<p>So I am a junior in high school. Ever since I was 10 years old I have known that I wanted to be an engineer but with more of a science concentration. I decided to be a nuclear engineer and that the University of Florida is my school of choice. I live in Louisiana but there are no colleges in my state that have nuclear engineering. UF is best anyway.</p>
<p>Anyways, to the point. I have for years done my own independent projects and research. I did all kinds of things. Designed a hydrogen fuel cell rocket. A CO2 laser. My most developed project was on mechanical exoskeletons for muscle aid, to be used for military or disabled people. Many people I tell this too never believe me, so if you want proof I can send some pictures of my schematics to you via pm. Recently I designed a cloud chamber and it is undergoing slow construction at the monent. But it should be fun:). </p>
<p>The problem is, though, that my school didn't offer any science related clubs. It had no organizations that appealed to my interests, so, for freshman and sophomore year I wasnt in any clubs. For that reason, and also because I was diagnosed with Chron's and had a few tragedies in the family that stopped me from having any ability to participate in EC's.
This year however I did found a science club and also our school's science Olympiad team. I am president of the science club and sort of a Co-captain for science Olympiad.</p>
<p>Will UF pay any attention to my independent research? That I spent hundreds of hours on, hundreds....and will they take into consideration that it was hard for me to have EC's my first two years. I have proof of all my research(from schematics to my teachers support)
I have a 4.5 UF GPA and all honors, DE, and AP courses.</p>
<p>I just don't want my passion to go to waste.</p>
<p>Also I taught myself calculus and some basic Latin. I also learned how to program in Java By myself.</p>
<p>Definitely! You don’t need to be in some sort of club/research group to put activities in. In fact, founding a club looks even better – it shows leadership and initiative.</p>
<p>Additionally, some college apps will let you submit research papers for consideration. You’ll gain a significant advantage by doing so.</p>
<p>Oh cool, I didn’t know that some colleges do that. I think found is a little bit of an off choice of words. There was technically a club for science that nobody ever knew about. There were about 4 members from what I hear. So I revamped it, started an engineering branch of it, and from my leadership we got about 60 members</p>
<p>This is something that you can discuss in your admissions essay. Many colleges allow you to submit additional information, and there is a place where you can submit research papers or the schematics for your designs. Or if you decide that you want to discuss something else in your admissions essay, you can include this information in a supplemental essay if you so choose. (I wrote a supplemental essay when I applied that I thought was instrumental in getting me the scholarship I got - about how I was a first-generation college student, and how going to the college I chose would mean so much to me on many levels.)</p>
<p>Many college applications also allow you to structure the extracurricular activity fields the way you want, so there may be a way to enter your hours of work on these activities while indicating that they weren’t part of a club. “Extracurricular” just means outside of the normal curriculum, not necessarily in an established group. Personally, I find a kid who engineers stuff in his spare time for fun far more interesting than the kid who becomes the president of 14 already-established clubs for the obvious goal of padding his resume.</p>
<p>Well that certainly makes me feel a whole lot better. 
Thank you!</p>
<p>This sounds like a strong EC and, more importantly, a strong essay topic. I’d suggest writing your Common App essay on it.</p>
<p>So what level of EC would this be classified? Like good EC, really good, or amazing? I’m just trying to find a good comparison.</p>