I’m trying to develop a humanities spike and want some prestigious extracurriculars to help make my application shine. I only recently decided on trying to major in a humanities area so my current ECs aren’t that great. I’m trying to find 3-4 activities that will make admissions officers really notice me.
My GPA is sucky this year. I’m repeating my Junior year to try and raise it, and I’m looking at trying to repeat a few classes that dragged down my GPA in my Freshmen/ Sophomore year. I’m hoping that great ECs and applying to less competitive colleges will make sure I get an acceptance letter.
Note: I am also looking for less prestigious ECs if anyone knows of any. I’m already considering starting some clubs (all my school has, academically at least, are Academic Team and Sci Oly.)
You don’t needs prestigious ECs. You need ECs that help display your interests or that show commitment.
Jobs are good ECs. So is volunteering. Take things to the next level. For example, maybe you volunteer at the local food pantry. Talk to a local supermarket manager and see if they are willing to donate some items to the pantry.
If you’re interested in rock polishing, organize a “show and tell” at the primary school. Tell kids about how the rocks form and how the polisher works. Let them pick some rocks and bring them back the following week, nicely polished for kids to take home.
Starting clubs isn’t a very noteworthy thing. If you do so, an AO is going to be interested in seeing your plan about sustaining that club after you finish high school. IOW, it should be a club that will attract enough interest and members, along with a teacher mentor, who will continue the club.
Maybe you want to be published. Submit as many articles/stories/poems as you can to Teen Ink or start your own blog on Word Press or similar.
It’s probably better to get involved in an already existing group in which you have room to expand. Perhaps you want to help out at the local senior home. There’s a piano in the rec room, and you play piano. Volunteer to play piano for the residents a couple of hours a week.
There are many ways to impress AO’s that don’t involve winning prestigious competitions. Use your ingenuity and think outside the box.
From what I’ve seen, stuff like TASP are stuff I want to do. I can’t fully explain it, but I want to be with other intelligent kids who are into the humanities. Programs like TASP attract those kids. I also want to show my passion for the subject, and programs that tend to be competitive and show that you’re one of the best tend to be prestigious. I also want to look at this from an AOs position. Seeing stuff like the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards or TASP turns their heads. Since my GPA is low, I’m hoping to compensate a little with more competitive ECs.
That’s fine and those are all great things to aspire to.
Just realize that prestigious awards aren’t all that count. Plenty of kids get into excellent colleges without big awards.
I know you applied for QB. You might want to consider Deep Springs College. It’s very interesting and also very prestigious. If you get in, it’s free and you can almost write a ticket to any college you like after completing the two year program.
Thank you for the college recommendation. There is a school that sounds similar in my state, Berea College, so I was already considering a school like it.
I know prestige isn’t everything. But I’m a Junior (as you know) and since my time is limited, I feel like I have to invest a little in prestigious programs to get “the most bang-for-my-buck.” Unlike a Freshmen or a Sophomore, who ultimately has more time, I need to hunker down a bit.
Right, you’re a junior. First priority must be grades. Course rigor is also very important. Teacher recommendations and essays will be important. Test scores are still an unknown factor. ECs might be important. Awards, at the expense of any of those other things, less so.
In other words, consider the best way for you to make an impact, but don’t neglect other avenues to good acceptances that might be more within reach. There are plenty of prestigious scholarships and awards if you have a look at the categories in the FA forum.
EC really only matter at the very top. If you are repeating your junior year and some other classes, you likely don’t have the academic criteria (the most important) for these colleges.
I’m not interested in Harvard or a lot of schools at the top. I’m low-income and first-gen and other students like me told me how they felt isolated and excluded at those colleges.
I’m mainly shooting for less selective schools, such as Lipscomb University or Allegheny. I’m also re-doing my Junior year, and I’m hoping to take summer classes to re-do the grades that are most heavily bringing me down. I mainly included this information to explain why I want to pursue 3-4 high-tier ECs when the norm is 1-2 or even none.
I want a list of ECs to do before I go into summer so I can work on them/ keep an eye on them during the school year.