Advice on EC's

Applying to College
1

Hello all, I have watched over this site for the past year and have learned tons about admissions advice, etc., and now wish to ask for personal advice.
I am a junior at a private high school, taking toughest courseload (IB Diploma), in the top 5 of 100ish (4.0 UW, 4.9 W?), and I recently got a PSAT index of 220. What I am majorly concerned with is my extracurriculars–I hope to attend one of the top LACs like Middlebury/Williams/Swarthmore, but I feel like my ‘extracurricular problem’ will detract from my application.

9th grade: Art Club, Spring Musical
10th grade: Film Club, Ambassador’s Club, Math Team, Tutoring, Spring Musical
(The spring musical should be a significant EC, as both took ~20 hours/week from January through April, but it’s not something I’m passionate about.)
11th grade: Film Club, Ambassador’s Club, Math Team, Model UN, Academic Decathlon (founder/captain), Tutoring, LaSallian Youth, Amnesty International

I have decided not to do the musical this year, as it would be a waste of time for a mediocre actor/singer like me despite the presence of many friends, and I have become worried about how this will reflect. I have tried becoming very involved with my school in other regards–an award at a MUN conference, starting AcaDeca… but it seems too little, too late. My only sport is sailing, but the school cut funding for it freshman year and I have only pursued it during the summer.
If I had a ‘hook,’ it would have to be Italian or languages… I have pursued it, top 5 in state on the National Exam, Honor Society, etc., and after next summer I hope to be fluent. I am also studying Latin and Korean independently–Latin to help with Spanish/French eventually, Korean because of my interest in the country/friends. I am thinking of majoring in Italian or Romance Languages, so I could study more than one language.
I have been somewhat involved with filmmaking and photography, but I have no awards to show my (currently waning) interests…

As of right now, I’m still unsure of what to do… I have worked hard, but I feel like I have wasted the past years in some ways. Should I aim for one of the non-singing roles in the spring musical and live through it, for continuity, or should I try to pursue other interests more thoroughly like AcaDeca, business organizations like FBLA, and possible join Track in the spring?

Any help, although hopefully honest, would be appreciated greatly.

2

<p>i personally think you're fine...just stick to what you got...you got Model UN - lots of opportunities in that, you founded AcaDec...sailing is a very interesting activity, do you sail on any local teams or particicpate in any races? </p>

<p>Also, you said you like filmaking...you got the film club there to show it...depending upon how passionate you are, there's a lot of things you could do...just off the top of my head, you can organize like a "spring student movie festival" at your school where you show a bunch of films made by kids in the school and then have the audience vote...invite some businesses or local stations to come and sponsor the winner to take a trip or an internship somewhere...through that, you can become president of the club......THATS a lot of of leadership my friend...its not about joining certain clubs, its about being creative with what you have...im looking at your list and im seeing a lot of opportunities...you're only a junior, plenty of time to make it happen...</p>

3

<p>how did you get an interest in korean? are you korean? do you live in nyc/la? thats so cool by the way.</p>

4

<p>Nah, I'm not Korean.. but I did take TaeKwonDo back in 2nd grade (can't list those awards on apps ;P), and now I have a good Korean friend who might be moving in next month (official tutoring, how perfect).</p>

<p>Thanks for both of your comments!</p>

5

<p>i say do whatever do you want to do. if you are passionate about an activity, pursue it. your committment will pay off and show colleges that you can handle non-academic challenges. you stats and current ec's are good, but don't make your high school experience miserable just because you are worried which ec's will look good for colleges. to me it already looks like you are headed down that road-with all of the random clubs and not a whole lot of leadership in them. i would say your best bet would be to asess which activities you do because you like them and which you have chosen just to look good on paper. then commit more times to those which you really care about or enjoy and show the colleges your dedication by aquire leadership roles.</p>

6

<p>ya.. just do whatever u like to do, but make sure u do a hell lot of it :D The foreign lang should be very unique!</p>