Life Tip #587
If you’re a high school senior who is stressed out, anxious, and overwhelmed about going to college…
If you're a high school senior who's stressed out, anxious and overwhelmed because you've been spending the last four years working to be your best so you can get into the best school, I have a warning for you. If you go to a college where the overwhelming majority of the people attending are overwhelmed, stressed out, anxious, and overtired, there's a very real possibility you will continue to be stressed out, overwhelmed, anxious, and overtired because you're going to be surrounded by all these people.
It's going to be very competitive and a lot of students don't recognize you have options. You have so many options where you can be balanced, where you can get sleep, where you can be surrounded by people who will support you, where you can be a leader, where you can live an exceptional life. There's data that says it's not where you go, it's what you do when you go to college.
It's what you do. So if a school is very expensive, too expensive for you, but there's another school that's affordable, where you can be your best, where you can rise to the top, that is a great option. And that school might even be better. Because you'll have balance, you can sleep, you can have access to leadership opportunities, you can have access to research opportunities.
And a lot of ultra competitive schools, freshmen and sophomores, don't always have access to the opportunities that students at other schools will go to. Bigger schools, maybe state schools, research institutes. So before you look at brand as being the thing that's going to be the return on the investment, that's not true.
It's not true. If you are exceptional, you will rise to the top. You will be a leader. You will live an exceptional life because you are exceptional and you can do this on hundreds of campuses, hundreds. And if you rise to the top, you can go to any grad school and you could live an exceptional, incredible life.
You don't even have to go to grad school. You'll meet so many amazing people and you will be exceptional because I want to make it clear you are exceptional and you don't need to be. anxious, overtired, and overwhelmed. You just need to do what's going to help you to be your best.
About Harlan: Harlan Cohen is a New York Times bestselling author of the #1 book on college life (The Naked Roommate). He is the creator of Best First Year, a College Success and Coaching Program for Students & Parents. His video tips and advice reach millions of students and parents on social media. Tap to Follow Harlan.
