Now that I will be entering my senior year of high school, and applying to colleges. I look back at what I believe I should have/haven’t done. And the one thing I wish I hadn’t done, was sports, community service, and clubs. I do believe that I have gotten a lot out of it, but when you see the affects it has on me getting into college, I wish I wouldn’t have done all of that. The fact is that most college excluding the ivies, just care about grades and SAT’s, that’s it. I wish I just focused on school and that was it. Trying to get the perfect grades, and 1600 SAT. I would have at least gotten into a lot of top schools. I’m applying to a lot of colleges, but afraid now, because my grades aren’t as high as I would like, and feel like if I had not spent so much time doing that extra stuff, that I would have a higher GPA, and gotten into better schools.
I just feel that colleges need to look for more well rounded students and just not the ones with the high GPA.
<p>If a person doesn't participate in any EC's and doesn't have any talent and goes to one of "most colleges excluding the ivies that just care about grades and SAT's," then he/she'll be surrounded by peers who are just like him/her, meaning they don't care about anything else except "trying to get the perfect grades." </p>
<p>"I just feel that colleges need to look for more well rounded students and just not the ones with the high GPA."</p>
<p>Us well-rounded kids do have it tough, but for a different reason. Top schools aren't necessarily looking for kids like us. They want students who have all the credentials, but who do something extra that would make them a potential asset to the school in other ways than being good students, because the top schools know that they will always have the pick of the litter for those students. So my advice is to find something you really love, talk about how much you love it in your essays, and convince colleges that your love of this activity/subject/sport would be beneficial to them. Good luck.</p>
<p>unfortunately, some kids get hurt trying to balance themselves out with all the hype that ivies and other colleges are looking for well-rounded students who excel beyond the classroom. sometimes, some kids end up having too much "gravy" and not enough "turkey."</p>
<p>The gravy and turkey analogy is good. I used to always tell my S that the EC's were icing on the cake, but you had to have the cake. I hope you aren't really that upset about the admissions process, and that you enjoyed the EC's that you did and grew as a person because of doing them.</p>
<p>If it only an issue of looking back and seeing that your gpa won't get you into HYPSM, don't worry too much. The extremely selected colleges have so many applicants and only so many open slots. For every accepted applicant, they have to deny four or five who are practically identical except for the name on the application. </p>
<p>Picking your colleges primarily on prestige is stupid anyway. The Ivies have very little in common except for prestige. It amazing me when someone says they are picking between Yale and Columbia which are two totally different schools. You need to decide what types of college you are looking for. Do you want rural/urban/suburban, university/LAC, public/private, or large/small/midsize? Do you care about the college having a Division 1 team on campus? Do you care about the political climate or the effect of frats/sororities on campus life? Once you look at the other schools and see what is available, all the the competition for HYPSM will seem strange. The system is presently driven by brand consciousness.</p>
<p>If you have time, you might look at "Harvard Schmarvard" by Jay Mathews who is a Wash Post reporter (and Harvard grad).</p>
<p>Reading you post a different way: The extremely selective colleges do require that you have a lot of EC's. The academic factors will get you considered, but you need the EC's to actually get accepted because of the competition. They will take an applicant with high gpa, high SAT, and strong EC's before they will take an applicant with extremely high gpa, perfect SAT, and no EC's. They don't want applicants who are well rounded. They want to see "passion" in one or two activities and not a laundry list of activities with little commitment.</p>
<p>Well the key is to find the right balance of ECs so that they are not affecting your grades. I do a lot of stuff, but it doesn't bother me because I feel my grades aren't being neglected. A lot of people say "man, if i didnt play any sports my avg would be so much higher". Maybe thats true, but for me I study the same amount during my sports seasons and my offseason. The only difference is that I get more sleep ;).</p>
<p>This is where someone will say life is not fair, so I will get that out of the way. Seriously though, what I do feel I have to say as someone who always excelled in school but did not quite make it to Harvard for undergrad is that 1) there's always grad school and 2) no achievement test can accurately predict my self worth and the capability/potential of my intellect--not even if I tried my hardest for it do so. Let's just say a 36 or a 1600 (or whatever on the new scale) by no means represents one's intelligence and eventual success. You should feel the same way.</p>
