<p>I'm a junior in an accredited homeschool program. My grades aren't great (they'll get better throughout this year and the next,) and I have no ECs to speak of, outside of Youth Group service projects. I have no "hooks" eg., Indian, football star, etc. and I'm middle class income.</p>
<p>So what can I do to brighten up my applications next year? I don't have a lot of money to spend on clubs etc., but I've been looking at martial arts for a while. Would that help, even though it would be pretty short-lived before I got to college, and what other options do I have?</p>
<p>ECs are not hooks, they are one factor of your application. If you like martial arts, do it, there are no specific types of ECs that are important for college admissions other than whatever you like to do.</p>
<p>Thanks, entomom. You’re right, they’re not hooks, but I feel like I need something besides my average-ish grades and the fact that I’m homeschooled. What other kinds of ECs can you recommend? Most of the things I hear about are mostly school related, eg., sports, school paper, and so on.</p>
<p>Does anyone know of any that I could get involved with – just some general suggestions on what to look for?</p>
<p>What leadership role do you play in your youth group? What do you do in your spare time (that is not sleeping or watching TV)? Colleges want to understand the type of person you are when you’re not in class, as that is also what adds to their college atmosphere.</p>
<p>Since you’re saying you have average grades, I’m assuming that you won’t be applying to the Ivies or the other very highly selective schools, and those definitely look for leadership and very meaningful ECs. At the next tier down, grades (and strength of schedule) and ACT/SAT scores play a role that may be more important than ECs, at least for the first cut. Leadership and EC’s still play a role, but differently, depending on the school.</p>
<p>You have to look inside yourself and figure out what motivates you and what is interesting to you. It sounds like you do something with your Youth Group projects … are you a leader in those? Do you organize the projects and coordinate the volunteers? If you like doing that, then keep it up and grow the role you have to show that you have leadership, organization, and people skills … all good things. You don’t have to create new hobbies just to fill a page, most schools would rather see something deeper and more meaningful.</p>
<p>At this stage, you should focus the majority of your energy on getting top grades and top SAT/ACT scores. Only the ultra elite colleges use ECs in their holistic evaluations. In 98% likelihood, the type of college that you should be targeting won’t evaluate any of your ECs. Given that, your obtaining a 3.6 GPA over a 3.3 GPA is eminently more important than any ECs you’ll undertake at this point. Seriously.</p>
<p>Win Siemens/Intel/USAMO or get a plastic surgery skin change. </p>
<p>In all seriousness though, try to get some work experience or something. Colleges like that and especially being homeschooled it’ll be something that means a lot more than silly application filling ECs. And you can also make some spare cash!</p>
<p>Which is perfectly feasible for an… average teenager? I mean, I’m probably smart enough, but I’m gonna be busy for a while (school.) On the business note, though, is tutoring a good idea? Not like is it good for me, but is it a good way to make some money? Any experience with that, anyone?</p>
<p>Tutoring is very lucrative, depending on what you tutor and how much you charge. If you are just a bit cheaper than other people, parents will want you to tutor.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you mean school subject tutoring, not something like the SATs or anything. In that case, you can charge around $25-30 an hour for high schoolers. But if you tutor middle schoolers or elementary schoolers, you may want to stick to around $20-25.</p>
<p>It’s a great way to not only show good work ethic and initiative, but it really does help you to save up some cash you can spend either on things you really want, or that you perhaps may want to spend later in college. I hate to spend my own money so I’ve been saving up with babysitting and tutoring money for only the last couple of years and I already have a few thousand to spend on things I want when I reach college. It’s a good investment to tutor. </p>
<p>Even if you are busy with school, you can be flexible with your hours and work anywhere from just 1-2 hours a week to much more than that. It’s flexible enough that you can work it around other ECs you have.</p>
<p>iSpike: in my post, I’ve mentioned that none but the most elite and selective schools will evaluate your ECs – and to be blunt, they are out of your reach. That’s why I gave you the advice I did. At this point, I would focus my energies towards getting top grades.</p>
<p>Sure, ECs can give variety and have inherent value – but at this stage, and for the schools you’ll be eligible for, NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT than showing your ACADEMIC chops. Not a job Not a club, not an internship, not voluntarism, not community service, not tutoring. IT’S GETTING A’s and a good ACT/SAT score.</p>
<p>This will mean the difference between going to a decent school or some mediocre school with a 40% graduation rate. Seriously.</p>
<p>While other posters are answering your immediate question (suggest some good ECs), they and you are missing the point: what’s going to make a difference for your life. In your situation, what’s screaming is the fact that unless you improve your GPA and get good scores, you’ll go to a third tier college.</p>