<p>okay.. first of all, ill tell you my situation
im a junior in hs.. girl, korean, swimmer</p>
<p>Okay so i swim like everyday all the time but im not very good so im not planning to swim for college
my grades are okay 4.0 unweighed and i took 1 ap last yr (stat -A) and am taking 4 this year (bio, hist, eng, and calc); im planning to take physics, chem, french, eng, hist next year
im not in any clubs and dont have a lot of volunteer time but ill have at least 100 by the time i apply for college...</p>
<p>i dont really have a 'passion' yet but im tryin to find it (?)</p>
<p>anyways... what should i do to make myself more appealing to colleges?
i really really really want to go to stanford</p>
<p>If you join a bunch of clubs thinking it'll impress colleges, you're wrong. They see right through that.</p>
<p>You can try to seek out a passion.</p>
<p>Work hard on your APs, study hard for your standardized tests (two big "duhs", right?). Join clubs that you are legitimately interested in, and if you want to try a bunch of clubs to see what's right for you, that's fine- just don't join 100 clubs and stick with them to pad your app.</p>
<p>Visit meetings of clubs that sound interesting to you, see if there are any groups that you want to give a shot.</p>
<p>Also, it can be tough with APs, but if you can get a job, it'll show responsibility and determination.</p>
<p>sweet... does lifeguarding count?
also, i got a 4 on my ap stat... is that bad?</p>
<p>I'm fairly certain that stanford doesn't award credit for stat (or bio, history, or english).
(<a href="http://registrar.stanford.edu/pdf/AP_Chart_2007-08.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://registrar.stanford.edu/pdf/AP_Chart_2007-08.pdf</a>)</p>
<p>Lifeguarding is a good job though.</p>
<p>Stanford (and a lot of other higher level schools) won't give you credit for APs- -they just like to see you did well on them, so they know you can handle college level work.</p>
<p>Lifeguarding definitely counts! That has a lot of responsibility- you're directly accountable for peoples lives. If you can get a job lifeguarding, it will look great. </p>
<p>One thing to consider is the type of lifeguarding. Summer camps let you interact with little kids, which is fun for some people, but you'll be doing more swimming and you'll get less money. In contrast, you'll mostly sit lifeguarding at a regular pool, but you won't move around as much. You (might) be able to bring a book if you stay alert.</p>
<p>Also, I've had a few friends who get regular lifeguarding jobs and are "for hire" lifeguards at other times. The pay is pretty good, and the flexibility throughout the school year is nice.</p>
<p>thanks.. and i have another concern...
okay so im taking like ap classes and esp. in AP calc, when the teacher teach me stuff, i just kind of get it really easily (im not trying to showoff but...) and im pretty sure that i can do better in stuff like that than other people in my school, but we're all getting As and taking same AP classes. what do i do to show colleges that im smarter than them?
like competitions? im not sure because my school doesnt go to competitions much...help!</p>
<p>As far as that goes, that's where standardized tests will help you; even if the rest of your classmates get "As", if you're in the 700s on the subjects SATII and your classmates are in the 600s...it's evident.</p>
<p>Other than that, there is not way too much. My suggestion is to make sure you do really well on the SAT IIs and APs to show that there is a difference between you and your classmates.</p>
<p>There is a Chinese guy at my school who reminds me a lot of you in the last sentence you said- he takes a lot of APs and gets them extremely easily. Hes usually playing with a Rubicks cube throughout all of class (no lie) and he gets 98s in the class, 5 on the AP. I wish I had that learning ability.</p>
<p>Even if your school doesn't offer a lot in the way of competitions, I would try to see if there is anything local (outside of school), or scholarships in those AP subjects (you could show how smart you are AND get some money for college too).</p>
<p>haha im not that good... just in calc...
