<p>I'll be frank here: I have very little interest in sports, volunteering, and most clubs at my school. </p>
<p>I feel that my strength lies in competitive academic examinations, particularly in math and the sciences. In addition, I will be doing research this summer in a field that I plan to major in.</p>
<p>However, it would seem that ECs form the cornerstone of an application to a top college (assuming high GPA and SAT scores); I don't have many "typical" ECs.</p>
<p>Essentially, my resume will consist of my performance on the AIME, HMMT, USAPhO/USNCO/USABO semifinals, research, flute, and ~2 clubs. </p>
<p>Will this hurt my application, and will my passion for academics compensate for this? I don't think it will be detrimental, but I'm worried regardless.</p>
<p>You’ll do fine. Ivies like Harvard and Yale are a bit too subjective, and look for “leadership” a bit too much, in my opinion, but schools like Caltech, MIT, and Princeton will be impressed by your record on olympiads and academics, and research is a great EC. Don’t sweat it, not everyone is meant to be president of seven clubs.</p>
<p>@Nihilus </p>
<p>That sounds good, especially considering Princeton is my top choice!</p>
<p>If you feel like you do want to beef up a little on leadership (or showing that you have some softer “people” skills), why don’t you try tutoring?</p>
<p>Have you considering doing ECs around these tests? Like at my school I am in math club where all we do is prepare for the AMC…</p>
<p>It’s OK to be lopsided, but you will definitely need to also show “people skills” as well as academic success to get accepted to the elite schools; these schools don’t want students who will sit alone in their dorm rooms studying for 4 years.</p>
<p>Tutoring is a good idea of where you can show people skills within your academic interest. Your letters of recommendation should also ideally have commentary about your ability to work successfully within a group and help your classmates, team mates or lab partners.</p>
<p>In the end, schools want to see that you are passionate about something. I read in a book by a Dartmouth admissions officer that a student who pursues academics outside of the classroom can be just as valuable as a student who pursues athletics outside of the classroom. I have some traditional extracurricular activities that will be strong points on my application, but I am also going to highlight on the fact that I have spent a substantial amount of time studying an academic subject near and dear to my heart outside of school hours. I’m considering writing my essay about this. What I’m trying to say is that every applicant should let their passions shine through whether it be theater, music, athletics, volunteering, or academics.</p>
<p>I will definitely consider tutoring now.</p>
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<p>I have - although it hasn’t worked out that well.</p>