I’m in Marching Band, co-captain of the Color Guard team, member of a few clubs, plan to start my own club next fall, and have a part-time job and currently volunteer at an animal shelter. Other than that, however, my ECs are pretty lacking, and I’m looking to apply to schools like UCLA, Berkeley, USC, etc. My APES teacher told me how when she was in high school, she organized a cleanup at a local lake with her city and wrote about it on her apps. She ended up going to USC (which also happens to be my dream school). I’ve also heard of people presenting research projects at colleges, interning political campaigns, etc.
I really want to do something that I can write about and include in my apps that can help me to stand out. What are some things that I can do to accomplish this that I can start planning now and maybe do over the summer? I’m a prospective International Relations/Political Science major so I would love to do something that pertains to that but I have absolutely no idea what I can even do, or where to even start. I read that someone here plans to intern for a political campaign in their city, but like, how do you even do that? What kind of people do you need to email to get that kind of opportunity?
I really want to do this not only for myself, but for my community as well. I feel like I have not done anything to help my community, and I want to give back to it.
Also, please note my family doesn’t have a lot of money, so any kind of camp/trip/summer program/etc. that would cost a lot of money to attend is not really an option.
Thanks to anyone who can help.