Current sophomore coming from an above average public high school in northern VA. Grades all A’s so far and a few SAT scores (expecting 1500-1570) on the way. My EC’s are relatively basic (editor of newspaper, DECA competition, gov school) answers I’m afraid I’ll just be another statistic when applying to elite (top 15) schools. I want to stand out. I’m currently interested in business, so I’d like to show my passion in that area. But how? Any advice would be appreciated. Really want to get into a school like Cornell for business.
Definitely continue with your EC’s, because it’s good to show commitment and consistency, but try to make an impact - instead of just editing articles, try to write a cool feature article about something you care about. Maybe if you want to show your interest, you can volunteer or intern part time or over the summer at a start-up or local small business to get some more business experience. They don’t expect you to know about all the markets and trends coming out of high school - just curiosity.
The real place to show your passion is in the personal statement. Definitely do some interest on Cornell’s College of Business and perhaps some of the research the professors are doing.