- Join Random Clubs Just for the Resume – You think more = better? Nope. Colleges aren’t impressed by a laundry list of random clubs—they want depth, not scattered fluff. Be intentional. Choose what you care about and go all in. - Take the Hardest Course Load Just to Flex – AP Chem + AP Calc + AP Everything… even if you hate them? That’s a fast track to burnout. Rigor is good, but only if it makes sense for you. Interest + challenge > pain + prestige. - Only Focus on Your GPA – All A’s but no real narrative (I mention this a lot in my videos)? Big no no. Colleges care about character, curiosity, and contribution. GPA opens the door, but your why is what gets you in. - Procrastinate on Essays & Let AI Do the Work – Waiting until the night before and slapping in a ChatGPT draft? Big no no. Your essay should sound like you, not like a generic bot. Use tools to help you—don’t let them speak for you. Even in high school, don't get in the habit of AI writing essays for you—you can use them to assist you, but if they're writing essays for you, they're not assisting you, but only harming you in the long term. - Apply to 30+ Schools You Don’t Even Like (just because you're trying to "increase your chances" – TO a certain extent, this is true. However, don’t turn college apps into a numbers game. Be strategic. Know what you’re looking for, and apply to schools that actually fit. Quality > quantity, every time. p.s. I wanted to write this because so many advisors focus on the thousands of "steps" to boost your college apps, but so few talk about the worst things to do in your college applications. So, using this short list of things that'd ruin your college apps, you can reverse engineer this! Reversing the "1. Join Random Clubs Just for the Resume" leads you to join clubs that you genuinely care about, doing it in-depth (longer periods, preferably), and going all in on them. You can do this for the rest! Comment down which one you think is the worst out of these 5 steps 👇