One common misconception by some students is that they need to be “well-rounded.” However, it is often much better to have a few activities that show strong engagement, passion, and excellence than ten or twelve that show minimal participation. As productivity expert Cal Newport emphasizes, admissions officers want to see depth, not breadth. Citing a 2002 economics study, Newport comes to the following conclusions regarding activities: [...]

By: Bookmark Sunday #7: Time and Exploration | The Hub of Gen Y Unconvention

Bookmark Sunday #7: Time and Exploration | The Hub of Gen Y Unconvention — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 14:21:22 +0000

[...] on hard problems. Not necessarily obeying the abusive laundry list fallacy. Something that is hard, i.e. not expected from young people (e.g. writing well, programming [...]

By: Bookmark Weekend/Sunday #6: Education Edition | The Hub of Gen Y Unconvention

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:41:23 +0000

[...] and tired of hearing the laundry list lie? Well, here’s more truth to what’s really happening when you sacrifice all while paying your [...]

By: Shawn

Shawn — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:48:04 +0000

“In other words, only a student who is truly confident about his skills can afford to avoid constantly trying to show them off.”

This reminds of Golda Meir’s quote to someone, “Don’t be so humble, you’re not that great”.

The underlying dynamics of boasting (and not boasting) are understood in that quote.

By: Stanley Lee

Stanley Lee — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:15:36 +0000

There are way too many half-truths and lies on the typical resume anyway (hiring managers assume the applicant is lying). The really high-end candidates just use a bare-minimum resume (some don’t even waste time on resumes).

By: sudan

sudan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:49:57 +0000

Yeah!I agree to what you have said.I really had to give a second thought after reading your post.As I am post graduate student it was more helpful to me.Good job and i believe to get a chance to read some better in future post.

By: Countersignalling – If you have to say it, you ain’t it. « The CEO of Rock Blog

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:05:08 +0000

[...] goal, however, is that you understand a concept from Cal Newport’s Studyhacks blog called [...]

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:05:02 +0000

Another anecdote from a college admissions person that quality is indeed better than quantity:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4379874&postcount=23