Chance me? Actually no... Rate me!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So I’m a junior applying to some of the selective colleges next year (alongside matches/safeties). I know that chancing potential applicants for these super selective colleges are essentially impossible, so I want to try something different.

I know how my test scores compare to the average successful applicant. However one thing that I can’t really measure are my extracurricular activities, especially since I may be biased when self-evaluating. So I want you to rate my ECs on a 1-10 scale: a 1 would mean I’m in the bottom 10% of the average applicant for that school (not admitted students, just applicants) and a 10 would be in the very top percentile.

Therefore, a rating of at least 8 (which I’m not sure I would achieve) would put me in a good spot, since most of these selective colleges have an acceptance rate of <20%.

Here’s the 3 colleges I want you to base when rating me: Princeton, Duke, Georgetown. Obviously you may not be an expert but I’m sure you have a general idea when considering people you know and through CC.

And here are my ECs:

School Web-manager- This is probably my strongest one. I code/maintain/administer everything related to my high school’s website. I don’t know any other school that has students do this.

Internship at a government agency- this summer, don’t want to be too specific but it does relate to my potential major of finance/econ

3 Basic Clubs- my school doesn’t offer many, but I’m in 3 clubs that are pretty generic. Won some regional rewards for one club.

Varsity Sport- Played this sport every year. It’s a pretty competitive sport (think football, basketball, etc…)

Language school- I go to a foreign language school on Saturdays.

Some volunteer hours- I would say around 30 hours, scattered in terms of places/organizations.

Other- I’m also gonna list something non-academic, less formal. I think I read once that this is acceptable, and in some cases beneficial. This may be fantasy football or a collection of mine.

Looks pretty condensed when I list it this way, and I may be forgetting something. I also have more by application time (job or something may come up)… But please rate on what I have now.

Thanks in advance!

2

from stalking(just kidding, perfectly legal aggressive asking) previous successful applicants to schools you applied to, but also just meeting people, the ECs you’ve put forth are not the most impressive. I can’t really make a remotely accurate prediction because your descriptions are so vague. I do understand that there are privacy concerns, but there are a few things you could clarify on, such as the prestige of the regional award. Also, I assume you dont have any leadership positions in these clubs or on this sports team.

There doesn’t seem to be any focus. Your 30 hours of volunteering is really non-important. As you mentioned, your clubs are pretty generic. I assume you arent ranked in your state for your sport/ do not have a chance of recruitment. Your internship has no relation to your intended major. Plenty of web-manger/master positions are held by students (although not always to the school). etc. etc.

i can tell you my prediction if you really want. i can also send you the ECs of some sucessful applicants.

3

Uhh yea I know that my ECs aren’t the best. But I do hold leadership positions and my internship does relate to my major. PM sent

4

Hello! I actually think some of your EC’s are impressive. I think your government internship, school IT stuff, and sport could put you ahead of around 30% of the class. I think many students have the grades, but might lack internships or sports, which you have. I think you could improve your EC’s by volunteering at specific organizations (well known and do relate to major possibly animals) and I would also recommend being part of certain clubs or groups outside of school that relate to your interests and not major.

5

@Lemonem Thanks! Yea I’m gonna try to get more volunteer hours, hopefully related to my major. I’m also gonna loom into more out of school opportunities. Thanks for the review

6

The school IT stuff is awesome. Try and play that up in your applications, particularly if you’re planning on majoring in something tech-related. If that’s the case, try to double down on tech-related activities.

7

While the web master thing is cool, it isn’t uncommon whatsoever and certainly not a super impressive EC. I doubt it will stand out.

@FakeCat I agree that these aren’t that impressive. The only thing that caught my eye was the government internship. Be sure to expand upon this in applications. Good luck.

8

@unforgivable @RoundGenius

Thanks for the evaluations. That website looks cool but I’m not tryna pay lol.

Is there anything I can do this summer that would benefit my app?

Addition: I forgot to mention that I go to a terrible public school… like one of the worst in the state. Don’t know if this changes anything

9

It’s probably too late to do anything you’d need to apply for (e.g., internships, research). I’ll give you an idea though. This will combine your skills in web/tech with community service.

What I would do is look up non-profits / charities in your region (or even further away). See which ones have crappy websites. Offer to make them a website for free. The only thing you should ask from them is that you can use them as a reference / list them as a pro-bono project on your college application. You could probably do this with a couple organizations over an entire summer… just a thought. You could even start a non-profit that helps other non-profits with tech related issues. I think this would be a great addition to your application.

10

@unforgivable
That’s actually a great idea! You should definitely try that!

11

Princeton 2020 here! Don’t listen to these crazy people on here. Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay fabulous and at the higher tier schools it is basically down to your essay. And please don’t let rejections/acceptances define your worth. Also, doing summer stuff kinda makes you seem desperate in my opinion, idk, I could be wrong. Just show that there’s a real person behind those words in your essays, and hopefully see you on campus? :slight_smile:

12

ECs really depend on

  1. How you portray them in your application (eg what ECs are emphasized and what order they’re placed in, is your school web manager position more a strength than your government internship?)
  2. What relevant awards or recognition you’ve received for your ECs (Sure your clubs overall sound pretty decent, but have you been recognized for any of your participation?)
  3. Lastly, for whichever EC is MOST important to you, you should probably include that in the essay. Why is it important? What have you done with it? Why does it differentiate you from others? As always, show not tell.

For me, since you’re finance/econ, it seems that the school web manager position is more relevant since that’s likely consistent in the last couple years.

Your internship seems out of the blue and like @worhexiz mentioned, a bit of a “try-hard” approach unfortunately. However, if you’ve done a SIMILAR internship for 2 years, then it’s more genuine. Alternatively, if the rest of your activities seem to suggest you’re interested in that internship it’s fine, but I don’t see evidence of that based off your brief post(eg varsity sport and 3 clubs that have no relation to finance/econ).

ECs aren’t “ranked” unless you know the entire context behind them. Just participating doesn’t mean much other than you were a part of something. It’s what you did that’s more important, as you’ve hinted with the school web manager position.

13

Well, as an athlete myself, I know a Varsity sport is a ton of work. But if you’re not at a level where you would be recruited, unfortunately you don’t get as many brownie points as you deserve.

I’m also an avid stalker of results threads on CC, so I suggest you look at some of those…

I think your internship is cool! Well, I don’t think it’s out of the blue…there’s an age requirement for most internships and maybe OP was too young…or wasn’t accepted…like that’s super common and not that many kids get internships for all years. But then again, there are kids who have had many internships, often the same place, so they would have an edge.

I really don’t think you should look too many things up and start new things…that is too obviously resume padding lol and I think that since the summer is nearing, it’s basically the final countdown and there isn’t much you can do besides focus on preparing a high quality app and writing compelling essays.

I think school web-manager is a great EC! 30 hours is nothing, I agree (as an avid volunteer haha…I think 500+ is what truly gets a big thumbs up, especially if done for only 1-2 organizations or so)…and language school isn’t really an EC (unless you’ve won awards or graduated honors from there in my opinion…isn’t this all opinion anyways?)

So out of 10, for Ivy’s, assuming your grades and test scores are fine, I’d put you at 4.5-5! But then again…it’s the Ivy’s…people who win international competitions don’t even get in…

Good luck!