Bad EC's?? Help Needed!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a sophomore at a british school. This year i am going to be taking 12 IGCSE exams in may/june and because we are not even close to finishing the syllabus for most subjects, we are held back almost everyday of the week during the times EC's are run (2:15-3:15 pm). My school definitely weights grades more than ec's. The only extracurriculars i can manage to do are magazine and basketball this year because of my very hectic schedule.</p>

<p>What i would like to know is if i'll get penalised for this by colleges in the future (ivies, top 10 etc - most competitive college basically)? Is it possible to get a letter explaining the situation i was in my sophomore year from my school perhaps (we dont have a counselor btw)? This won't be a problem my junior/senior year as i am planning to change schools anyways. However, i think when colleges see that i have only been involved in my most of my EC's my junior/senior years, they will think i am only doing them because of my college app when in reality i am not. I am doing volunteer work during my weekends though, but that is as much as i can do outside my school as i live in closed up country in the middle east with very limited opportunities for females. </p>

<p>Since i am a straight A/A* student i would be devasted if my dreams of attending a top college were crushed by my lack of extracurriculars. I don't know if this will help, but since i am an african u.s citizen (i.e. URM) will my lack of extracurriculars make up for it if i get goods grades and goods SAT scores?</p>

<p>Please advice me on what i should do, i will highly appreciate any help i can get. </p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>you’re still a sophomore, nothing to worry about</p>

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<p>Top schools are rather unpredictable with their admissions. I know people who had high grades, good SAT and a laundry list of extracurriculars and still did not get in. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.</p>

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<p>Okay, thanks for the reassurance. </p>

<p>Can anyone else give me their advice?</p>

5

<p>I would look hard for opportunities outside of school that you can get involved with. I understand that it will be harder given the limitations of where you live, but try to find a program or organization that you want to be involved in. Maybe you can do more over the summers to get involved? Also, can you start a club or other organization at school that might meet at a different time?</p>

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<p>I’ve found a charity organisation i am going to do work with but that is as much as i can get for now. I’ve asked a lot of the companies/organizations that came to our school’s career fair last year/this year but none seem to offer anything us students can get involved in :confused: But i’ll certainly keep looking. Doing anything school wise for the summer is usually never possible since i travel every summer to different countries, however i’ll try to see if there is something i can get involved in at the country i’ll visit this year (however not being able to speak the native language may be a problem). </p>

<p>No-one has ever started a club at my school so i have no idea about this. But it doesn’t seem like the best idea considering i only have 2-3 months until i am on study leave. Plus, i’ll be changing schools after this term/semester so there is really no point as it will only last for a month max. Also, our school has very strict timing for activities, all none sport activities last till 3:15 (no exceptions) and sporting activities end 4:15, so there is no way going about what you suggested. </p>

<p>Thanks for the help though!</p>