Making your university choices: are you a driver or a passenger?

Right now, I’m reading Who gets in and why: A year inside college admissions, by Jeffrey Selingo. It’s a book all about university and college admissions in the US, by a renowned journalist who embedded himself inside several university admissions offices to find out what really happens. It’s a fascinating read, and while there are enormous differences between UK and US admissions, there are one or two areas where there are direct parallels between the two countries.

One aspect of his analysis that immediately resonated with me was his characterisation of applicants as either drivers or passengers.