College Admissions Officers Favor Specialization

The highly acclaimed book, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, famously proclaims that it takes 10,000 hours to gain mastery of a skill.  While children don’t have that kind of time to devote to a favorite activity, the premise is certainly thought-provoking.

When parents choose activities for young children, they often seek a well-rounded schedule balanced by sports, music lessons, and an academic activity such as coding or math club.  Early exposure to a wide range of activities is ideal in order for children to identify their natural talents and areas of interest.  But once that’s been determined, a popular school of thought recommends specialization. 

Specialization means choosing an activity where one is committed to putting in the effort required to becoming as proficient as possible. It’s a concept strongly recommended by Dr. Kuman Mehta, author of The Exceptionals: How the Best Become the Best & How You Can Too.

“The earlier you encourage your kids to learn the basic skills of a field, the sooner they’ll progress to more advanced skills. And the sooner they develop those advanced skills, the quicker they’ll develop best-in-class skills.  And the quicker they gain best-in-class skills, the more likely they are to attain a rare and elite level of proficiency,” according to Dr. Mehta.

As examples, he cites tennis legend Andre Agassi who started playing when he was four years old, and Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk who developed an interest in computing and programming at the age of ten and built a space-themed PC game, Blastar, when he was twelve.

Specialization works particularly well in fields where the outcome depends on specific skills honed through repetition, such as computer coding and many sports.  

But it takes on a different form, according to Mehta, in fields where skills are transferable or require a core foundation.  While a youngster can’t specialize in architecture or engineering, he/she can certainly focus on mathematic skills and acquire an impressive quantitative foundation. 

The concept of specialization is also favored by college admissions officers.  Gone are the days when they sought well-rounded “renaissance” students who had participated in a wide range of activities in high school. Colleges today seek students who are accomplished in a particular field and bring their expertise to campus to help form an impressive and multi-talented college community.   

Susan Alaimo is the founder and director of Collegebound Review that, for the past 25 years, has offered PSAT/SAT® preparation and private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362