What makes you interesting?

AP season is among us and I see the same students taking multiple AP exams (and often self-studying for them), so I have taken pause to question why students take so many exams especially when many of the colleges they will be applying to do not accept the scores for credit.  So I asked.  And student after student said they took them because it would help their chances of getting into “insert name of VERY selective college here".  Which then made me wonder when colleges started looking at AP scores as admission criteria.  So I called one of the VERY selective colleges and spoke with someone I knew would be honest with me.  (I will leave his name out to protect him from other calls!).  He basically said “No, we do not use AP scores as admission criteria but a lot of students self-report them on the application thinking it could not hurt".  I was about to end the call there, but decided to ask “Well, what if a student self-studied for, let's say, 10 exams throughout high school and scored a perfect 5 on all of them.  Does that weigh in on your decision or impress the committee?"  “Not really" he said.  He went on to say that is the rare case that a student self-studying for any amount of exams will change the committee's mind because they see that all the time.  “We really look at what opportunities the student had available to them and what the student took advantage of at their school".  So if your school offers 5 AP classes and you only take 2, but self-study for 10 others then the committee is left questioning why.  He also said that they look for students who enjoy doing something that makes them interesting.  Interesting?  Do you mean like swimming with alligators or sky-diving?  “No", he laughed, “unless the student really loves to do those things".  He explained that students should be interesting in a way that shows their passion for something.  Be interesting by not doing what everyone else is doing simply because everyone else is doing it.  They should beat to their own drum, showcase their talents, share their quirkiness, help the committee fall in love with what they love.  In short...be, well... interesting!  Hmmmm.   Everyone thinks the way into an ivy or very selective school is great grades and great board scores.  But now they want interesting?!  (Note, they still want great grades and board scores too!)  Happens to be that they have too many students with a 4.0, perfect 2400 and self-reported 5’s on multiple AP’s applying who do nothing other than study.  So I thought a lot about what made a student interesting and it was hard because “interesting" is different for every student.  There is no clear-cut advice counselors can give a student because “interesting" needs to come from their heart.  Students should be doing things that they WANT to do and not simply to check it off a list and then say “phew, that is over".  According to Jessica Hagy's 2013 book, appropriately titled “How to Be Interesting", she asks the reader “Who's more interesting:  A famous scientist, or a famous scientist who plays the cello and whittles marionettes in a lighthouse at the edge of the world where he sometimes writes poetry by the light of passing ships?  Exactly.  Follow your weird impulses and do all sorts of things.  Getting sidetracked can lead you to EXACTLY where you belong".

So my challenge to you...find what makes YOU interesting.