Congratulations!

Through a series of fortunate circumstances and some elbow grease you find yourself going to college. If you want the most out of your education, you’re going to have to earnestly strive to repress your inner lemming.

Average, nonspecialized approaches lead to average outcomes. Whatever major you’ve picked, it’s a major. That means that enough other people are interested in the same subject as you that you’ve been corralled into a pen to be taught at. There will be three ways to stand out as special when compared to your penmates.

1. Connect with other people
2. Be the absolute best student in your classes
3. Leverage outside-class experiences to set you apart

Connecting with other people:

One of my favorite aspects of college is that your major places you in increased contact with more members of “your tribe”. Humans are tribal by nature and seek connection through shared rituals, activities, and language. Computer science majors connect by complaining about debugging code. Social science majors connect by discussing experimental legislation to aid a marginalized population. We gain status within our professions by adopting tribal norms and earning the trust of our tribe. You can learn more about connecting with others and about understanding your tribe in our Networking article.

Be the absolute best student in your classes:

This is insanely hard. It’s the most obvious goal, which makes it highly competitive. It’s often a win-lose situation. This kind of success is an arms race.

See below.

Exponential time/effort cost per GPA point

As you can see, it takes exponentially more effort to land “best student”. Gunning for best student is also a high-risk, “brittle” venture. Outperforming everyone takes a lot of time, so it will also likely weaken any other plays for career development you’re going for. Imagine you’re cruising along with great grades and then you’re uncle close to you dies. Your professors are understanding and let you reschedule things for the funeral, but you still miss that review session where everyone else here’s the key to a 20 point question for one class and another professor’s altered make-up exam is harder than the original blah, blah, blah and a whole semester’s grades just slipped out of control. It’s a four year game. Life will happen. You’ll get sick. Drama will distract you. Get good grades, but find the sweet spot where you can give your self time to diversify your professional portfolio.

Image of time cost per GPA point, containing the “ideal zone” and “liberated time”

Leverage outside class experiences to set you apart:

If you’re not actively assisting in research in your field of interest as an undergraduate, you are doing yourself a disservice. Research gives you skills, experience, relationships with your professors, and - most importantly - exposure. Exposure gives you the chance to feel out the pros and cons of your field, and will accelerate your decision to jump ship or double down. Many try to “check the box” of undergraduate research. Research is not the realm for the dilettante. You’re not suppose to dabble. You need to build practiced skills and learn the dynamics of team-based research. These tools will translate to professional efforts, and require real and earnest engagement.

How do I find the right lab?

Read this: Finding the right lab

How do I find what I’m passionate about?

Read this: Find vs. Creating Passion

What should be my goals in outside class experiences?

Read this: Turning Research and Extracurriculars into Remarkable Career Makers