[...] you’ll soon face. If you want my general thoughts on how you should tackle college, read last year’s open letter to students awaiting their admissions decisions. Today, by contrast, I want to get more [...]

And it has been the best freaking year of my life. Unless your future is dependent on getting perfect grades, I highly advise you do the same.

Amen…

Any by the way, I loved college. I rarely studied late. I never pulled all nighters. I wrote books, and comedy, and played a lot of Mario Kart. I still ended up doing pretty well in the graduate school department. There’s a difference between trying to get a 4.0 in a demanding triple major and becoming an A* student in the major you want to study later. The later is not necessarily a time-consuming, stressful thing.

And it has been the best freaking year of my life. Unless your future is dependent on getting perfect grades, I highly advise you do the same.

if you truly love all 3 majors, then what better time is it than college to truly delve into these topics…I may have to sacrifice short term pleasure…becoming one of the best in their interested fields will give up free time to hang out with friend

I’ve worked with a few MIT students. Something they told me was that before they had their burn out and came seeking some stress reduction advice, that they had become *experts* at convincing the world that their workload made sense. I’m just saying, but that sounds a lot like your comment. I respect you’re skeptical. But maybe read a few more articles here to see what I’m all about. I recommend those under the righ thand column labeled “Next, Read These Important Posts.” You can also always e-mail me if you want to discuss in more detail.

For one, when you state that nobody cares about your resume and activities list– I would highly like to disagree with that. Although there are ways to bypass having a low GPA to get a job, I think a higher GPA only works to aid you in the screening process as does other relevant work experiences. How can you mention the benefits of a high GPA (later on) while dismissing the importance of a resume? You stress the importance on the individual–but a resume is meant to be a summary of that individual.

2. Difficult courses and a laundry list of activities and having a life + happiness are not mutually exclusive. First of all, if you are doing activities/courses that you hate, then that’s a problem, but if you truly love all 3 majors, then what better time is it than college to truly delve into these topics. I feel that college is a rare time when I can dedicate myself solely on learning and I–also at MIT– really embrace that there is no credit limit in that my tuition is not based on the number of classes I take. Also, I feel that my friends and I busy ourselves because we ultimately love doing everything that we do, granted at times this comes at the expense of sleep.

3. Lastly, I don’t think you should advise that college is a time to start living life. Although I personally live by that doctrine, I do see that in order to fulfill long term dreams, I may have to sacrifice short term pleasure. For example, many of my friends who have their heart set on becoming one of the best in their interested fields will give up free time to hang out with friends. Now, whether or not getting into the top graduate school program is worth sacrificing hang out time with friends is dependent on individual, I don’t think you should dismiss this option.

Working in the MIT admissions office, I meet many prospective students that are looking for a very different college experience, something that meets the high level of passion and curiosity that they hold. Although they probably represent a select minority, I do think they are important to consider before you describe the ideal college life.

I’m glad it struck a chord. Sorry for the coincidence regarding your name, I’m sure you’re not an asshole!

Great site. Please keep up the excellent work.

[...] you review my recent radical simplicity manifesto or my open letter to new college students you’ll notice that getting good grades is a core motivation. The logic proceeds as follows: [...]