<p>i noticed that on the forums, people always give advice to either</p>
<p>1) be a well-rounded person by taking a variety of classes and taking leadership in a select few OR
2) find 1 or 2 passions and work really hard to get to a district/regional/national level</p>
<p>which is better for colleges?</p>
<p>i still don't really know what i want to do [in terms of major]
and i know many other high school students don't either.
currently, i'm more of a type 1 person. but i looking at the
what are my chances thread makes me nervous about admissions
to top schools.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you seek. If you want to be a Div I athlete, no one expects you to have 5000 hours of community service at the food bank, plus be all state in chorus, band, and chess club. If you don't have a passion, athletic or otherwise, I think it looks good to have leadership positions in whatever interests you, especially by the time you are an upperclassman.</p>
<p>well thanks for the feedback [:
i'm really stressing, because it seems like the people who
get into top schools are extremely focused. they get awards
from all those programs that i wasn't even aware of until a few
days ago. and i'm going into my sophmore year =[</p>
<p>i'm interested in a lot of things.
particularly math and science. but i'm asian, and i'm definitely
not good enough to win awards or anything.</p>
<p>Im in the same boat as you, but Im a junior. So its even worse. I think that a college like Yale may not care as much about awards and such for some reason compared to Harvard. (IDK, it just seems harvard cares more about those things than yale, maybe im wrong) I will have like a few science fair submissions hopefully and an internship for an international company (hopefully again) but besides that and a few school awards, all i have are extracurriculars and grades. My "thing" is something not many teenagers do (photography) and it is by far the most time consuming hobby ever (exaggeration). </p>
<p>I think that some good colleges realize that all students they accept can "cure cancer" (basically do something great) but they just need to be in the right environment. I goto an okay school, and its hard for me to do well compared to the Ivies standards. Im self studying basic APs like USH. Don't worry about where you go to college, i used to be super worried. But I realized that even if I dont get into Yale, Ill still go to a great school, learn a lot, and do really well. Basically if you know you are smart, do what you think will make these colleges like you, and if you dont get in, at least youre still smart lol...</p>
<p>^That's really good advice, but remember not to take it too far and do something JUST for the sole purposes of getting into college. Because they'll be able to tell. :)</p>
<p>Which colleges have you been to? The ones in California are very clear with us (in-staters) that they want us to be well-rounded. That's why they developed the A-G requirements, and why several school districts in CA require community service hours in order to graduate (I have to do 115, I'm at about 93 right now but I have about 50 or so more that I just haven't logged).</p>
<p>Anyways. If he/she only meant extracurriculars, I still would prefer number 1. But that's more from my personal standpoint, because my school has too many things I don't want to miss out on to limit myself just to choir or that one club I'm in etc.</p>
<p>-This question was directed at pkswmr but I agree with him. I've been to Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Cornell, etc...and they say they want people who are passionate and focused about what they do. </p>
<p>I saw your chances thread and the colleges you were looking at...I think that the CSU's are different than top privates.</p>
<p>^Oh, I don't disagree. :) I just think that for MY personal goals, being well-rounded is better.</p>
<p>And since the OP didn't say which colleges he/she was looking at, I gave my honest answer. :)</p>
<p>Besides...I also think it's possible to do a little of both.</p>
<p>For example. I'm active in several clubs and was a Varsity athlete for 3 years at my school, but I still managed to participate in a choir which sang at the Celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.</p>
<p>I remeber my freshman year in HS everyone telling me to try lots of things and explore what the school has to offer, etc. Now I'm feeling that I should have picked one thing in middle school and done amazing with it. </p>
<p>Although personally I think I kind of have a balance. There's a buch of random things I do to learn new things and then there's theater and science which take up time. Although I don't do research or anything.</p>
<p>ah, thanks for the feedback.
i really am looking to do as well as i can.
for now, my grades are fine. although i'm only a sophmore
this year and i haven't really taken any PSATs/SAT II's yet.</p>
<p>i'm not really good enough to compete in any math/science competitions and do well. i don't even know how to start a science fair idea and my school definitely doesn't push us to do anything like that. for now, i'm in 3 school clubs and a JV sport. i plan on getting leadership next year, joining a few more clubs, picking up some volunteer work, and creating my own club. but i really don't think i'll be able to make it up to the national level ..</p>
<p>are there any other competitions/awards i can get other than math/science/writing ?</p>
<p>well the thing is, i don't have any determined interests right now.
i really want to try something that has a possibility of going far.
although i'm not going to push myself to do it if i really don't have a passion
for it. i just really hope i'm lucky and i'll like something that will lead me
to a district or regional level :P</p>