How Chaos Got This Student into Her Top Choice College

Want to know how it’s possible to get into a top liberal arts college with a lackluster GPA?

Chaos theory.

I know (believe me, I’m no scientist!) — but stick with me for a minute . . .

Ariel came to us at the beginning of her junior year unsure of what her interests were or how she could stand out when it came time to submit her college applications.

And despite a low GPA, she still got into a top tier college!

Here’s how it happened: when we began brainstorming possibilities for her project, we started by inviting her to ask herself the question, “What kind of problems do I see around me that I want to solve?”

After exploring multiple ideas, Ariel decided she wanted to bring more movement into her classroom experience. Because she often experienced pain in her back and neck from sitting for so long, she was having difficulty concentrating on her work. She felt that if she could stand for her classes or take several stretch breaks, she could eliminate her pain and increase her focus.

We helped her connect with a teacher of biomechanics who had written curriculum for integrating movement in the classroom. She began taking weekly lessons with this teacher that helped significantly reduce her back pain and substantially increase her focus. Within a short time, Ariel no longer needed to see her chiropractor — because she was now pain free!

After that introduction, we also helped connect her with a teacher in Toronto who owns a functional movement studio so she could go through a fully immersive learning experience during her summer break. After this in-person training, she was so excited about what she was learning that she went on to give a number of workshops to elementary aged kids, where she loved seeing their laughter and excitement at learning something new.

Yeah, that’s cool, you’re thinking. She picked a topic and stuck with it.

Well, actually, no.

THIS is where chaos theory comes in.

Quick definition: chaos, as messy as it is while you’re right smack dab in the middle of it, ultimately reveals an order once you get some distance.

Here’s how that all fits in: by the end of the summer, Ariel realized that she wasn’t really passionate about teaching movement. Instead, she wanted to study psychology and education, particularly the way that interactions between parents and children, as well as mentors and teachers, impact the way children develop.

Yikes! Is this going to mess up my applications? she wondered. Are the admissions officers going to see me as inconsistent?

Not at all, I told her. As long as you make meaning of everything you just experienced and explain how it led to your newfound interest, you can turn it into gold.

And that’s exactly what she did. She wrote about all of this in her college application essays: how chaos theory, leapfrogging from idea to another, helped her discover her true passion.

When the results came out, she was accepted to Bryn Mawr, her top choice school, despite a low 3.4 GPA (the average GPA for entering Bryn Mawr freshman is 3.8). She and her parents were thrilled!

As I write this, Ariel is traveling in China right now, on a tour of the Chinese education system, conducting research for her senior project on the role of mentorship and psychology on students’ development.

Today, her vision is to open a holistic school in China where students learn to become their best selves through inspired teaching, mentorship and, yes, varied movement.

She was reflecting with me recently on how she got here: “I feel now that the only way I could have fully developed this vision was to be willing to enter the uncertainty and chaos of exploration so I could discover my path. That’s something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

Would you like to get the same results? We’d love to work with you! Applications are now open for the next round of the Dream School Project. Apply here to be considered!