Colleges and ECs

<p>Do colleges weigh quite heavily on your extracurricular activities? I didn't really do any EC in freshman and sophomore year. The only EC I did was volunteering over the summer in a library. I've begun doing some more EC now and I'm in a club and plan to do some volunteer stuff over the summer again(I'm a junior currently). Would this be good enough to lets say, get into an ivy league college along with a high GPA and atleast 2000 SAT score?</p>

<p>Probably not.</p>

<p>Other things such as your essays will play a big role as well, but since there are so many top applicants you need to excel in all areas. Right now your ECs and only a 2000 SAT would be holding you back.</p>

<p>Depends. It will be very score/objective for most colleges. The few colleges, far in between, which care deeply about the “best community”, and “versatile student body”, and extra curcs would be top colleges who have an overabundance of 2400s.</p>

<p>Colleges - especially Ivies - like to see consistent extracurricular involvement as well as demonstrated passion and leadership positions. A high GPA is not going to guarantee anyone admission to a top-tier school, especially in today’s competitive academic climate. You’ll be up against students who have excelled in academics AND community involvement for years, students who have passion for what they do.</p>

<p>What club are you in now, and how long have you been in it? Is it something you devote a lot of time to? Attending a once-a-month meeting isn’t going to impress admissions officers. Could you apply for a leadership position in the club next year?</p>

<p>Also, what kind of volunteer work do you plan to do over the summer? It might be best to focus your volunteer work in an area that you’ve already demonstrated some interest, such as at the library, so that it doesn’t look like you’re just trying to rack up a bunch of hours in time for college admissions. Instead of simply volunteering your time, you could enhance your application by seeking out opportunities to demonstrate leadership. Take the initiative to set up a children’s storytime once a week or start a book club for teens. Set up an author’s luncheon once a month, or implement a book drive and donate rarely borrowed books to a local shelter or hospital. Do something that would show initiative… find something your library is missing, and then fix it.</p>

<p>Also, study for the SATs and try to get that score up even higher. A 2000 is good, but a 2300 is better. Write some great essays and hope for good teacher recommendations. Good luck!</p>

<p>If you could make your library service “dramatic” somehow, then that might attract some attention. As for Ivy/elite admission chances, take a look at some of the results this year here on this forum.</p>

<p>To anemgi, I’m currently in the Career club. The meetings are once a week. I also got admitted into the National Honor Society which has a chapter in my school, we meet once a week as well. I wrote an essay for it and had NHS advisors review it before I was accepted. As of now, I’m planning to just volunteer at the library over the summer. I’ve tried to look for some technology programs or something similar but I haven’t had any success :(. I received those invitations to summer programs in the mail which require u to pay $2000 before going which is ridiculous. I need something free of cost and something real, not some BS that just wants your money.</p>