Community service and ECs???

Parents Forum
1

<p>hey y'all, I seriously need some advice. I don't know what to do anymore.....
I AM NOT DEPRESSED.</p>

<p>My stats:
junior in high school
NC resident
GPA: 4.25 right now, 4.29 by end of junior year
taking honors and AP classes
awards: none
ECs: 1 club (11)
community service: none
first generation college student
Work experience: 9,10,11, (12?)</p>

<p>the only 2 things that I'm really worried about right now are my ECs and community service. They are very weak because I have to work at my family's restaurant. my family did not have a car 'til my junior year, which really sucks because I live in a rural area where people need a car to go anywhere.</p>

<p>It is near the end of my junior year now, and I regret a lot of things. i dont know what to do anymore. I feeel like i suck at everything.</p>

<p>next year, I'm thinking about joining some more clubs because transportation will not be a major problem for me anymore....... I know it looks bad to do a lot of things during your senior year because adcoms will think I am doing it just to get into college.</p>

<p>I often look at students with top ECs with jealousy. I work just as hard as them, but i have several problems that are in my way all the time.......
And when I look at students with everything who sleep in classes, I envy them.</p>

<p>I want to go to a good college, but it seems like colleges that I want to go to prefer students better than me....
possible colleges: unc-chapel hill (dream), nc state, duke, wake forest, william and mary, and a few others when i start doing my research.</p>

<p>I've spent hours on these forums searching for ways to improve my chances and things to do my senior year. i really dont know what to do now.</p>

<p>I have no previous leadership experience and I don't know where to start looking at for my community service. I looked at a lot of places, but they are either too far from my home or no more volunteers needed.</p>

<p>Advice?
THANKS in advance for the advice.....</p>

<p>(im typing this post even though i should be going to bed now. im really tired now.)</p>

2

<p>Mountain Dew -- I think that, more than adding a bunch of clubs to your resume, you need to think of repositioning yourself.</p>

<p>The fact that you have worked all that time really helps -- it explains the reasons that your EC's and community service hours are limited.</p>

<p>How are your test scores? Are you an URM or low-income?</p>

<p>Think about how to present what you have done as what the college wants (others will chime in better than I -- it is late and I am getting tired)</p>

<p>Just think about it -- you have the responsibility and maturity and dedication to work regularly for your parents business. A school is not necessarily going to prefer the student that participates in spanish club, student council and volunteers at the hospital to you -- you demonstrate the same qualities (and probably more and better) than that person.</p>

<p>With the right test scores I think you are in an excellent position for college applications. The essays will count alot!</p>

3

<p>They are very weak because I have to work at my family's restaurant
THAT is an EC
not many people are going to have that opportunity- it will make you stand out in a positive way.
Perhaps you will have the opportunity to write an essay about your experience- I bet you have learned a lot there.</p>

4

<p>I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but the fact that you are first generation college student will be in your favor. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>Break down the jobs you do at the restaurant. Rather than just saying "I worked at my family's restaurant", consider "I kept the books, waited tables, took reservations, acted as hostess, maintained budgets & schedules" or whatever. </p>

<p>Also turn it into a positive: "Despite needing to work # hours per week to help support my family's business, I was able to maintain a 4.29 GPA in the most rigorous courseload my high school had to offer." Do you see how much better that looks?</p>

6

<p>Having to work to help your family is regarded by colleges as a very strong EC. It demonstrates maturity, responsibility and a variety of other important personality characteristics.</p>

<p>I think that if you use Google, you may be able to find some way that at least one California public U assessed ECs, and you'll see that the kind of work that you're doing ranks very high.</p>

<p>You can highlight what you're doing by writing an essay about what you've learned about yourself and the world through your work experience and how you've managed to handle your academics so well despite your heavy work responsibilities.</p>

<p>There's absolutely no reason for you to add on random ECs just to try to look good. That will just look silly. Colleges will understand that if you have to work a lot of hours to help your family, you don' t have time for more traditional ECs. The colleges also know that what you're doing requires far more discipline, maturity and responsibility than most ECs that students do.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the help, guys.</p>

<p>
[quote]
There's absolutely no reason for you to add on random ECs just to try to look good

[/quote]

I am not really adding on random ECs. im in the computer&gaming exploration club this year because my current college major is information systems. i really like computers, and something related to computers is what i want to do in the future.</p>

<p>I'm also a really nice person in real life. I try to help people with things like homework and other problems.</p>

<p>does joining 2-3 clubs and doing a lot of community service during my senior year look bad to college adcoms? I know it looks like I am just doing them to get admission to college, but im really not. I wanted to do ECs during my freshmen, sophmore and junior(1st semester) years, but there were just too many problems.</p>

<p>senior year ECs (most likely):
Key Club: too late this year
SAVE: Students against violence everywhere.
undecided: FCA, GSA, STAND, SHINE, Speech&Debate, Helpful Herd.
im only planning on joining 2-3 clubs out of those listed.</p>

<p>As for leadership positions, should i work my way up, or should i help some dead clubs recover?
im pretty sure STAND, SHINE and Helpful Herd are dead this year. I think they are related to students and community service.</p>

<p>community service: not sure yet. Any ideas?</p>

<p>Any advice on what I should do? I still have 1 month of school left, the summer, august,september,october,november and december to do something.
This is a life-changing thing for me............</p>

8

<p>if you don't know if you want to join a club, then don't.</p>

<p>I would focus on opportunities that tie in with your interests. </p>

<p>Don't worry about tacking on a bunch of community service hours -- you demonstrate selflessness and caring by helping your parents at the restaurant. Now -- some community service hours that relate to your "passion" might look good.</p>

<p>I would try to add on outside activities (clubs, a job, community service, an internship, etc) that relate to what you want to label your passion. </p>

<p>since you are interested in computers -- try focusing on that. for community service hours, how about helping seniors figure out how to use the computer or become a merit badge counselor for the boy scouts? there are tons of ways to help while focusing on what your are interested in. That way, it looks less random to colleges and more purposeful.</p>

<p>could you get a job working with computers? </p>

<p>I do always recommend debate and speech, simply because the skills you learn their can transfer to so many other areas.</p>

<p>don't join so many clubs or do so many activities that you jeapordize your grades -- they are far more important at this point!</p>

9

<p>Mountain Dew: I hope that neither you nor anyone else will take offense at this, because this is not my intention. Many Ivies and top LACs are actively seeking students whose parents did not attend college. We visited one Ivy and took a separate tour of the science facilities. One man on the tour was actually a member of the Adcom. He made a point of telling us that he wasn't looking for class presidents or athletes but people who would be the first in their families to attend college. He spoke of his favorite high school senior from the previous year, a boy from a rural state who had moved out of his family home and was supporting himself (and earning straight A's). Good luck</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I agree re: looking for kids who haven't had the chance. Also you might want to really look at private schools. They will read your essay more carefully and look at the whole picture. They will probably also throw you some money. The larger schools just look at it with a formula which doesn't take into account your circumstances. Don't sell yourself short. Keep your grades up, do well on the SATs and only do ECs you want to do.</p>