how can i develop a spike in community service please give me extracurricular ideas on community service and possibly with community service how can i get national recognition and get accepted to harvard class of 2028
The truthful answer is that you likely can’t.
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Do what you like, like what you do.
You need to be you, and not try to pad your resume for acceptance to colleges. The adcoms at these schools will see right through this.
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The “spike” that my kid had, was just a natural evolution of his interest (music performance) that we started him on when he was about 8 or 9. He tried many things - sports, chess, skating, but music was the one that took.
I think that the way to develop a very strong extracurricular activity is to look at what you like to do the most, then take it as far as you can. For instance, if you’re interested in politics, enlist the help of the League of Women Voters (they are desperate for young blood) and start a voter registration drive at your high school. People can be registered to vote at age 17, if they will be 18 by election day, and in some states can even vote in the primaries if they would be 18 by the date of the main election. Then recruit others in other high schools to do the same at their schools, and by the early fall of senior year, have a powerful organization that is running voter registration tables at every high school in your city/state to get all those 17/18 yr olds in high school registered. Publicize it - get on the news about your efforts to get young people registered to vote. You’d possibly be covered in some national media. Then you would have an extraordinarily strong extracurricular activity that didn’t seem like manufactured fluff for applications.
Look at whatever you already love to do, and brainstorm at the dinner table with your family about how to turn it into a powerful “spike” for admissions purposes.
Someone is going to come on and tell you that “holistic” admissions means that you should have a profile of extracurricular activities that show “both breadth AND depth”. It’s impossible. You can letter in sports, and be head of student council, and be president of the French club. But you cannot be a nationally ranked athlete, the head of model UN for the country, and win Intel science competition. It’s impossible. The goal of leadership at the high school level of several different activities is unlikely to yield the result that you seek. The most competitive colleges are looking for a class that is composed of students who have already done extraordinary things - the top musicians, the top writers, the winners of prestigious academic competitions, the top achievers in innovation. They’re not looking for individuals who do a lot of things pretty well. They’re looking for a class of extraordinary individuals, to make up a class of extraordinary, diverse talents.
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can u give me extracurricular ideas based on animal activism like starting a nonprofit ik that and can you give me more like that…
I disagree with this statement. I have seen way too many counterexamples between my DS and his friends/classmate. In fact, we had an AO from a high selective school talk at his HS and specifically mentioned how they like the “Mayor” of the school. Of course, it will not get you into one of those schools by itself. You also have to have very strong academics. Don’t underestimate the benefit of going through the sequence of Staff Writer/Section Editor/Editor-in-Chief at the school newspaper/yearbook.
You probably aren’t going to like this answer, but it’s too glaring not to mention that you really need to improve your grammar and writing skills. You are going to have a hard time getting accepted to college if you can’t punctuate properly or write using proper grammar.
I’m not sure if your are an international student or not, but you should put some effort into improving your writing skills. And if you aren’t international, the advise is the same: read a lot, write a lot, and work hard on essential academic skills.
As far as getting national awards for volunteering with animals, I don’t know of anything like that. You don’t have to get a National award to get into Harvard. You should spend time researching what Harvard looks for. There’s no magical formula to get in.
Please don’t base your life on getting into Harvard, or any other school. There are plenty of good schools out there.
And I agree, you do not represent yourself well in your posts. If they are serious posts.
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I don’t think it’s an either/or situation. In fact, there are many kids who are nationally ranked in one thing and also are class president, editor of the school paper, a varsity athlete, etc. It depends on the kid. There IS time to do many things. It’s not easy but it is possible and does happen.
Agree that most kids start things which turn into pointy EC’s very early. Often 4-5 grade or earlier ( music generally). It takes time to get the basics down, to compete and to join a team or two to get the right fit. Many kids drop out along the way. BTW, we have found that many nationally ranked kids in one thing are also outstanding in something else. My kids are on a small team where the kid who was accepted to Harvard last year was outstanding in two areas. Another kid at school who was ED to Harvard had outstanding awards in one area (5 times the normal amount). Again trying not to share too many details (for privacy reasons). But these kids were not singular in their activities. Both had sports, activities and interests. Even then Harvard is a long shot for all.
Your goal should not be Harvard or anywhere else. It should be doing your best and taking up interests which appeal to you. Do a lot of things and see what sticks. If you are good at something great.
No one can tell you what to do. You have to create your own formula. That’s the magic. Too many kids do all of the same things. Originality is valued in the admissions process. That is why you often hear about kids who are spiky getting in (like the kids years back who taught himself 12 languages). In the same class, were many kids with lots of great interests who do not speak 12 languages.
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You do not have to start a non-profit to get accepted to college.
