Hello, I’m currently a sophomore in high school, and I’m trying to find out ways that I can work to strengthen my college applications in the future.
I feel like I’m on a good track academically (AP courses, 4.0 unweighted GPA, rank 5/511 in my grade), however, I’m not sure about my extracurricular activities.
I’m in the Varsity orchestra group at my school and I play the cello. I’ve been in orchestra since 6th grade, and I plan on continuing it throughout my senior year. I compete in regional solo contests each year, and hopefully by next year I can go to the state solo contest. I’m not the leader of my section, but once I become an upperclassman, I’m positive that I’ll be able to be. Also, every year, I play at a recital that my teacher organizes. People often tell me that I’m a really good player, and playing makes me really happy.
I am also in the math and science clubs at my school, and compete in competitions every month or two. Although, I’m not very good and don’t even come close to earning a medal.
Lastly, I take taekwondo classes. I’ve done this for about two months and I’m only a white belt. Although, I really enjoy it, and I will most likely continue with for as long as I can.
What type of universities are these activities strong enough for? Should I look to become more involved for a top university? Or am I just overthinking this?
Since you enjoy your time playing cello, is there a regional/city youth orchestra nearby? Have you tried out for your state’s honor orchestra? Do you take private cello lessons?
I take private lessons, and there are both regional and city orchestras near me. I don’t think i’m at the skill level to achieve it yet though, but it’s one of my goals.
Congratulations on your accomplishments and keep playing the cello. Agreed that a county or state orchestra position would be great. Look at the Emory Scholars description. Several of them were accomplished musicians. One played with the Atlanta orchestra.
Is there any volunteer work you could add? Maybe work with a kids music group or some other public service? I think public service would add depth.
Another thing that might be nice is a writing competition or award. You want to be the fabulous musician but show depth in other issues too.
In my opinion, you should choose extracurriculars because you enjoy them, not thinking about college admissions. You are working hard in school, and your extracurriculars should be a release from pressure. Do them because they are fun!
It sounds like you are engaged in some wonderful activities that you like.
If you do things you enjoy, you will have experiences along the way and develop skills that you may not even realize are important until you sit down to work on your application in the August before your senior year. You will be an interesting candidate to admissions officers because you are genuinely interested in those activities and can tell a meaningful story about them.
Do not worry now about what “learning” will occur or what “story” you will tell. You do not know yet. You cannot know yet. That is something cool about life; you do not always know what is significant until you look back on it.
If you want reassurance that this approach works:
My son was admitted early decision to his top choice, an extremely selective college (Williams). My son’s essay was about a small moment during his camp job which he did not realize at the time would be the stuff of a college essay; he made that connection while brainstorming in response to the Common App prompts. He did activities he enjoyed, but he did not invent a cure for a disease, compete nationally in a sport, perform at Carnegie Hall, do an internship, do service in a foreign country, become president of a club, win a national competition, have all his activities relate to one another or to his major, or whatever else sometimes some people on College Confidential seem to think you need to do extracurricularly in order to get into a top college. He did what interested him. In the end, he was able to write little blurbs about his activities in the Common App (and speak of them in interviews at other colleges), in a way that enhanced his application.
Enjoy high school. You get to experience it only once!
Kids with parents that can afford to send them to prep schools or live in expensive communities with well-funded public schools get guidance at school about how to become a strong candidate for selective colleges. Do you think all the kids at those schools are just doing ECs they love, entirely out of their own initiative? I think the ground should be level and you ought to at least know what these kids are told.
What would I advise you in particular? If you are in the math & science clubs because you enjoy them then of course keep going, but if you signed up because you think it will look good to colleges then it’s probably a waste of your time. You like taekwondo so by all means stay with that. You seem to have a strong interest in music so I suggest trying to develop that. Look for chances to win awards or recognition such as being selected for regional orchestras. Look for leadership opportunities, both ones that exist and ones that you create. The latter is where your own ideas come into play. To throw out a few examples: 1) you could organize an ensemble that plays regularly at a local retirement home 2) you could organize a group giving lessons to middle-school kids 3) you could create a fundraiser to subsidize or give instruments to kids tht might not be able to afford them 4) you could set up a series of free public concerts your HS puts on after work in a local park. These are just a few ideas, but the key here a la the advice from Cal Newport is to do something outside the expected.
Keep in mind, too, that ECs are things you do outside of the regular classroom. But they don’t need to be sponsored or related to school. If your town has an arts commission with a student representative, that’s an EC. Helping plan the annual kids parade, that’s an EC (and if your town doesn’t have one, great EC to be the person that started it!) And so on. Take a look around your community and see what you want to take part in or for something that ought to be going on.
I think that your current ECs are great. It sounds like your grades are great. I think that these are strong enough for pretty nearly any university. The very most selective universities are very difficult to predict and are a reach or high reach for every student unless you have some huge “hook” (URM, child of a president, child of a huge donor, …).
When the time comes you should keep an open mind, don’t just go on rankings, but instead look at a range of schools and find one that is a good fit for you. You also will need to keep the cost of university in mind and find out what your budget is, and you will want to do some ACT or SAT preparation (this really does make a significant difference in a student’s test scores).
I don’t think that you should change anything unless you want to.
It looks like you are going to do well as long as you keep up the good work. There are a large number of very good universities and you are solidly on track to go to a very good one.
@catherinem589 I would keep doing what you’re doing for as long as you enjoy it. My kid had a couple of deep ECs, no significant leadership positions at school and almost no community service because of her performing arts schedule. She had strong grades, rigorous curriculum, and competitive test scores. She applied to schools that fit her personality and interests did extremely well with admissions. Be your best and most authentic self and you will land in a place where you will flourish.