thanks for the help!</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>You might want to develop your involvement with your swim team. Swimming at Stanford will be out of the question since the team there is like the team of international swimming superstars, but since you're not looking to swim in college you can at least develop this sport to which you already dedicate so much time into an opportunity for leadership and service. Can you organize fundraisers for your team? Publish a monthly newsletter for it? Volunteer to help the younger developing swimmers? Perhaps get a leadership appointment from the coach; captain, co-captain, coach's assistant? These are all things my son has done as a swimmer. You know how much time swimming takes, and there isn't time to do much else, so you need to maximize what you can do there. And I think it might make a better impression, too, to really make that investment in something you love rather than spreading yourself out all over the place, but more superficially. Just make sure Stanford knows you're not pursuing swimming there, but only demonstrating your commitment and leadership... that just happened to be with your swim team.</p>
<p>My son is also a lifeguard. It's a decent job as summer jobs go. Different places have really different cultures; Y pools, lakes, beaches, community rec. pools, club pools, etc. You can look around at what appeals. A few require slightly different certifications, so check on that too, and get your certifications in the spring (well before school lets out for the summer) because most savvy kids apply early for the good gigs. If you wait until summer you'll be slowed down by having to get certified and there might not be much to choose from in terms of jobs at that point.</p>
<p>I'm no expert on this stuff, but i can give my 2 cents on what i wish i had done in high school (and thus stuff you can consider).</p>
<p>To get into stanford, its very important to show that you are unique, better than the 87% who wont get in. Your academics are definitely strong, and I'm assuming that there are no harder classes offered at your school. As you said, your swimming is average, but you can definitely do the things sooremom wrote above. But you need to bring your leadership and ability outside of this school (preferably competitions or county/state/national leadership positions). I've seen random essays of people organizing major community events addressing problems such as conservation or africa. And then they get recognized by large organizations and voila to stanford they go. I will admit that junior year leaves little time to rise in officer-ship positions of organizations or clubs, but that shouldn't restrict you. Basically that long blob said: Find a passion and bring it out to the community or state. And don't make it look like you're doing it for college. </p>
<p>Also, if you are interested in science, you may want to consider doing some research during the summer. Find selective programs like the Stanford CCIS, or just any research internship, and apply asap!</p>
<p>thanks for all the advices!
my team has a pool so i think im going to lifeguard there and we also teach little kids so would i put that as like a work experience?</p>
<p>im interested in science but i live in virginia so i guess ill look for internships near here
i was wondering.. my mom works for a big hospital here (its called Carilion and has a lot of hospitals) and may be i could help out there? community service and stuff? would that count?</p>
<p>Lol so i was spending a bit of time on CC today, procrastinating my applications, and came over this thread called:</p>
<p>"Those ECs are weak...."- So what's good?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210497%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210497</a></p>
<p>It should give you a start.</p>
<p>Either way, of course hospital volunteering would count. But anybody can volunteer for a hospital ^^. Try asking your mom if she can hook you up with any more involved positions, but i'd sort of doubt it considering the high-risk situations involved in a hospital. Most likely when you volunteer, you'll get a job pushing people around in wheelchairs, managing the gift shop, or answering calls. I'm not completely sure though so it wouldn't hurt to try. But considering that you seem to be volunteering just for the sake of volunteering...you'd be better off finding a research internship. Or you can apply to some elite summer program such as TASP, which i've heard has a lower acceptance rate than harvard ><. By the way, are you more of a sciency person or a more well rounded/liberal artsy person? That should take weight on where you go during the summer. </p>
<p>As for lifeguarding...as long as you think it deserves to count, let it count. Your intuition should serve you well. </p>
<p>Oh and final question. Why do you really want to go to stanford again? (Other than...say...harvard, yale, princeton, brown)</p>
<p>im a math/science person... i hate english...
i prefer stanford, because of its location and also that its a prestigious school
i used to live on the west coast and now im in virginia and i despise the weather here
ans i dont like the cold... i would go for yale or princeton if i could though , but not harvard... i dont like harvard haha</p>
<p>and i did check out that ec thread but its freaking me out b/c all the people have a ton of ecs and have like national awards and stuff; but from what i read, its okay to have like one or two ecs as long as you're really into it?</p>
<p>another question i got 172 on my PSAT last year
im taking it again this year and ive studied for SATs over the summer and stuff and i think ive gotten a little better; what else should i do if i want to get into the national merits thing? is there even a chance that i might get it?</p>
<p>yea well that big post is basically something you can read if you feel like being depressed one day. Well at least its a good idea of what you CAN achieve if you are up to it. </p>
<p>As for national merit, you need a 220 or so on your PSAT. as long as you know vocabulary your score should shoot up. Anyways your junior year score for PSAT is all the National Merit is based on for semifinalists. Then during senior year you get to go through all this other crap but thats senior year. </p>
<p>i must say, the weather here (bay area) is nice.</p>
<p>yeah so jealous! i really want to go to stanford... thank you for your advice!</p>
<p>Do you have any idea what you want to do as an adult? if so, look for a job related to that field now. For example, if you want to be a veteranarian, get a job at a vet clinic.</p>
<p>i know for sure that i dont want to do anything related to english/language/history. I dont want to be a lawyer or doctor;
I was thinking marine science; I was interested in marine and ocean and may be exploring the ocean since i have some swimming experience?
but i dont know for sure... but I want to make good money so I can do what i really want - design.
I would love to major in art, but I think i'll end up being poor so Im going to minor in it.
I was looking for any marine science and oceanology program over the summer but didnt find anything...</p>
<p>I think I might be going to California next summer.
Do you know any programs that I could do there?
I will be staying at my dad's friend's house
I was there when I was young so I dont really know where in Cali but it's like 30 minutes from Universal and kind of near beverly hills I think it's in LA...
If you live in Cali, please help! thank you!</p>