<p>Kinda worried about this. Starting to research colleges, would like to go to UCLA and I feel I am pretty lacking in the extracurricular department. I am currently a junior so I feel like I still have a bit of time to improve, but still.</p>
<p>I am #2 in my class, assuming I get all A's will have around a 4.4 GPA. Have taken most of the AP classes offered at my school. Got a 2170 on the SAT. My father attended UCLA undergrad and law school.</p>
<p>However, this is all I've done outside of the classroom:</p>
<p>3 years tennis (2 JV, 1 varsity)
4 years CSF
Went on a week long political activist trip to Washington DC with my religious group
Volunteered a couple summers at a food kitchen</p>
<p>This is basically all I have done, and that is kinda stretching... can someone advise me on anything I can do this coming summer/next year to improve my extracurriculars? Or is my overall application good enough?</p>
<p>Maybe get in to a summer college program? I think you might have enough time if you get started on that now. And do some more volunteering for sure. Maybe get a job.</p>
<p>Your application looks really strong the way it is, actually, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t get in, but as admissions are continuing to get harder and harder each year, having more extracurriculars certainly wouldn’t hurt…I think the most important thing is to be passionate about a couple extracurriculars rather than have a laundry list, though. Do you know what you’re interested in studying once you get to UCLA? If so, it’d be great to get involved with something related to that. For instance, if you want to be a film major at UCLA, start making some films; write screenplays; et cetera. If you want to be a doctor, why not start interning at a hospital? And the list goes on. :)</p>
<p>I think your grades and SAT scores combined with a compelling essay are strong enough. However, as a junior, one year is plenty of time to get involved with extracurriculars.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel better, I was also lacking terribly in the EC department. I basically had 3 years of JV track, Academic Decathlon, Honors Society, and a library committee that met once a month. I also had a slew of academic awards (and you should include these) and 400 hours of community service (not sure how this compares to my peers). Try to get involved in something long term…it looks better than a variety of things you did for maybe one week each.</p>
<p>Like the previous posters said, you have a really strong academic profile. I would be surprised if you didn’t get in. I pretty much only had tennis (2 years) and badminton (4 years) as part of my extracurricular activities as well as a few clubs in school. What you should think about doing is doing more volunteer work, or even get a job as spiritualwitch suggested. It’ll help make you appear as a stronger, more well-rounded student.</p>