GPAs? Extracurriculars?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a junior. Right now, I have a 3.53 GPA unweighted and a 4.13 GPA weighted. (Is that suspicious? I used an online GPA calculator.)
Do colleges look at unweighted GPAs or weighted? I've looked at a lot of statistics for high school admissions for schools like MIT and I was wondering if they were using an unweighted system. Also, I was wondering if I need to do more (as in extracurriculars)
Right now, I am a part of 3 school clubs (president of one). I volunteer on the weekends and am part of an orchestra associated with the organization. I play the viola and the piano. I speak Korean and am learning Spanish in school. (I'm also trying to learn ASL in my free time) I was in the Speech and Debate team for a year. I've been a part of the cross country and track and field team my entire time in high school (this goes for all previously mentioned extracurriculars). I've passed every AP I have taken (except World History).
I've been told that grades aren't the only things that get you into college but to be honest, colleges won't really consider you unless you have the good grades. So at this point, I am wondering what I should do. Obviously, I'm not going to give up on academics and focus on extracurriculars but I need to know if I should incorporate more. I haven't done any summer programs or internships and this worries me especially since many of my classmates are applying for them. </p>

<p>I would really appreciate it if any or all of my questions could be answered! Thank you for your time!</p>

2

<p>Ok… so, let’s try this one at a time.</p>

<p>GPA: most elite schools will recalculate your GPA once they get your transcript. For instance, some will take out the non-academic classes (if you were in athletics for example). Then they will evaluate the rigor of your curriculum in the context of what your high school has offered.</p>

<p>On ECs: Most of the elite and even the tier below schools are looking for kids that have had an impact in whatever activity they choose to pursue. So, more is not necessarily better, but show real involvement. Can one of your EC teachers/mentors write a rec letter for you? Think about if they did – how would that read? </p>

<p>Summer programs/internships: You don’t need to go to a high priced summer program. If you can do some research with a nearby college/university, that would be great. Having a job or an intership is also good - esp if you can tie your internship to a career/major interest. Lastly, you could spend some time on test prep (as much as I hate to say that) so that you do well in your standardized testing if your current scores are not where you would like them to be and take the test one more time in Sept/Oct.</p>