Great Grades, but meager extracurriculars?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm a rising senior and my grades are pretty good, but I don't think I have enough extracurriculars/awards. Just how important are those? Will they hold me back from getting into top 20 colleges?</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.936
weighted GPA: 5.124 (unique weighting scale)
ACT: 35
SAT: 2200
9 APs (all 5s except one 4)
Taking 5 senior year.
SAT 2: US History: 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Piano (k-11): AIM level 10 with honors
Book Club (President)
Writer's Workshop (2 years)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
McDonalds (1 summer, 25 hours/week)
Private Tutor (5 children, piano, math, reading and writing)</p>

<p>Volunteering:
Hospital (2 years)
Senior Center (2 years)
Taught students in China English for two summers </p>

<p>Awards?:
National Honor Society
National AP Scholar</p>

2

<p>You will be fine. Grades and scores matter so much more.</p>

3

<p>ECs only matter at a relatively small number universities so your first question should be where you would like to attend. At your state’s flagship, you will likely not only be admitted with your stellar academic record, but potentially qualify for significant merit aid consideration.</p>

<p>Even at highly selective schools, your ECs should not be a significant disadvantage. Having played piano your whole life and earned awards to demonstrate your proficiency is great. A long list is not as important as a depth of interest.</p>

<p>Be sure that your application shows how you are unique and interesting beyond your transcript.</p>

4

<p>The one thing you did not mention is what cost constraints you have. Especially when selecting your safeties, you need to make sure that the colleges are affordable.</p>

5

<p>I’m from the Chicago area and so for a safety I’m doing U of I. As far as cost constraints, they are not a major concern.</p>

6

<p>Top 20 colleges expect impressive ECs. The question about ECs for very selective colleges comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt; Take a look and see where you think yours place.</p>

<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says

</p>

7

<p>It’s not like you didn’t do anything or take any leadership. You’re president of the book club, you do a lot of volunteering, you work and you tutor. </p>

<p>You just need to be able to write about how what you did do is meaningful to you and make it sound interesting. I wouldn’t rule out top 20 schools, especially Top 20 LACs, not with those stats.</p>

8

<p>I think working 25 hrs a week at McDonald’s is a very impressive EC , and very time I’ve seen someone write it they have attended an awesome school.</p>

9

<p>If I were you I would go back to work there so you can put that you work there currently on your apps.</p>