<p>Hi, I am a sophomore in highschool -although the year is almost over- and I have just joined collegeconfidential a month or so ago. After reading all of the posts I realized that I was going about highschool somewht wrong in order to get into the "colleges of my dreams" or what have you.</p>
<p>Here's my dilemma: I do amazingly well in school, but my extracurriculars are certaintly holding me back. The only things I have done are:</p>
<p>-2 years of soccer
-2 years of a political club (I hold a cabinet position and will probably work my way up)
-2 years of a job at a local book store, working maybe 10hrs a week
-volunteering at a summercamp for a year, than becoming a conselor
-random bits of small community service here and there</p>
<p>However, after reading this site and all of the amazing extra-curiculars kids with similar academic skills as me fill their time with, I became somewhat depressed..</p>
<p>I know that I need to explore extra-curriculars with in my own interests (politics, photography, volunteering to help people), but if anyone could give me ANY pointers at all that would be great. I have a lot of free time and I am kind of unfamiliar to all of the intense extra-curriculars/summer programs people mention on here...</p>
<p>SAME EXACT THING WITH ME. I am a sophomore as well, w/ okay ECs (I mean, not looking at CC.) I felt the same way you do, but you'll get over it. The people here are utterly insane. :)</p>
<p>If you are interested at all in politics, see if you can become a Congressional Page in Washington DC. You must be well qualified and lucky in order for your Rep. or Senator to get a spot, but if you can it is very helpful for college admissions and is just fun. I leave on the 9th for my session as a Summer Page!</p>
<p>Relax. Your ECs look just fine. Just try to keep them related in some sort of fashion to show a "passion" on some sort. These applications all start looking the same (and boring) unless a "theme" pops out at the reader. A theme would indicate that the applicant is driven and passionate about one or two (maybe even three) areas - say, in your case: politics / community service (which go well together if packaged right - shows an interest in leadership and helping the community)</p>
<p>Thanks skyhawkk08, I actually think a girl from my school did that and she raved about the experience. I will look into that, but i'm guessing there is tought competition! Anyway, I got elected to be in charge of activism in my school's political-type EC, so I am going to work on getting our chapter involved in the upcoming elections/campaigns and try to orchestrate some community service..</p>
<p>this site is so disheartening, its amazing to believe people can fit all of these things in their lives, do so well in school, and still have a life! Oh well!</p>
<p>ECs for top colleges are all about depth and passion. It's better to have few activities that you are really passionate about and committed to than having a billion ecs. One way to show your commitment is a) starting/leading a project for your club/community service b) leadership position (i.e. president of a club, team captain</p>
<p>clicheusername57: I totally concur with KaznackFCRC's comment. Don't be depressed when seeing the ECs posted by CC members. The people on CC are usually a level above most people in terms of academics and extracurricular activities but that doesn't automatically mean that they are always the more qualified candidate in the eyes of college admission officers. Remember, don't just do ECs purely for service credit. I'm really tired of people doing "community service" just to add to their application because I feel that it takes the heart and true interest out of the task involved. You don't need to pile a whole list of random activities because that shows you're not focused and are only doing this to "hopefully" impress the officers. Most officers know when candidates are randomly doing ECs just to make their application seem better. Don't be depressed at all. In fact, be proud of what you've done already as a sophomore. I personally think the activities you listed are great and you should just concentrate on those if you're very passionate about them.</p>
<p>The great thing is that you still have two years of high school in front of you. That's plenty of time to follow your interests. See if you can find some internship at a local politician's office. Start volunteering for your favorite presidential candidate. Volunteer for your local DNC/RNC office. Talk to your local electoral board about volunteering to help count ballots on election night. There are so many opportunities when you look around.</p>