<p>i was just reading an article on the NYtimes about model applicants and now i feel really intimidated and scared about college apps. sometimes it just seems like all the applicants to the top schools did unbelievable amounts of volunteer work (i don't mean cleaning up a park, i mean...helping african children with AIDS kind of volunteering), or they spent 4 years doing research..for the cure for cancer. i mean...with all these amazing applicants, i feel as though there is no way i can compete. i don't spend my summers at crazy smart academic camps learning about astrophysics, i don't even have a job. basically all i have is good grades, hopefully good test scores, a couple of sports at school (i'm not a national-level caliber athlete, i'm not even captain), and a few clubs (officer for a few). </p>
<p>does anyone else feel completely inadequate compared to these super applicants?</p>
<p>Moi aussi. I read the Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarship winners, and I was blown away. Then I read the USA All-Academic Team and was again blown away. It makes me depressed, woot :)</p>
<p>me 2. sometimes i even wonder y i like this site so much. but i guess being aware of extraordinary students like them helps me to improve myself, even in some miniscule way.</p>
<p>yeah...I mean, I feel sad sometimes but I realize-it doesn't matter. I mean, I can only do my best <em>end inspirational rant</em>. haha</p>
<p>I agree with the other poster-MOST people have no idea that there is anything bigger and better. Big fish in small pond, sort of thing. My school is uber-competitive over the stupidest crap. I mean, they think that doing 10-20 hours is <em>tremendous</em> in college admissions, and don't think that there are sophomores taking APs, etc. When people are impressed that they or someone else are accelerated in math, you know that they have no idea about 'model applicants'.</p>
<p>I completely agree. I live in the middle of nowhere and my school is crap. I see some people on here that have apparantly taken every AP class under the sun. My school offers only four and it's on a block shedule. As for the volunteer work, everything in my area is controlled by student council, which is ridiculous. People at my school strive for a 20 on the ACT, and my school discourages taking the SAT. It's absolutely pathetic.</p>
<p>If only I had known what I wanted to do in 8th grade... Then I could've made plans for 9th grade on! I don't think it's fair for kids that are trying everything to find out what their passion is to only have someone they that "you have no focus or passion."</p>
<p>Definitely. I'm a walking, talking inferiority complex about everything about myself... God, that makes no sense. But I'm tired (as always), so... meh...</p>
<p>eh...not really. kids fluff up their apps, like exaggerating the importance of everything they did, and making mediocre spots sound like leadership positions lol. i just figure be honest, go with the flow, and see what happens. for me, any school in the top 50 in the us news rankings is about same quality education, i mean seriously there's like all the "little ivies" right now and lac's...it's not bad lol. just don't worry about "beating" other people.</p>
<p>if those kids only did those things for apps, then they won't get far in real life either because of bad work ethic. but if they did it out of passion, then no matter where they go to college, they'll probably make it big by personal merit.</p>
<p>I feel mediocre on here too, and I really shouldn't because I'm one of the most competitive people at my high school and I've accomplished a lot for having a relatively low income and going to a yucky school in Podunk. I don't know how much colleges look at that volunteer stuff, and I really don't volunteer because I'm always focused on myself. </p>
<p>I have my sights set a little higher than Goshen, Indiana Wesleyan, and Bluffton, which are the 3 schools most kids from my high school attend.</p>
<p>Well, that's enough depression for one post :p</p>
<p>YES. When I first found CC, I completely panicked. Our Guidance Department has very nice counselors... but doesn't really guide at all. They give us absolutely no idea of what type of ECs + volunteering + etc. is actually required for admissions at top schools... no one in my school is aware of how much you have to do. I went through a terrible time where I harbored angry grudges towards my counselor for not being realistic, my parents for not pushing me to get a job or get over my fears and audition for orchestras, and myself for being so lazy when -other- students were out researching different types of genes and "demonstrating a passion."</p>
<p>Then, one day I realized that I HAD been demonstrating my passions all along. Perhaps writing short stories instead of doing Chem problem sets doesn't sound as prestigious on paper as attending a creative writing seminar in Paris (haha, or something like that), but nonetheless, I was doing what -I- loved rather than doing the same thing, but paying money to do so simply in order to please some colleges. So, I entered a couple of writing competitions, received gold in one and hopefully did well in the other... and BAM. Passion demonstrated (kind of).</p>
<p>So, could I conceivably be in Paris right now if my parents had pushed me more? Maybe.... but I'm also happy where I am. I learned to accept my ECs. THIS is what I want my summer to be: teaching myself Spanish, reading about a superquadraquillionbazillion books, writing, painting/sketching outside in my tree, volunteering and swapping stories with the elderly, self-studying Bio to get ready for AP (because my freshman teacher didn't teach us any of the curriculum, she just took us outside to look at moss and collect feathers =P), filming movies with my friends, having barbeques with my family, going to the beach, hiking, swimming in mountain rivers, getting in shape for XC, etc.etc.etc.</p>
<p>If colleges would have rather seen me pay thousands of dollars to go to a summer program or cure cancer... well, I can't blame them. But I can't blame myself, either =)</p>
<p>And that's MY cheesy little (coughidioticallylongcough) post.</p>