Extra curriculars for Ivies

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi,
I'm an international student looking to apply to Harvard, Princeton, Yale and MIT. Due to a chronic illness, my extra curriculars have been non-existant for the past three years. I have recently experienced improved health, and I've began some activities. However, I know that the Ivy League colleges place a lot of importance on duration of the activities. Here is what I have, everything started in 11th grade, and continued in 12th grade:</p>

<p>Piano - 3 hours a week
Russian - 4 hours a week
Drama club - 2 hours a week
Mentoring 7th graders (12th grade only) - 1 hour a week
Tennis - 2 hours a week
Writing articles for a local newspaper - 1 released every week (unpaid internship)
Proofreading a magazine before release - Once a week</p>

<p>All of these except tennis and mentoring are carried out 52 weeks a year. My question is, will this be enough, or do I need to do more? I'm majoring in science, if that matters. I'm currently organising some work experience within chemistry.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>It's not the quantity of EC's. It may be too late for you but you need an EC that will stand out on a state/national scale. Yes they like that you don't stay at home and study all day (which it might come across unless you explain your three year illness to them as a reason why your EC's are lacking).</p>

3

<p>If you explain it to them like you did in your post, then it should be fine.</p>

4

<p>You don't NEED something on the state/national scale. They want to see passion and commitment, that doesn't necessarily mean awards, etc.</p>

5

<p>I will obviously attatch a medical certificate to my application, I just didn't know if it would still disadvantage me..
My illness prevented me from studying as well, so it's not like my grades are due to studying 24/7. I actually did exceptionally well considering the circumstances, completing grades 8 to 10 without any school whatsoever and barely an hour of self-teaching every week, still gaining straight As.</p>

6

<p>You are right DHG but it looks impressive when you hone in on one activity and take it as far as you can. As long as you have passion, success is a matter of prospective</p>

7

<p>Of course it looks good to have national awards, but most Ivy applicants don't (otherwise national awards wouldn't be so special). What I'm saying is that you just don't NEED them, there are other ways to show passion/success.</p>