If you are interested in animals, volunteer consistently at an animal shelter if they are accepting volunteers. My DD did this…she went and walked dogs at least once a week.
Or find out what these shelters need and figure out some ways to have drives to collect these items. Do this on a regular basis.
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I know kids who got into Harvard etc. but started their “spike” interest in late high school, including music.
Volunteer with animals if you love them. Get involved in the shelter organization, fundraising, helping with website, whatever. Or get involved with wildlife management. Whatever you do, it should be satisfying in and of itself because there is no guarantee it will help with admissions, and admissions is not a good reason to do it.
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When AO’s speak of a “Mayor” of a HS, it does not necessarily mean student body or class President or whatever titled offices there are. Those titles are meaningless unless the applicant demonstrates leadership in completing tangible accomplishments that better the school and its student body/class, otherwise it will be viewed just as winning a popularity contest. When AO’s talk about “Mayors”, imo, they are talking about kids (with titles or not) who are seen by students, faculty and administration as an ombudsmen for their fellow students, someone who the students and faculty recognize as a problem solver who represents the interest of the students within the school and the school with its community.
The OP is not approaching this right when he/she is asking about EC ideas to develop a spike. It is not the idea but the execution. The execution needs to show dedication, leadership and most importantly tangible results directly attributable to the OP to make the EC a true plus.
Lol, @parentologist, if you meant me, here I am.
There is no one path. But there are ways one can, so to say, CYA.
To OP. It is not impossible to show both depth and breadth- and gain an admit. Most admits don’t have some “extraordinary” level of achievement.
You don’t have to be at the pinnacle of everything. What you present does need to be relevant to what those adcoms are looking for. After all, you’re asking for them to admit you.
What matters, ime, is “engagement” in various ways. The quality of that, what your choices show about you.
It’s not about “spike,” a better word may be “spark.” How you light up and dig in, in ways related to the possible major and beyond. When talking Harvard, your ideas matter, your ability to find opportunities, your choices. Not asking others. Help is one thing. But OP seems to be asking blind.
…
We don’t know if OP’s in range for H. Without knowing the possible major and ECs so far, we can’t evaluate or suggest what to add, how OP may need to refine or fine tune, make up for gaps. Doing what you love is good, of course. As is success. But it’s not all that makes a compelling candidate.
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Y’all are misleading me i saw Many ppl who started non-profits and got national awards I saw noone get in because they volunteered thousands do it
What I didn’t realize is how much playing a sport - and playing well (ie. captain of the varsity team) can have an impact on college admissions (try to keep up your grades, APs, etc. as well). For the “spike” just do what you love and continue with it. Use your freshman year to explore and then choose a few focuses which you are passionate about. Keep exploring. Take online classes that you are curious about, activate for social change (start a project like an anthology or podcast - something that you’ve done on your own), etc. Its not a perfect system for getting in (a lot of admissions are subjective) but it is a general start for you.
Alr guys please tell me wt am supposed to do if am passionate about animal activism gimme extracurricular ideas on animal activism
I think that at this point you are best off working as hard as you can in your academic classes, reading as much literature as you can, and writing as much as you can. You’re going to want to have excellent grades, and excellent writing skills. If your strongest extracurricular interest is animal activism, probably the greatest needs are adoption of abandoned animals, and a spay and neuter clinic in poor areas near you, Start off by volunteering for the ASPCA near you, if you can, and meanwhile, brainstorm with friends and family ideas for animal activism leadership activities.
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I half suspect this is not a real post, but in the event it is, please put the bulk of your efforts now into improving your writing skills.
If you think that’s acceptable writing, please read the Terms of Service again, which specify that standard English is to be used on this site.
Understand something: Harvard is not going to happen JUST with extracurricular activities about animal activism. If animal activism is your thing and you’ve never so much as googled Animal Activism near me, or investigated PETA, then it seems pretty clear that you probably don’t have what Harvard might be looking for. Especially not with your grammar issues.
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@Harvardkid24 folks here have given you some suggestions which you don’t seem to think are good enough or that maybe you aren’t interested in doing.
What does the rest of your application look like…SAT or ACT and GPA, and challenge of HS curriculum?
The strength of an EC is not going to get you accepted to Harvard in the absence of other great credentials.
And you are wrong. Hundreds upon hundreds of students get accepted to top 20 schools without starting a non-profit OR winning a National award of some kind.
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My people I know who were interested in animal science volunteered at shelters, shadowed vets, worked in pet stores, volunteered for PETA, worked/volunteered in barns/farms, helped promote free spay/neuter events in their communities, raised money for local animal groups, etc…
And, if you are interested in animal science/pre-vet, why Harvard?
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