I am a freshman at high school, and this is my schedule:
Introduction to Information of Technology
German 1
AP HG
AP Bio
Algebra II Honors
Introduction to Engineering Design (PLTW)
Eng 1 Honors
(all As up to now)
I feel like my academics are pretty good, but my ECs are not. I only have joined 2 clubs, and I have never been to the meetings of one of them (Mu Alpha Teta) because I don’t really like the club. But I feel pressured to do it because I don’t have other ECs (except the other club that I joined and actually like) .
Should I do start frequenting Mu Alpha Teta even thought I don’t want to? What other STEM related ECs can I do on my freshman year?
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD (unless if your school doesn’t have it): I am currently doing this, and I LOVE it. If you are good enough at it, you have the opportunity to get on your school’s team and win medals. If your school qualifies for Nationals, then you also have the wonderful opportunity to medal at Nationals. Science Olympiad is VERY competitive, so be prepared to spend a lot of time on it.
Other STEM ECs: Science Bowl, Math Bowl, Mathcounts, Math Olympiad, Robotics ECs (such as VEX and FIRST), Science/Engineering Fairs, National Ocean Sciences Bowl, Google Science Fair, etc.
Also, do you have any hobbies? STEM is not the only EC type that is “good”. If you play an instrument, it is suggested in improve on your instrument and join your school’s or your local orchestra/band, if you sing, join the choir, if you like visual arts, join or FOUND an art club. If you know how to play a sport, get better and join your school’s team.
Keep in mind there is no magic number of ECs. Just do what you are passionate about, and do your best. Doing as many as you can will not necessarily be helpful.
@raventhemage what categories are you competing in science olympiad? Vex, Science olympiad, and some other competitions are included in my school’s STEM club (the one I join and actually like). I am not sure if I will be competing on science olympiad this year because all the events that I am interested in, I have no experience in.
I am in B division Science Olympiad, and I have won national titles for events, last year I did: Invasive Species, Fossils, Meteorology. This year I plan on doing: Invasive Species, Meteorology, Microbe Mission, Anatomy, and Ecology.
It depends on how competitive your high school is. My middle school is hyper-competitive, and it feeds into two high schools (the students get to choose which high school they want to go to). One high school always places top 3 in NATIONALS each year, and the other high school is usually around 5th in States. If you have no experience, and you are in junior or senior year, that is a bad idea. If you have no experience and are in sophomore or freshman year, DEFINITELY join Science Olympiad.
It all depends on your school’s situation. If you would tell me all you know about your school’s Science Olympiad I can give better advice, including which state you’re from (but you don’t have to tell me your school’s name, or any personal information).
@raventhemage I live in Florida, my school is ranked 62nd in Florida. We don’t take science olympiad too serious. Probably less than 10 kids at my school compete. I wanted to compete in Astronomy, but I don’t know anything about the topic, and most likely no kids at my school are going to do it (it is a pair event).
Oh…in that case the chance of you getting on the team is probably 99%, but I’m telling you that medaling even at Regionals, without a partner will be hard. Since your school does not regard Science Olympiad that importantly, try to choose something you are both interested in, and your school has potential for.
Or, you could take a leap and try and make your school more competitive in Science Olympiad. I know Florida is a relatively noncompetitive state, so the difficulty of getting a regional and state title is much easier than my state (Pennsylvania). You could promote your school’s Science Olympiad and let other people know what it is, and try to find a dedicated adult sponsor.
It is OK if you don’t know anything about the topic, if you want to start now, you should, since Florida’s Invitationals (practice competitions) are in November and December, and the Regionals (qualifying competition) are in either January or February.
I understand if you don’t want to do Science Olympiad for the reasons you mentioned, but if you do, I can help you and offer you tips.
Read the book “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
I’ve never done the event Wind Power, but the two team members representing our school are very good. They would’ve placed at Nationals had the device not broken during transportation…
Anyways, I suggest going on www.scioly.org’s forums. You can say that you are new, and everyone will jump to tell you everything there is too know (maybe too much information…hahahaha).
I’m sorry I’m not doing either Forensics or Wind Power, but I’m sure at least 10 people on www.scioly.org do.
As for dropping Forensics or not, definitely don’t drop it. A good number of events to do seriously would be 3+, and since you’re new, I suggest just doing 3 for now.