Extracurricular help

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm a sophomore in high school and I'll be going into junior year after this summer. So far I have joined one club and that was in freshmen year. I didn't do anything my sophomore year and I was wondering If I was going to be doomed. I know there are like seven activites you need to fill out on the college application forms. I spend my time getting better grades instead of volunteering and doing extracurricular activities. I have a 4.0 GPA and I am part of NHS. I hope to apply to good universities( Columbia, Brown, and Tufts) but with my current ECs it doesn't look like that will happen. </p>

<p>How do you guys get opportunities to research at local colleges and how do you get these internships? Do you simply call the local college and mention that you would like to research? </p>

<p>Also how important are extracurricular activities in the admission process seeing as how you do not need to prove that you took part in those activities? </p>

<p>I hope to join 3 more clubs next year but that still doesn't look too solid seeing as how I will have then a total of 5 activites something along the lines of ( Club A Club B Club C Club D and NHS). I would like to do research at local colleges but I don't know how, and I would like to intern but I don't know how to do that either. </p>

<p>I guess my questions can be summed down to</p>

<ol>
<li>Do I have a chance to apply to those colleges If I take the advice given for my junior and senior year?</li>
<li>What should I be doing for Junior year and the summer of junior year as well as part of senior year to better my list?</li>
<li>What kinds of EC look better than others? </li>
<li>How do I go about getting the opportunity to do research at a college?</li>
<li>How do you intern? </li>
<li>Do EC's matter as much as everyone claims they do, even though you do not need proof of it? (Or do you?)</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The reason why people emphasize ECs so much is that they are relatively easy to do. If you’re a B student, it’s hard to raise all your grades up to an A. If you’re a 2000 SAT score, it’s hard to raise that to a 2300. But if you have few extracurriculars, it’s easy to go out and do more.</p>

<p>Of course, colleges do care SOME about extracurriculars, and the exact amount depends on the college. So although your academics are going to be more important, don’t take that to mean you should just slack off on doing extracurriculars. Find one or two things that really interest you, and just do them.</p>

3

<p>How exactly do I go about the “do them process?”</p>

<p>I am interested in scientific research however, I have no idea how people get the opportunity to do it.</p>

<p>Basically if someone could provide me the answers to the questions I listed above, it would be appreciated!</p>

4

<p>EC’s are helpful for college. THey are a learning opportunity as well as an opportunity to explore yourself. However, don’t think a buttload of EC’s will look that good. Colleges want to see you focus on what YOU like to do. They WANT you to be at their school (30-50 grand a year, i mean come on) so they want to see if your a match for them. Do some basic research, read ur school news, ask around the campus and ask your friends. If your at a decent high school, you should had lots of clubs. MAKE A COMMITMENT. stick to it thick and thin. If you can’t take it anymore, its ok you can quit</p>

<p>In regards to volunteering, Don’t waste your summers. PLEASE PLEASE DONT. ur Soph year has been “wasted” in regards to this but thats OK. Use your summers for volunteering as well as your weekends. Your next year’s gonna be tough. Get ready. You can do it.</p>