give me HOPE!

<p>So, I just want to ask if anyone got accepted to top colleges (not Ivy League but like Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon etc.) with little or no Ecs but with good grades, SATs, essays..?</p>

<p>I’m a junior from a Canadian high school but I really want to go to an American college. Canadian university don’t care much about ECs, but I didn’t realize that ECs is one of the things that American college consider as part of an applicant’s application until the beginning of my junior year. So basically I have no ECs at all, but I could start doing some volunteering, although I bet it won’t be anything that can make me stand out. I just want to know if I should even bother researching and applying to any American college. </p>

<p>Anyone?</p>

<p>I'm involved in only three clubs at school, one of which I didn't even join until my senior year (and I indicated that on my application), and I was accepted to NYU.</p>

<p>When my daughter was a junior in hs, she tried to get involved with volunteering with various organizations that placed age limits. Finally, she was old enough to participate in the ones she wanted to, with having many doors closed on her before.
She ended up contacting a woman that headed a local aids alliance and she was wonderful and very excited that my daughter wanted to help.
She ended up organizing a coat drive to benefit HIV patients and their children. Thru our local school system, she ended up with close to 300 donated coats, which all ended up finding homes !
It didn't take much effort , other than making up flyers, putting collection boxes in three schools and bringing them to their center for distribution. The experience for her opened up her eyes to how little it takes to get involved and make a difference in other's lives.
She got a lot of recognition for it, even though her time commitment wasn't as great as other projects she participated in...and it led to other projects that kind of shaped her path.
She did not do it for padding her resume, but I do think it helped her in the grande scheme of things.</p>

<p>I know a few people at my school with few EC's who got into UCLA and the like...</p>

<p>I got accepted at Cornell, Colgate, and Wesleyan and waitlisted at MIT and Dartmouth with a 1960 SATI, if that helps you.</p>

<p>I'm sure you have ECs -- it's just that they might not be school ECs. Do you write in your spare time? Blog about a certain academic subject (for me, it was linguistics) or pursue correspondence with other academics? You can turn a lot hobbies into something you can list ....</p>

<p>Would programming (Perl, C++) during summer be considered extracurricular? I almost made a deal with an actual company to make a program they would be publish and it would use their resources but it would also advertise them. But then school was near and I got lazy lol... maybe I'll resume in June :)</p>

<p>Yes -- an EC is not just whether you participated in a club; it's what activities you're involved in out of school -- jobs, volunteering, music, sports, art, whatever.</p>

<p>I seriously think ECs are overrated. I got into Hopkins with a 32 ACT and only a few minor writing awards.</p>

<p>Seriously, I have NO ECs. In my spare time.. shopping? movies? computer?
I'm really introverted and not sociable at all. I could start volunteering at a hospital or something like that this summer...</p>

<p>but I should still apply to US colleges? right?</p>

<p>RIGHT??</p>

<p>please give me some advice~ I'm not familiar with US colleges....
which schools should I be researching? ie, which schools put less emphasis on ECs but more on academics?</p>

<p>Public schools put less emphasis on ECs.</p>

<p>Evispe:</p>

<p>I think that if you're applying to top schools, you're going to need a pretty decent list of EC's. I don't know if you've heard the term self-selecting, but in this case it means that pretty much everybody vying for a spot in a college has top grades, and it is truly the EC's that would set people apart. Usually, colleges want people who will benefit the community and take an active role on campus, not people who stay in their rooms just studying all day.</p>

<p>i have few non academic EC's and am going to USC for engineering</p>

<p>You're thinking this the wrong way.</p>

<p>It's not which school would put less emphasis on EC's -- but which school would like YOUR EC's.</p>

<p>If you're an interesting student, I am sure you must pursue something outside of coursework.</p>

<p>my ec compared to most people here is nothing. I got into UCLA. I was in 2 clubs; csf for 4 years and chinese for 2.
And chinese school but a lot of people have that.</p>

<p>I would say ECs are important if you're applying to a private school of high caliber. For UCs, if you have a high GPA, high SAT score, you can basically get into most of your top choices. </p>

<p>But as for privates, there really isn't really a measure of how many ECs you have to do. They're really looking to see what the activity is (keep in mind "ECs" include anything outside of school), how long you've been participating in the activity, if you have worked your way up to a leadership position, and how this reflects who you are and how what you've done has affected others.</p>

<p>It's really complicated, but my best advice is don't force feed ECs. Concentrate on a few that you love and don't be afraid to take leadership positions/opportunities as they come!</p>

<p>Try getting a job instead of EC's. Colleges like kids who show responsibility by being employed. If you want to volunteer and are not that social, then volunteer at an animal shelter or do some type of work that you enjoy. Do something that matches up with who you are. I agree that starting a blog or doing computer programming could be a valuable EC. Follow your interests.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the advices. I'm really lost in where I want to apply but I'll take my chances at getting into American universities.</p>

<p>UC = University of California?</p>

<p>Any more advices are welcomed! I love to hear anything related to my situation.</p>