I am interested in music and acting. I have participated in choir, two musicals, and a drama at my school. I have won best actress award at the High School. I am on the choir leadership board.
I have two years of High School left. My interest is in getting into a top Computer Science school. Are music and acting good extra curricular activities for getting into CS? Should I be making an iOS or Android app instead? I have taken AP Computer Science and I know several programming languages.
What sort of clubs should I join, and what other kinds of activities should I participate in, in order to stand out?
Don’t make apps. Join collaborative math-sci ECs. Take the right balance of rigorous core classes. Look at your targets’ recommended lists of hs courses.
What else are you involved with, now? And depending on the tier, don’t forget solid comm service- that’s not just collecting random hours here and there. Choir and acting are a nice show of breadth.
Does your school have a FIRST Robotics team? If not, is there a team at a nearby school that accepts outsiders? Being a programmer for the robot or the team webmaster is a great EC for college acceptance in a CS major.
By the way, some kids in my son’s robotics club also had strong interests in theater, choir, and orchestra. Having a combination of interests is not unusual, but sometimes it is challenging for the kids to find time for everything. A theater background is especially helpful for doing Chairman’s Award presentations and teaching workshops for the newcomers.
You can try doing the USACO contests. Once a month you try to program the solution to some problems over four hours. No travel required – you submit solutions online.