Are my Extracurriculars Good?

I’m applying to certain schools (see the chance me thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1904474-chance-me-for-the-following-rising-senior-with-huge-upward-trend-p1.html ) as a history major or directly into the business school, depending on the specific school. I believe that grades/AP scores/Subject test wise I prove myself very capable with my interests.

I was just wondering how strong I am in terms of being involved with history, my academic strength. I believe I took the majority of opportunities available as there aren’t exactly too many history-based competitions for high school.

Without further ado, let me know how good my EC’s are for history and business-related majors.


Awards: National History Day South-East Asia Winner, National History Day Virginia State First Place

Languages: Fluent in English, Tamil and Spanish

National Security Archives internship- I had an undergraduate level internship at the National Security Archives. I researched and indexed declassified government documents and wrote historical analysis reports to aid Archive researchers.

NHD- Awards: NHD- 1st place South-East Asia, NHD- 1st place Virginia state (already mentioned above)

Drama- Been participating since freshman year and had major roles and lead roles in school productions.

Relay for Life leader- Led Relay for Life team to raise nearly $2700 dollars for the American Cancer Society.

VP of Young Democrats- Was Secretary and am now Vice-President of the club. I helped host mock caucus/primary elections at school to raise civic awareness. I also interned at the John Foust for Congress and the Mark Warner for Senate campaigns.

President of World Water Aid- Founded this club when I came to my new school. Raised nearly $700 dollars for a rainwater harvesting facility in India to help villages without water. Interned at the Dhan Foundation in India to help with micro-finance operations and oversee development projects.

Blue Earth Capital intern- Interned at my dad’s hedge fund and learned a lot about finance, portfolio construction and investment strategies.

Varsity Tennis- Been on my Varsity tennis team since sophomore year and play 3rd doubles.

Looks like you have some varied and interesting activities.

Speaking a language isnt an EC, and be careful about saying you are fluent unless you really are. If you want to include that say what it is you do with your skill.

You have done a good job of turning these into a story about you more than a list of things you particpated in. Adcoms are most impressed with accomplishment and students who have engaged passionately in their interests. So, for instance, Tennis soulds much less interesting on your list because it just says you did it, not what it is that you accomplished. Thats ok if this isnt a big part of your story you could omit it.

I think you have a well rounded set of intersts here and should be fine for the schools you are looking at. GL.

@mitchklong it’s not like colleges are going to check- this doesn’t exactly pertain to me since I actually am quite proficient but plenty of people I know are putting the language they took in high school as “proficient” even though I know for a fact that they aren’t.

I included all my extracurriculars, including tennis, and ranked by order of importance like I would on the app. So obviously my accomplishments in history would float to the top, major extracurriculars I have also partaken in such as Drama, followed by areas relating to history such as Young Democrats and business internships, and then finally things like tennis which I name just to say I played on Varsity. Does that make sense?

Thanks for your advice!

IMO, your extracurriculars are incredibly strong and really demonstrate your interest. Especially the undergraduate level internship- I am blown away by that. Colleges will definitely see a passion and an interest in your chosen subjects.