<p>I'm trying to get my ***** together now.
I'm a junior in high school with a 3.3 GPA. I'm trying my hardest to try to get it up. I just looked at some college apps and realized I'm seriously lacking in any extracurricular activities.
I'm in no sports, I'm in no club, I have no volunteer hours, I have no award, I have low GPA, I have low test scores, and I'm generally a fail.
I just recently joined some volunteer clubs and tutor children at a local library but I know that's not enough.
I've joined my schools chess club and there's a very slim chance I might be cabinet next year.
My passion is Photoshopping (although it won't be my major). I've entered a few art competitions but I wasn't even close to winning. I've done some retouching for damaged photos from the Japanese Earthquake, but not many.
I've worked for a very few hours as a cashier and I've done some "internship work" for very small amounts.</p>
<p>Focus your time and efforts on getting your GPA up and getting good test scores. Those count WAY more than the EC’s. Colleges vary in the amount of weight they give to EC’s, some don’t count them at all or very little, but none consider them as important as GPA, course rigor (difficulty of courses), and test scores.
Continue with any ECs you are already in, to show some continuity and dedication. Having a job definitely counts. Participating in art competitions shows a strong interest in art even if you don’t win. Focus on ECs that match the interests you talk about in your essays or that reflect your potential major or are otherwise things you are really interested in.
Talk to your guidance counselor for advice…</p>
<p>3.3 is my unweighted.
How much is it in weighted if my current grades are
AP Lang-B
Physics CP-A
US History Honors-B
Math Analysis/Calc A Honors-B
AP Stats-B
TA-A (of course)</p>
<p>Colleges weigh how they want. NOthing more to add than to re-emphasize beantowngirl’s advice. Frankly, you’ll be targeting schools with admissions formulae based on grades and test scores. ECs won’t be an issue for them. Therefore, they should be 2ndary priority to you as well. Continue them as they can provide great outlet but by no means will they give you more college options as will cranking out more As and a solid retking of the ACT/SAT. Good luck.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you have the finances talk with your parents – what can you afford.</p>
<p>Once you have some test scores you can start using the search engines to see where you could apply. Here on CC there is the SuperMatch tool. Play around with it to see how it works. College Navigator is also a good tool but doesn’t allow you to enter a GPA.</p>
<p>As you’ve been told, outside of the 100 or so most competitive colleges in the country your ECs matter little or not at all. For a student with around a 3.3GPA, there are lots of good schools to choose from but you should understand that they will base their admission decisons on grades and scores. I think that volunteer work is valuable for anyone to do for their personal growth. And if there are any other ECs you do because you find them personally rewarding, then by all means keep doing them. But if you are doing ECs because you think they are needed to qualify for admission to college, or that they will boost your chances, you can stop doing them because they aren’t going to make a difference for you.</p>
<p>What you really need to be spending time on is working to improve your grades. If you’re like most kids, even though you spend thousands of hours in school nobody has ever bothered to take a few of those hours and talk about how to study. That is something you need to work on if you want better grades. You can find lots of resources by doing a web search for study skills. One link with useful advice is [On</a> Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/04/28/on-becoming-a-math-whiz-my-advice-to-a-new-mit-student/]On”>On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport) There is a book I recommend called “What Smart Students Know” that is written by the cofounder of the Princeton Review Prep Service. You can also find plenty of free info about study skills to download and listen to or watch on iTunes.</p>
<p>One critical part of succeeding in any math or science class is practice. I see that you are taking lots of those classes. What you need to get, once you have done the steps I outlined above to improve your study skills in general, are the “Problem Solver” guides for classes you are taking. They are like SAT prep books but aimed at a specific subject. At only about $20 each they are easily worth 10x that in the help they can give! You go to the chapter matching what your class is studying and start working problems, then check your answer against the fully worked out solution in the book. Its almost like having a grad student in the room there to help you, and once you’re getting the problems right in practice the test will take care of itself.</p>
<p>Lastly I see in your posts some awkward wording; missing verbs, incorrect word choice, etc. I know posts here aren’t polished essays, but I wonder if you might live in a home where english is not spoken. In order to get good grades on essay tests and term papers it is crucial that your use of language be as good as it can be. Language can be improved by lots and lots of reading, as well as forcing yourself to improve; ask your teachers in classes where you submit essays and papers to circle mistakes they see and then rewrite the paper to get the practice of wording things correctly.</p>