<p>I literally had zero volunteer hours freshman year. My only ECs were varsity orchestra and Latin club/NJCL (4th at state in Latin Literature :/). Also got summa/gold on NLE (National Latin Exam).</p>
<p>In regards to academics, I took the most rigorous courses possible at my school, but my grades were adequate at best. Mostly high A's and some low A's, but nothing spectacular. In other words, I slacked and only did enough to get by.</p>
<p>How badly will this affect my application, especially to some of the more prestigious schools? I know HYP are probably out of the question, but how about Rice, Duke, UChicago, etc? Assuming that I pick it up big time, do I still have a chance? I'm really worried about this. :(</p>
<p>Of course you have a chance. I don’t to much of a degree this is true, but it is known that freshman mistakes can often be reversed and are not taken into account as heavily as the other three years. I personally still wouldn’t rule out HYP yet; anything can happen, if you want it to. :)</p>
<p>This is silly. Your ECs for freshman year are fine. There is no school, anywhere, that requires - or even prefers - community service to be admitted, including the top schools. Some kids do a lot because they’ve found something they love, some are required to do some in order to graduate in their school district and some do none at all because they are busy with other ECs. Don’t fall into the ‘checking all the boxes’ trap. You don’t need a sport, you don’t need music, you don’t need honor societies - you just need to find the 2-3 things you care about and invest some creativity and and thought into them. Please do not be one more cookie cutter applicant who has padded his or her resume with a bunch of clubs and volunteer hours. And with volunteering, it is not the number of hours, but rather what you accomplished in those hours - what kind of impact you had.</p>
<p>At most schools, they just want to know that you will be a contributing member of their community. At selective schools, ECs are one way-among many- to differentiate yourself from the crowd of top students with great grades and test scores.</p>
<p>Nowhere on the Common App does it ask you to list your “volunteer hours.” That’s most likely just for your own school to give out awards. Like MM said, don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>I only did freshman football and joined a club freshman year (I also got 3 B’s)… explore what you have at your school/community and be really proactive but the advice I give to everyone asking about EC’s is that you first and foremost need to be doing them for your own enjoyment, not for an application.</p>
<p>That’s definitely not something to worry about. What you need to worry about is impressing/keeping a good relation with your teachers so when it comes time for choosing teachers to write you recommendation letters, yours will be spectacular. Also, worry about the SAT & SAT II’s. Start studying for them now so you’ll have a head start when the date for the exams approaches (unlike me, right now, lol). With what you described as your grades, you’re doing pretty well for your grade (considering the fact you took the most rigorous courses your school offered, btw, what are they?) so definitely keep HYP & Columbia on your list. They look for students like you. Good luck though.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine. My only ECs throughout freshman year were one sport, which I was okay at, and a few clubs, which I did not attend with any regularity or accomplish much of anything in.</p>
<p>@Ahsans96 - Oh, and there’s actually not much offered freshman year, but the courses I took were pre-ap core subjects (english, biology, etc), medical terminology (required because it’s a medical science magnet school), Latin, and orchestra IV.</p>
I really, really appreciate it!</p>