<p>As I was looking throught this site, I found that a lot of the applicants to Yale had a really strong extracurriculars record. I'm going to apply to Yale in the fall, and my ECs are really bad. I pretty much don't have anything for my freshman and sophomore year (except orchestra at Duke), and I've only just signed up for 3 clubs this year (only sci/math related ones). Would this have a really negative impact on my application (like I should just reconsider my decision to apply)? Here's my reasons for my bad record: I've been in US for just a year when I went to a really bad middle school (like people would steal my things and flaunt in front of my face) and basically didn't do anything there (didn't talk at all, no friends, etc), which had a huge psychological impact on me. As I moved to a new area to a really good high school, I was stilly shy and so embarassed by my bad spoken English (after staying in U.S. for 3 yrs). Then my mom was pregnant and had a depression, so I had to take care of her, cook; then I took care of my little sister after she was born. But I finally brought myself to sign up for clubs this year, and I've been to several competitions and won a couple things (My spoken English is a lot better now).... So would including this little story help my chances? If I still have a chance (my academic records are not bad, btw), should I include this explanation in my essay (which I'm thinking of doing) or as a side attachment? Any advice or suggestion would be great!</p>
<p>I will apply as an international student, if that helps… nowhere near to even getting green cards, by the look of the waiting times for those</p>
<p>I think your story, if properly written, would sound great on an application essay or supplementary essay.</p>
<p>Thanks, that makes me more confident about applying. Do I absolutely need to put this on my application? Because I’ve been thinking about writing on some other topics like my little sister, but I thought it would look really bad if I just had a semi-blank ec section without a reason.</p>