Hello,
I’m in the middle of my eighth grade year, and have started to plan out my high school. I know I will have to put in a lot of work, but I’m not overly stressed about getting great stats in high school. My main concern is in regards to ECs. I recently saw the post ““Those ECs are weak…” so what’s good?” I intend to major in philosophy or something similar in college, and then pursue a J.D. (That could change, but its my default plan.) Accordingly, the law and philosophy are my main interests. Looking at Northstarmom’s list, the only “outstanding” ECs that would make sense for me to pursue are:
TASP
State or nationally- ranked athlete
National president of a student organization
The top individual scorer in the nation in an activity like Junior Classical League or Mu Alpha Theta
Has gotten paid for articles written for major publications such as national magazines or major newspapers (This doesn’t include columns unless one was the winner of teen columnist scholarship that is awarded by something like Newsweek or Time)
Has created and organized a major service project such as getting a Habitat house built ,raising at least $10,000 or starting a nonprofit that clearly was started by the student, not their parents
Has done an out of state paid internship with a corporation
Spent a semester or year abroad in a select program like Rotary’s program (The travel abroad programs that are based on ability to pay do not count as “excellent” ECs."
My question is, how do I work up to these ECs? In other words, what are the prior steps to be able to do these things? And, what are some specific examples of these ECs that would be relevant to me? Academically, I’m a strong student, but what other ECs would allow me to be involved in these more competitive ECs? That’s not to say I haven’t done any ECs in middle school or earlier (I’ve done piano for many years, competed in Science Olympiads, was Senior Editor of the yearbook, played in Chess Tournaments, went to Congress to petition and testify for laws, spoke at the Chicago Theatre, was invited to write for a German literary journal, etc;) but they were without focus and measurable achievement; I never excelled at any of them, because they were unnecessarily wide-ranging. Right now, I’m considering creating a Philosophy Club, doing MUN, and/or editing/writing for the high school newspaper (which wins lots of awards). However, none of those ECs are stellar and together don’t present an image of a focused person. Your advice on my earlier questions would be appreciated. Sorry my post has kind of an arrogant tone, I’m very fortunate to be able to go to college and do these things. Also, I’m not obsessing over college, I just want to push myself.