“Getting in to the college of your choosing will be a formidable challenge. As the number of students applying to the top schools steadily increases, the quality of the candidates has ramped up. Differentiating one perfect application from another has become more difficult than it has ever been before. As a college applicant, it is no longer enough to be an excellent student, you need to stand out from those you are competing with - A personal brand is essential.
Personal branding is a tool to cultivate a professional presence that informs the world of what you stand for and what you have to offer. In a blink, it tells the story of your expertise, experiences and endeavors. Your brand will authenticate your passion and show your genuine and unique qualities. Just as we purchase products from brands we trust, colleges invest in the students who will offer them the best credentials.
Rick Singer’s, Personal Branding will take you through the simple step-by-step process of creating, curating and sharing the powerful brand called YOU.”
- From the back cover of Rick Singer’s book Getting in: Personal Brands
I would like to do a deep dive into the higher education admissions scandal eventually, but I’ll wait for more to come out. There are so many facets to this developing story and they are all juicy and ripe for analysis, but the one that jumped out at me right away was the exploitation of people’s feelings about exclusivity and power.
Many people were involved in this thing, but Rick Singer has been dubbed the ringleader or mastermind and he does not shy away from motivating people through their irrational fears surrounding education and identity.
Knowing what we know now, how are we to make sense of his claim that “it is no longer enough to be an excellent student?” I guess a wise man always takes care to leave some truth in his falsehoods.
It is well known that college admissions boards look for something more or special in those they pick, but to what extent are they overlooking the primary criteria (knowledge) and focusing on x-factors that allow con artists like Singer to fabricate a backstory that legitimizes the illegitimate?
It sounds like some cases were more about faking or cheating on test scores, but the more creative methods for gaining entrance to some of America’s most prestigious schools will surely dominate the headlines. Photoshopped athletes? Elite programs giving scholarships to students who were never involved in athletics? It’s all just part of “the simple step-by-step process of creating, curating and sharing the powerful brand called YOU.”
pixelskylines
stormborns
theartofmadeline
2087
izzy806