<p>I felt okay with my extra-curricular activities until:
1. A kid at my high school said I had 'weak EC's'
and 2. I saw the 'thousands' of EC's most kids on CC have...</p>
<p>Here are extra-curricular activities: (btw, they're all about science for the most part)
**leadership positions in parenthesis</p>
<ol>
<li>STEP: Science Technology Entry Program (varsity science bowl member junior + senior year- not really a leadership, but the fact that I'm on varsity says something and I maayyy be captain senior year) 9,10,11, 12</li>
<li>Robotics Club (President + Student Representative for FIRST robotics team) 10, 11, 12</li>
<li>Science Club (President) 10, 11, 12</li>
<li>Medical Explorers 10, 11, 12</li>
<li>Masterminds (JV team member-not really leadership, but you get the point...) 11, 12</li>
<li>Marching Band (Treasurer) 9, 10, 11, 12</li>
<li>Chemistry Olympiad 11, 12</li>
</ol>
<p>I know it's not nearly as many as many people who apply to ivies, but is it enough?</p>
<p>It really depends on the rest of the picture. Those would be fine for a strong student in an area with fewer opportunities but probably wouldn’t be competitivevfor a student from an affluent area where lots are applying from.</p>
<p>If you’re from an underrepresented state or low income you need less out of school achievement. These are just a few examples.</p>
<p>So, if you have lots of Math and since awards and honors, that would balance it. If you’re an academic superstar…</p>
<p>I’m from NY, but my city is kinda small… ~15,000 people. We don’t have much going on here… When we started our FIRST robotics club this year, it was huge for the community because we seriously don’t have much going on…</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s many opportunities; at least none that students are well informed about. </p>
<p>Our teachers do try to give us some opportunities though… Like one of our chemistry teachers heard about the Chemistry Olympiad and instantly thought of me and another student, which was so nice of her.</p>
<p>I hope it’s enough though… D: Especially for MIT.</p>
<p>If you’re from NY, it’ll be tough because “areas with fewer opportunities” generally refers to really rural or low-income areas. Your ECs aren’t quite on par with very strong applicants to these kinds of schools, but they’re not by any means bad enough to kick you out of the running. Although your chances aren’t extremely high, schools like MIT and UChicago can sometimes place a pretty heavy focus on factors like essays and recommendations. Don’t raise your hopes too much, but do apply.</p>
<p>My school isn’t the best, but there’s probably way worse schools out there… Our graduation rate hovers around 68 percent, which is about average? </p>
<p>Hardly anyone goes to ivy leagues or top 20 schools… Last year the best schools people got into were RPI, RIT and Northeastern.</p>
<p>So far, this year, is American University… But who knows, maybe there will be some Ivies…?</p>
<p>I know for sure I’m in every possible club that involves science… </p>
<p>Oh, and I’m entering this state research science competition through STEP (one of my EC’s)… If I do well (at least 3rd place), would that help?</p>
<p>Last question: Is one of the reasons why my EC’s are considered weak because I play no sports?</p>
<p>Are you the Val or very close to the top of your class? That will be essential if your school rarely sends kids to ivies. A that kind of high school being top 1 or 2 is pretty standard at a top college. How are your scores?</p>
<p>No. It’s because “I was on clubs A, B, C, D, E, F, and G” doesn’t really say a whole lot. They just don’t sound compelling. You can do a lot just by making them sound worthwhile on your application. There’s a big difference between listing a bunch of organizations that you were a member of and had “not-really-leadership” (read: not leadership, especially given the quality of most high school “leadership” positions) positions in and telling the schools what you’ve actually accomplished.</p>
<p>You need to make it clear that you’ve done more than sticking your name on the rosters of a bunch of clubs and showing up to their weekly meetings. A lot of that is going to be the presentation.</p>
<p>Edit: A bit more on the sports thing - my high school didn’t even have sports teams. There’s absolutely no benefit to having a strong commitment to sports over having a strong commitment to a non-athletic EC unless you get an athletic scholarship.</p>
<p>Doing well in that competition would certainly help your application - state awards are pretty good, especially in a competitive state like NY. You should also try entering some other competitions too.</p>
<p>@Waverly My rank isn’t that high. It’s in the top 10 percent, but not top 5 percent. Our grades aren’t weighted though, so there’s a couple of kids in the top 15 who definitely shouldn’t be there… And I haven’t taken the SAT/ACT. I took a practice test though (without prep)- high 20’s/low 30’s for the most part… Reading was kinda low, but once I improve my pace, I think it’ll be okay… (I only got half way through the 3rd passage)</p>
<p>@RedSeven I wanted to do my common app essay about why I want to pursue a career in science, and how Robotics Club and STEP inspired me to do so (and I actually wanted to mention how the coordinator of STEP is my mentor and how important his guidance has been on me), but I was told writing about an extra-curricular activity is so overdone… Is that true?</p>
<p>I think I could write genuine essays about STEP and robotics; the rest of the people in those clubs with me are seriously like my 2nd and 3rd families. (That must sound pathetic, but it’s true…) </p>
<p>@xquicksilverx We presented our abstracts about 3 weeks ago, and several of the judges said my idea was really good, so I’m hoping it’ll do well…</p>
Exactly. This is critical for the types of schools you’re targeting.</p>
<p>
Excellent advice here, too, with one minor clarification. Change “unless you get an athletic scholarship” to “unless you are a recruited athlete.” Ivies don’t offer athletic scholarships, but recruited athletes are favored in admissions. For non-recruits, sports participation is no better than music, community service, a part time job, or any other EC.</p>
<p>Don’t even worry about ECs until you know you have the stats. Once you get below the top 25 or so schools, ECs matter much, much less.</p>
<p>Lesley, if you’re at an average HS and not at the top of your class, and you don’t have exceptional ECs, you’re probably not looking at very top schools. There are so many wonderful schools. Wait until you have scores in hand and then look at the schools where you really have a shot. Yu can throw in an extreme reach or 2, but most of your schools should be in range and schools you can afford.</p>
</p>