<p>As far as I'm concerned, you did good things in highschool. You involved yourself in all those things which you felt were important. So many other kids go through this time of their lives not giving importance to even one area/thing/subject/activity. In a way, I also gave up many things including the possibility of an ivy league undergrad for my passion. See, I took up art in highschool and although no one would understand at the time, I eventually was accepted with scholarship by a number of prestigious art schools.</p>
<p>You shouldn't worry. There is an old saying among Muslims which goes "When 1 door closes for a person, God opens a 100 more."</p>
<p>wow. and you are complaining about the U.S. system? In any other country, your ECs mean jack *****. You base your whole admissions on one test that will determine what kind of job you get and what university you will be attending. Hell, to add to it, in China, if you are from small cities, you're screwed. Why? Because the universities give a HUGE advantage to the wealthier kids in the big cities. Get over it. Life is unfair and we all know it... but you have to overcome all of that.</p>
<p>"Life is unfair and we all know it... but you have to overcome all of that."</p>
<p>I agree with the above statement, but about Asian tests, you are making a bad argument. Just because slavery was worse doesn't make the KKK acceptable.</p>
<p>frankly, if you've got it, you've got it. Going to Harvard or going to a Community College cannot stop you- it's whether or not you've got IT.</p>
<p>Granted, those that have it and go to the better colleges have more resources and oppertunities, but that doesn't discredit someone from a CC who's got it.</p>
<p>(i;ll leave the definition of "it" open for interpretation)</p>
<p>Nearly all students applying to top unis & LACs have the following:
-very hard classes
-near perfect grades
-near perfect test scores</p>
<p>But, you will not get into these schools unless you have something extra that makes you stand out. If you have high GPA & 1600 but nothing else, you will not get into top colleges, b/c you will not be among their strongest applicants.</p>
<p>Concur with what collegeboundjen wrote -- however, there are a couple of other factors that go into the decisions, ones that go beyond the numbers. Schools will overlook SAT numbers IF there is a strong indication of the candidate's potential and what he/she will bring to the campus outside of the classroom. These qualities are shown in awards and honors received and in recommendations. Also, as we all know, athletes can have an edge in the process.</p>
<p>even the SAT # are not carved in stone. They are looked at in context to what a person brings to the table. a student that gets a 1300 that is a first generation college applicant, attending a poor inner city school with a less than 50% graudation rate, and few students going to college is going to be viewed differntly than a student getting the same 1300 attending an elite private school.</p>
<p>Even one gets so caught up in numbers. Sats are the objective criteria that gets you over the first hurdle, the subjective criterias show who you are and where you will fit (if you will fit) in the overall class the school is trying to build.</p>
<p>Based on what I've seen (but hey, I'm still pretty young), EC's are pretty important to get into college. I know a few people and I've made some older friends who have learned that the hard way. A few of them had near-perfect SAT scores, near-perfect SAT II scores, valedictorian in high school, and no EC's. They were all rejected by their number one schools, and not all of their number ones were Ivies.</p>
<p>that is because college is about education both inside and outside of the classroom. Colleges could easily fill their classes with students that strictly have the numbers. But numbers say very little about the communtiy the school wants to build or its mission. Princeton Review recently listed a bunch of schools that are Colleges with a conscience. </p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton(princeton project 55) have recently spoke about having their students get back to public service and giving back to others.</p>
<p>Public service and giving back is a big deal at Dartmouth who takes pride in building classes that are cohesive and contibute to the school having a great sense of community. </p>
<p>"A college with a conscience," said Robert Franek, Princeton Review VP-Publishing, "has both an administration committed to social responsibility and a student body actively engaged in serving society. Education at these schools isn't only about private gain: it's about the public good." </p>
<p>I could see in the future there is going to be more of a blance between doing well as an individual and giving back, meaning that meaningful EC are going to become more important.</p>