Extracurriculars for a community college student

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I made the mistake of dedicating a ridiculous amount of my time in high school to just one extracurricular (debate) and I'll probably need to make up for it in college before transferring to my top choice college. I'm now finishing my junior year and I'm looking at Caltech, MIT, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, and maybe UPenn. My most likely majors are biology and physics. So, what I need most are activities that give me great experience with lab research and mathematics, and a chance to prove myself (i.e. in some kind of competition with awards).</p>

<p>The thing is, just about all extracurricular activities seem to be strictly for high school students -- either that, or they require college students to have a lot of high school experience in the same activity.</p>

<p>So... are there any opportunities for a high school senior or college freshman starting fresh?</p>

<p>Another note: I'm not sure how intense my 12th grade schedule will be, but my mom says that it looks very time-pressed already. I have three online classes (two are just one-semester) and I'll do debate (which takes at least 2 hours per day throughout the academic year in addition to 5-8 tournaments in the winter and spring), and she doesn't think I have time to take three classes (I want to take Calculus II, Physics, and Biology) from our local community college. Should I just wait until high school graduation and then devote myself to science and math extracurriculars in college before transferring to a 4-year?</p>

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<p>The first thing I noticed in your post is that you have all highly selective schools and no mention of any mid-range or target schools. You also do not mention what you are considering in terms of a major or academic interests. As you know the schools you are considering look for more than just GPA and SAT scores. It is important to have a very challenging academic curriculum and a strong interest in a couple ECs. The ECs should reflect your interest in a particular area that you hope to be studying in college. </p>

<p>Have you taken your SATs and SATIIs yet? Provide more information regarding your interest and you may get more responses.</p>

<p>The debate club has nothing to do with bio or physics.</p>

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<p>Some more mid-range schools I’d like to attend are UCSD, UCI, and Cal Poly Pomona. For the biology path (more likely for me than physics), I would major in biomedical/bioengineering, microbiology, neuroscience, or anything else microbiology-related. For physics, I would probably major in atomic/nuclear physics. I want a career in scientific research.</p>

<p>I took the SAT and scored 2220 (CR: 740 / M: 730 / W: 750) and I’ve not taken any SAT IIs yet. I’m taking the Math 2 and Latin tests on June 5.</p>

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<p>i thought you dont need the sats when transferring from a community college</p>