<p>I really want to attend Yale and I currently possess a 4.0 GPA. However, I was wondering what kind of extra curriculars Yale looks for because I figured just after school clubs won't cut it. I'm not on student council neither can I be (my school votes based on popularity). This might also me a problem when the time comes to pick the valedictorian. Is there anything else I can do to better my chances of getting into Yale?</p>
<p>What do you want to do? What makes you happy, passionate, looking forward to the next time, willing to work diligently at, practice, etc. </p>
<p>Val, not that important.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! 
so do I have to work at building up a talent so that I can showcase it? Or more in terms of volunteering and helping my community? </p>
<p>That’s the point YaleDreaming. There is no formula. </p>
<p>I’m ambivalent about describing what my son did; this is not a recipe or a suggestion for what you should do. Fwiw, he wasn’t even thinking of Yale at the time. </p>
<p>There was a lab he was interested in. Everyone told him that they don’t allow HS students in. He found out what papers the researchers had written and read them. He wrote to the lab director, explaining why he was interested in working there. He was honest in describing what he was good at and where he wanted to “bulk up.” He made specific reference to work the lab had been doing. The director called him on the phone and they spoke for an hour, the end result being an invitation to drop by. When he was there, some of the researchers grilled him about his understanding of the subject matter, and he survived that round. The final hurdle was the legal department, which was not happy that DS was not yet 18 (it’s a pretty dangerous environment). We had to sign a lot of papers and they finally gave in (although later they refused to allow DS to go on a trip with the lab to present a paper that he was a co-author on). </p>
<p>DS, who like most teens has difficulty getting out of bed early, got up every day, took a train and subway to the lab, and sometimes got calls when one of the researchers had a question about DS’s software late at night and well into the following school year. </p>
<p>We decided that it was worth providing a supplemental LOR because the director had seen a side of DS that teachers hadn’t. His LOR helped the application, we think. </p>
<p>Anyway, the takeaway from this should be to pursue what you want to do, and don’t quit the instant there’s some resistance. </p>
<p>Tell us two things you really like to do, no matter how trivial they may seem. If you don’t have two things that’s ok - just tell us you don’t have two things.</p>
<p>Something sorely lacking is your own inventiveness. 1) little awareness of what you want to do (vs. what you think will be your formula for Yale success) and 2) your focus on voluntarism when the light of college admissions suddenly begins to glow.</p>
<p>My friend, a judge who interviews, says about students who suddenly focus on community svc/voluntarism: "Don’t students know that I SENTENCE people to perform community service? "</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to come across that way. I love volunteering with kids and I’ve done it since elementary school. I also love singing but I just didn’t know whether showcasing that would matter to yale or not. </p>
<p>I agree with the other two Yale parents on this thread (IxnayBob and T26E4). T2 and I also do interviews.</p>
<p>You should be sincere in what you do. Trust me, after reading thousands upon thousands of applications, the Adcoms really do have a sixth sense when it comes to applicants that just have a bunch of random ECs only for the purpose of them looking good to the committee. I could say you have to show leadership - but that too is not just a easy answer. Being the President of the Basket Weaving Club (no offense to the basket weavers of the world), is not going to cut it.</p>
<p>There is also not a formula for community service hours. Some service trips allow you to rack up hundreds of hours because the whole time you are on the trip counts in some instances. However, those trips that are just for show (i.e. mom and dad paid thousands for you to go dig a well in Africa) will give less bang than someone who sincerely did something for those right at home in their community.</p>
<p>When I do interviews, I can tell almost immediately whether an applicant is truly passionate about their ECs - their eyes glow when they talk about it. Even the most nervous applicant usually lights up when they start talking about something they are passionate about.</p>
<p>I think maybe that is the one thing that all successful Yale applicants have - a passion - for something, anything. So, find your sweet spot and give it your all. You will ultimately be successful at Yale or somewhere else.</p>
<p>Unlike the others I will lay it out for you in concrete and practical terms.</p>
<p>Ok, so you have two things you enjoy doing - let’s work with those. </p>
<p>You should know that singing is a huge thing at Yale - an old and venerated activity. Just Google “Whiffenpoofs”, for instance. Singing is a great extracurricular for Yale. Yale NEEDS passionate singers.</p>
<p>So you like to teach kids? Yale is located in New Haven which has a huge underserved public school population and Yale students are actively volunteering in local schools - check out <a href=“http://www.mathcountsoutreach.org/”>http://www.mathcountsoutreach.org/</a> . Yale NEEDS students who will donate their time to New Haven.</p>
<p>See, it isn’t that you need Yale; **[/color][/size]Yale needs you! The more it needs you, the more the school will consider you for admission. </p>
<p>Now go and write the lyrics to that silly/crazy/funny song that you will use to teach multiplication tables to kids who have trouble with that. My kid tells me he has a hard time teaching New Haven 8th graders math since they hardly know 8x8.</p>
<p>Good luck and enjoy!</p>
<p>Thank you so much! It really helped!</p>
<p>
My son had absolutely NO hours of volunteering or community service on his application – that’s because he was super involved on other EC’s that mattered to him more – and that didn’t stop him from being admitted to Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Williams, Pomona, and about six other colleges.</p>
<p>
Colleges understand that students taking a rigorous course schedule must spend 3 to 4 hours a night on homework. That leaves about 20 hours a week to devote to extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>When you complete your EC list, college’s ask you to list your EC’s in order of importance to you – and they prefer students who have a passion for an activity and spend 3-6 hours each week on several activities, rather than students who have a laundry list of activities that they spend one or two hours a week on. </p>
<p>FWIW: When colleges say they are interested in leaders (student council president, student newspaper editor, captain of the football team etc), more often than not, as colleges are academic institutions, they are looking for leaders in the classroom. They are looking for students who not only contribute to the classroom conversation, but dynamically lead the discussion. They are looking for students who constantly raise their hands and have thoughtful opinions. Colleges are looking for your teachers to confirm your leadership qualities in their recommendation letters with concrete examples. It’s not about leadership in EC’s, it’s leadership in the classroom that counts – and Admission directors learn about those attributes though your teacher recommendations!</p>
<p>
I’d like to tee off this a bit–I don’t think any of us are saying that if basket weaving is your passion, that you should drop it and choose an EC that Yale likes better. The point–at least, my point–is that if your passion is basket weaving, your application should show that you have really made something impressive out of that passion–maybe you’ve won awards for your baskets at craft shows; maybe you’ve started a successful business selling baskets; maybe you’ve taught children how to weave baskets; etc.</p>
<p>In other words, Yale may accept a kid in part because he or she is a basket weaver–but he or she will be one darned impressive basket weaver.</p>
<p>So choose ECs that you are passionate about, and (this is the controversial part, maybe) that you are really good at. Yale will not be impressed with the tremendous hours you poured into your EC if you didn’t accomplish anything much.</p>
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<p>Exactly. I know for a fact that my D’s LOR were filled with examples of how she was a leader in class, often stepping into help her fellow students by explaining concepts in “plain English” when what the teacher was saying was going over the heads or being the one to raise her hand and begin a discussion so there wasn’t silence in the room when the teacher asked a question. Not that the teachers were not fantastic, but she just had a knack for breaking it down and pulling the other students in. Also, she would help others in labs, etc. These comments were made by her teachers starting in her elementary school years, long before she knew anything about what was needed on a college app.</p>