<p>Hi, first of all, I'm a British student/resident and am in year 12 (grade 11 in the US?) so I would count as an international applicant. I'm thinking of applying to universities in the US next year, hopefully universities in the top 15 or so. However, the one thing holding me back is that I do not have many extracurriculars. Academically, I'm quite sound with 7A*s and 5As at GCSE, with current predictions of over 90% in 4 AS Levels.</p>
<p>At the moment, the only ECs I currently do which I can think of include reading books, playing tennis/table tennis, playing the keyboard as well looking after siblings, helping parents around the house and I have very recently joined a team at school where we are building a small car which we hope to race next year. I'm also self teaching a programming language.</p>
<p>Those ECs are probably not very impressive but since I haven't actually done the SAT or become involved in the application process yet, I'm looking for thoughts on whether I should bother applying for top American universities or not. In the UK, many universities, if not most, put little emphasis on ECs unless it's academically related (even Oxbridge have little concern)...but I'm not sure if that would be taken into account. Also, I will need to apply for financial aid when applying.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Addressing EC’s only, and not the rest of the issues mentioned . . .</p>
<p>(1) Yes, list childcare - absolutely! Having to take care of siblings is a very good reason that you don’t have time to do other things.</p>
<p>(2) Don’t know what “helping parents around house” means, but if it involves doing chores that most kids your age would NOT be doing, then I’d list those chores also (as a single activity).</p>
<p>(3) Tennis - yes! And if you’ve played competitively, make a note of that . . . but include it as an activity even if you haven’t played competitively.</p>
<p>(4) Table tennis - a bit thinner ice here, because it’s not generally considered a competitive sport in the U.S., but if it’s a club or a team, I’d include it.</p>
<p>(5) Building a race car? Absolutely!!!</p>
<p>(6) Self-teaching a programming language - yes!</p>
<p>(7) Playing keyboard - yes!</p>
<p>(8) And that leaves reading, which I would not include unless you’re part of a book discussion group. I think the uni’s hope that everyone your age is reading books!</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Also realize that ECs are annoyingly overrated, especially here at CC, where it seems like every kid has climbed Everest, cured cancer, been nominated for an Oscar, and been on a national Olympic squad, all while getting a 4.0 GPA, perfect SATs, all 5’s on the 14 APs they took, plus helped cook dinner every night from Escoffier in the original French, and then gotten to bed by 10 PM, before getting up at 6 AM to cook everyone a full breakfast and then walk the dog before catching the bus to school.</p>
<p>You sound like you’ll do just fine, you just need to find a way to write about your life that fits the application.</p>
<p>Ah, thanks everyone, I might apply after all. Any other opinions are welcome. :)</p>
<p>I think that US universities know that overseas schools don’t have the expectations that students get involved other outside of school activities. But generally US universities do look for people who take initiative and who contribute to their communities. in meaningful ways. Many students who do apply to very competitive colleges do have extremely impressive and dedicated EC’s because they have taken advantage of or sought out opportunities. So the competition is stiff, depending upon where you are applying. However, it isn’t like you do noyhin outside school except play video games. And not everyone has the stellar EC’s. Some students do have to work or take care of siblings Of course you have a shot.</p>
<p>bobbricks:</p>
<p>In the US, EC’s are very important. My son was waitlisted at a lot of top schools, probably because he had little in the way of ECs. He wound up going to the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where ECs are less important.</p>
<p>You might consider Canada, where I think they are less important.</p>
<p>McGill
University of Toronto.</p>