Great ECs
Hey guys! This is an open-Ed post to help all of you who keep asking "what Ecs are great for my application? The answer, as many, many senior CC’ers and The Dean herself have said are Ecs that you have put commitment into. However, different people take that bit of advice different and then ask a variation of the following: “how committed does this look?” Before u get your panties in a twist over how hard it is to have 5 APs, MUN, volunteering hundreds of hours, sports captain an all the other common Ecs I see on this website, let me ask you a question. Are you doing all of that just to get into college? Or do u generally enjoy wat u do? College is NOT the end game, nor is graduate school, or even med school. Preparing for success in the future is the end game, no matter how cliche that sounds. But, seeing as we are teens, and it will take us all actually going to college and grad school and med school to figure out that simple statement, let me make things easier for you.
This “test” will qualitatively tell how well your Ecs stack up. Please note that this is a generalization, and that this will only really help those starting out in high school.
Type of EC
A. Academic interest
B. l love…
C. I dream of being…
Academic interests
Science (bio, chem, Phy)
Business (Econs, business studies, government, sociology)
I love…
Writing
Music
Art
Sports
I dream of being…
A doctor
A lawyer
Engineer
Politician
Humanitarian
Academic Interests
Science ex Harold Ekeh
Entry level
Great grades. This should really applauded again and again.
Science club leader at any level etc
Mid card
Sadly, there’s really no mid card for any of the academic interests. They’re highly specialized, so it’s either ur in or your out.
However, taking courses at your local college or online at Coursera for free are impressive. Coursera even offers verifiable certificates for less than $100 if that’s not too expensive for internationals.
Advanced
Interning at a research institute in your area (Ghana has Legon and KNUST)
Master
Participated in a national/university research project
(The feeling of learning the local medical institute in Ghana is now researching vaccines for the oft-mentioned malaria and it needed lab assistants but the deadline has passed for you to join. Ughhhhhhh)
Business ex Peter LaBergue
Entry level
Great grades. This should really applauded again and again.
Entering any entrepreneur or business clubs.
Mid card
Sadly, there’s really no mid card for any of the academic interests. They’re highly specialized, so it’s either ur in or your out.However, taking courses at your local college or online at Coursera for free are impressive. Coursera even offers verifiable certificates for less than $100 if that’s not too expensive for internationals
Advanced
Identifying a need and exploiting it. Ex my classmate knows HTML4 coding and does it for a modest fee of 50GHc ($20) Or, like Peter, you make a literary journal specifically for high school and undergrad students to be one of the first of its kind.
Master
Starting your own business.
Case to point: a ex-student of my school was accepted in Northwestern but declined them to stay in Ghana to tend to his business which had grown considerably during his last year in school because he could use the extra money for foreign tuition to grow it more. Now that’s dedication.
Hobbies
Writing ex Talin Tahajian
Entry Level
Writing club
Blog (I didn’t care if uve had it since middle school. If it doesn’t have any awards, it’s entry level)
Mid Card
Participation in writing competitions (school/local) Mbaseem is great for Ghanaian girls. It’s a nonprofit by the acclaimed playwright, Ama Ata Aidoo.
Advanced
Published in literary journal
Won award
Won literary award (competing with adults/undergrads)
Master
Publishing a chapbook, novel, a play or just completing a manuscript in general (which you’re currently looking for a publisher for)
If you don’t know what a chapbook is and your a poet, consider your title stripped.
Music ex. Lang Lang
Entry
Learning an instrument
Mid Card
School orchestra
Advanced
National awards
Master
National orchestra
Just read about Lang Lang. That’s all you have to do.
Art ex. Tim Lai
Entry
Doodling in the sides of your notebooks
Comics for friends
Art prize from your school
Mid card
Tutorials in different mediums on YouTube/Tumblr
Publishing your own webcomic on Comic Rocket, SmackJeeves or Tumblr
Advanced
Being asked to publish on Hello Comics or GoComics
Partaking in galleries
Master
Winning an Eisner
Winning any national award
Being interviewed for your art
Case: Tim Lai was a homeschooled student who started his webcomic, Lemon Inc when he was a sophomore. Since then, his been interviewed three times for his art BEFORE entering college.
Sports ex. Dominique Dawes
Entry
After school sports
Mid card
Team member or captain
Advanced level
You already know wat it is!
Recruited athlete
Olympics
It’s just amazing to rewatch Dominique in ten field in 2012 Winter Olympics!
Career Path
Doctor
Internships and shadowing a medical professional, learning CPR
Lawyer
Interning and shadowing a lawyer
Engineer
Build your own …
Eg app, robot, microwave oven anything.
Politician
Student government/SCR/prefect ship
MUN
Humanitarian ex. Emily-Anne Rigal
Now you can bring your so loved volunteer hours
Entry
Having mom and dad pay for a vacation- um, sorry volunteer trip in a foreign country.
Mid card
Volunteering pretty much anywhere. I don’t care if its a medical hospital or soup kitchen, or long it has been. (Unless u think 5 hours starting senior year is an achievement)
Advanced
Identifying a need in your community and fulfilling it for free.
Eg babysitting children who’s parents attend night school, tutoring kids in literacy etc.
Master
Started own non-profit that has actually done something other than take the money of ur parents to fund “underprivileged kids eduction”
For ideas, check out DoSomething! and StopHate.org.
Now, do not despair all those who think they can’t attend a great college without reaching Advanced level! Advanced and Master level apply only for students applying to truly elite schools (Ivies, Stanford, Duke, MIT) For most students even entering mid card is an achievement as it shows dedication and love. Sadly, at this level, many students forge interest and achieve these levels anyway. That is why it’s so common to see these big elite schools turning many of them away, as their interest may be forced. At advanced and master levels, no amount of money and parental helicoptering can force a non-committed student to proceed to this level. That being said, A n’ M require A LOT of hardwork that doesn’t come in one, two sometimes even three years. If u love your dream, interest or hobby, go as far as you please.