<p>When I first went to my high school, I had everyone saying, “oh, you gotta join clubs, you gotta be involved in different activities and do community service and such to get into good schools.”</p>
<p>These types of things scared me because I thought that I’d have to join lot of clubs to get into a good school. </p>
<p>I’M GLAD I DIDN’T LISTEN B/C:</p>
<li>I was involved in almost no clubs in high school.</li>
<li>Did no community service(I probably should have and wanted to, but jus was too lazy to I guess).</li>
</ol>
<p>And I still got accepted to a Big 10 school, Univ of Illinois. </p>
<p>THIS PROVES THAT UNLESS YOU’RE GOING TO IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS OR TOP TIER SCHOOLS LIKE DUKE, STANFORD, ETC… THAT THEY DON’T GIVE MUCH OF A CRAP TOWARDS YOUR ACTIVITIES AND CLUBS. </p>
<p>GRADES AND ACT/SAT’S ARE WHAT COUNT PERIOD. AND HOW YOU WRITE YOUR COLLEGE ESSAY IS PROBABLY ANOTHER DECENT FACTOR.</p>
<p>I jus wanna let anyone who’s an underclassman or junior in high school know that they don’t gotta be obssessed with doing clubs and community service stuff.</p>
<p>It isn't joining clubs that will get you in, although it can, passion for something will. I joined none of the generic, and in my opinion, crap EC's like Rotary and Key Club because I honestly don't give a damn about em. I did my best at the EC's I loved and it got me into MIT, Rice, and Cornell.</p>
<p>Point is: Do well in school and be involved in what you love.</p>
<p>I think extracirricular activities only weighs very highly when it comes to the top 15 schools. For state schools and some of the lower tier schools however, high grades and scores can easily account for a lack of ECs.</p>
<p>yea, I mean if u wanna join a couple ones that interest you, then by all means, do it. </p>
<p>But people who are obssesed with joining clubs cause they think it'll get them to a better school are pretty wrong except unless it's an IVY League School like I said in my 1st post.</p>
<p>Um.. I know a guy with a 3.9 and a 1580 old SAT I who had almost no E.C. other than academic awards because of his high GPA and he got into UChicago.</p>
<p>Congrats on U of I, bearsfolife. Big 10 schools are great places.</p>
<p>One interesting thing in the op's thread-starter is the idea that going to a Big 10 school is a great thing (I agree). In the Midwest (where I live), one often hears people say things like, "I went to xyz college--I couldn't get into a big school." In other words, since the most famous and often best schools in Midwestern states are the huge state universities, bigness comes to equal quality to a lot of people.</p>
<p>In contrast, the way colleges are viewed in the Northeast (where I have also lived, & where the state colleges are often way less prominent than the top private schools) results in people saying things like, "His grades were bad, so he had to go to a state college."</p>
<p>I conclude from this that a lot of the bickering that goes on here (especially in the endless threads in which state universities are contrasted with smaller private colleges and universities--e.g., "Michigan or Tufts?") might be rooted in the subconscious prejudices various regions of the country have in favor of private or public colleges, rather than in the true merits of the institutions themselves.</p>
<p>You people are very lucky, I did so much extrac. and leadership stuff, but i got into a good school too =)</p>
<p>In fact, I know of 1 guy who's going to NYU, and yea he's smart as hell. </p>
<p>But lot of people I'm seein here in my school are goin to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin(the people who were able to have good enough grades getting into there). </p>
<p>I think you can go to a public university like Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, etc. and still get a great education, get good life lessons, as is proven every year by the rankings that U.S. News and BusinessWeek do each year. </p>
<p>You get a similar education value for a much less price. </p>
<p>Yea, those colleges in the Northeast may be more respected, but then again, THE MAJORITY OF KIDS WHO GO TO THOSE SCHOOLS ARE SNOBBY INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR OWN MIND.</p>
<p>yea, i'm sure u had people tellin u how u had to do all these activities in school and be active and join clubs and blah blah blah. </p>
<p>I considered taking this route, but I figured that if I'm not planning on going to an Ivy League School or not planning on going to Stanford, Duke, etc.. what's the point???</p>
<p>Your grades get you into college not your clubs. My point is don't listen to those counselors and teachers out there who put that crap in our minds.</p>
<p>It proves that it's possible, but I'd like to see a sample size of more than 2 before drawing too many conclusions.</p>
