@TheSATTeacher if you want to know more about my role, pm me. In a pool where there are far more stem wannabes than slots, of course they need to see it’s a well considered goal and the right preparation. And it’s not about some notion of “real” or “impressive” or “exceptional” accomplishments. You don’t need to win national awards or cure cancer.
I think excelling in school (without ECs in a corresponding academic field) can be seen as sufficient academic prep all on its own.
I am not sure why they need to see it is a well-considered goal. This has not been made sufficiently clear to me. Colleges know that many of the students they admit are undecided and that many more will change majors. Nationally, around 1/3 of students change majors. This is even higher in STEM fields. I am not sure what the statistics are like for more elite schools, but I imagine it might be higher for several reasons. 1) Many elite colleges (unlike some less elite ones) don’t require students to declare their major from the outset. 2) Fewer students in elite schools major in pre-professional fields which require that a student stick to a rigid degree path. 3) At many elite colleges students are encouraged to explore different fields through distribution requirements or core classes. 4) I think there are also financial reasons why students at elite schools are more willing to explore different fields of study.
Furthermore, I don’t even know why it is desirable to have students who know exactly what they want to do. Colleges encourage students to explore other fields. They want to have an impact on students’ academic interests. I don’t think they look down upon students who change majors: I think they often see this as a success.
Also, my point was that most STEM ECs aren’t generally further indicators of academic preparedness or ability, unless a student has done something genuinely impressive. For this reason, I don’t think STEM ECs are as valuable for STEM applicants as you make them out to be.
OP can take his chances with one stem activity. Or cover his bases.
This isn’t about possibly changing a major. The app is a snapshot. It asks what major(s) and some supps ask why those. When you want a competitive pool in class, kids who can hit the ground running, experience outside class matters. It’s not just “academic preparedness.”
It doesn’t need to be impressive. In holistic, they aren’t choosing top down. One’s thinking, choices. Involvements matter. OP has good non stem.
Based on your interest in math, you might want to research highly selective colleges included in a Princeton Review sampling, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors”:
Harvey Mudd
MIT
UChicago
Caltech
Haverford
Harvard
Hamilton
Bowdoin
Reed
Rice
Carleton
Grinnell
Macalester
URochester
St. Olaf