<p>it's more than possible. It's probable as long as you aren't going for the upper-echelon of colleges(if that's what you wanna call them). </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Get good grades(improve each year) cause my junior yr. was my best yr. especially my 2nd semester jr. yr. i got a 3.9 GPA, my highest and I remind you, I go to one of the top 3 or 4 high schools in the state of Illinois. </p></li>
<li><p>Score 25+ on ACT. You don't need to score 30+ to get to a good school(unless if you're going into an engineering or business major, which will probably be accepting higher ACT's like 27+)</p></li>
<li><p>Write a good college essay. I really think this plays a part, maybe even more so than extra-curriculars. I think the essay is an extension of how you are able to write and what kind of person you are. Then again, you can always BS it, but they still see what kind of skills you have as a writer. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>You do those 3 things, you're in.</p>
<p>Well yes grades are the most important thing and should be the most concentrated on thing in high school. However, clubs are a good thing to get involved in, especially doing volunteer work is great. It looks good on your resume, but it makes you a better person.</p>
<p>I'm going to MIT, and i'm not sure i'm even sold on the importance of clubs and community service.</p>
<p>You really just need to show that you're interested in something/actually do something instead of being a total studyallnightnerd. </p>
<p>Not a single school wants a laundry list of a clubs across the board (i.e. Mock Trial, Math Club, Outdoors Club, Literature Club all together...no one has those varied interests). Lists of 100000 different activities just make you seem like you're padding.</p>
<p>Usually, when it comes to in-state students, state universities admit students based overwhelmingly on grades, scores and class rank. Essays, recommendations and ECs (with the exception of athletics) don't count for very much.</p>
<p>Indeed, it's basically only the top 40 or so LACs and national universities that pay that much attention to ECs, essays and recommendations. That's because they're in the enviable position of having far more applicants than they can accept.</p>
<p>Even for those schools, it's not necessary to belong to clubs. The colleges want students to show some kind of interest in something beside going to class because the colleges want students who'll enrich their entire campus environment, not just sit in their rooms and study.</p>
<p>However, the activities don't need to be school clubs. They can be community organizations, professional organizations, out of school research, being a published author, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yea, those colleges in the Northeast may be more respected, but then again, THE MAJORITY OF KIDS WHO GO TO THOSE SCHOOLS ARE SNOBBY INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR OWN MIND.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's nice to know that you're not the type of person to make sweeping generalizations about a group of people you don't actually know.</p>
<p>^^^That's true. I just did what I love doing...joining and becoming president of Beta Club was just an easy way for me to do Habitat for Humanity and other stuff like tutoring that I enjoy doing. I also fly, which is sort of unusual, but I love it, so I mentioned it on my applications and wrote a short essay about it. But it's definitely all about having a passion for what you do, not how many things you do. I got into MIT with a rather short list of ECs, but I had done a lot of things in those ECs. Joining a bunch of clubs just to join and then not doing anything is not cool.</p>
<p>hey how about.. join clubs because you want to.. not because you need them for college (or don't need?)</p>
<p>If you were just a member and didn't really do anything, then no it won't help you. However, if you were a leader, it will help you.</p>
<p>Also, if colleges think you're only involved in things just to get into college, they'll see right through your cynicism and not admit you.</p>
<p>It is a good idea to take advice from someone who made such generlizations about people he never met...yep, that's an opinion I would trust</p>
<p>Clubs are NOT jsut to look good for college, some clubs can be fun, some can help someone meet new people, they can do some good works, and gee, help your school and other people</p>
<p>Service is giving to others when you can, and if you are too busy or too self involved or so selfish to help others, well,that is your loss</p>
<p>Not everything people do is for a college application, some kids actually enjoy service, some kids actually like the Latin club, some like serviing lunch to the homeless, some like cleaning beaches</p>
<p>the self obsorption is sad, and thinking everything one does should be for college applications even sadder</p>