<p>How are my Extracurriculars and would they be able to stand out at top colleges (paired with good SAT scores, GPA, essays, etc.). I'm also in the IB Diploma Program at my school FYI. Also, would it be smart to emphasize my volunteer work in the application & essays or should I focus on something different??? Thanks !!!</p>
<p>Athletics:
-Cross Country: Freshman to Senior Year (commitment in both summer & fall because of summer runs)
-Indoor Track: Freshman to Senior Year
-Outdoor Track: Freshman to Senior Year
-Karate: From Elementary School to Middle School (Achieved Black Belt)</p>
<p>Clubs:
-School Newspaper: Junior to Senior Year
-Speech & Debate: Junior to Senior Year
-Fellowship of Christian Athletes: Sophomore to Senior Year
-Project Change: Sophomore to Senior Year </p>
<p>Leadership Positions/Other:
-Student Ambassador: Sophomore to Senior Year
-Honor Council: Junior to Senior Year (Only 3 students per grade)
-National Honor Society: Junior to Senior Year
-Sophomore/Junior Retreat Leader: Junior/Senior Year </p>
<p>Volunteer Work: Close to 500 hours over 4 years
-Planning to be a Camp Counselor at my school's 6 week camp for poor/underprivileged children: Junior and Senior Year (125+ hours each year)
-Over 200 additional hours serving in the Youth Ministry of my church over 4 years
-Other volunteer work in freshman and sophomore year (around 30 hours)</p>
<p>How good are you at each? How meaningful are these to you? That matters more than what you did and how many activities you have in each category.</p>
<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says
You ask “would they be able to stand out at top colleges”. Keeping in mind I’m not and have never been an adcom, I’m going to say no. As Cal Newport writes
Amassing 500 hours of volunteer work (700 if you add on the church) has helped your community, but I don’t see it reaching the level of leadership and achievement top colleges can find among their applicants. Suppose, for example, you had instead spent only 150 hours in volunteer work but in those 150 hours you founded a group that got 100 HS kids to volunteer 1 week (40 hours) apiece in an underprivileged camp. For one thing 4,000 hours to the community dwarfs what you did on your own. Second it shows leadership and no doubt you would have been recognized on a county or even state level for starting the program. The point is top colleges ARE going to get apps from kids that went out and started things, not just piled up a bunch of hours. My 2 cents, anyway…</p>
<p>For the schools you are talking about, probably fine. This issue for more competitive schools that look at ECs could be that everything is in the hs or via church- you haven’t told us about your community impact or anything besides the school newspaper that relates to journalism, writing or deadlines. </p>
Can’t agree with that last statement. Tons of kids go into college undecided for majors and they don’t suffer from that. Colleges don’t really care if your EC’s are related to something you might major in, they care if at least a couple of them are things you really enjoy and care about, like possibly the newspaper and track in your case, and it is a plus if you show some leadership as well, like the Honor Council, I presume.</p>
<p>@castle027 - I also agree with lookingforward that it would be a bigger plus if you could show that you were involved with community service beyond the Youth Ministry of your church, which is of course a fine thing to do. But if, in the course of leading that group, you helped in soup kitchens or nursing homes or organized meal deliveries for shut-ins or worked with kids that are really sick, etc. then I would make that very clear.</p>
<p>The thing about doing something for your possible major is, well, it can show you got up and did something beyond the hs four walls, its opportunities and scheduling. It can help to “show, not tell” your interest and drive. Not always important in the humanities. But journalism is a bit different. Poli Sci is another example where a kid can somehow get involved outside school. Other interest areas, too.</p>
<p>Church or other religious orgs are good. For many kids, it’s a long term commitment. But it’s also often family influence. FC and I are, I think, agreeing: your actual service could be broken into the largest project areas, where you worked hands-on with others’ needs. </p>
<p>Just to be clear, I am not saying that doing EC’s that involve a potential major is in any way bad, of course. I am just saying that I don’t think that is generally something most schools think about when they look at EC’s, especially since admissions people know students change majors all the time. I can see that for journalism school, selection of a student for admission would certainly be enhanced by having already done some. Poli Sci I am not as convinced that it would matter in the least if you had worked on someone’s campaign or not, for example. And certainly if you are thinking about engineering or architecture, while it might be nice if you had an EC that somehow related to those majors, most kids certainly do not. So IMO, at least, I would just focus on EC’s you really enjoy.</p>
<p>There is a myth in college admissions. Most college bound students think that colleges want well rounded students. That is not true. They want well rounded student bodies. A few scientist, a few writers, a few dancers, a few artists, and yes, a few athletes. If you have focused your studies and activities in one area, you have a better shot of getting in. </p>
<p>No, I think the recent CC myth is they want rounded student bodies. They don’t need a collection of outliers or these kids who focus on the lab and those who just want watch foreign films. Being willing to try some different things in hs can show more willingness to explore and more interests, in general. </p>
<p>Not all colleges care so much, of course. But when they do, it’s good to show. A wannabe engineer who takes a stab at a play- why not? That dancer might like writing for the school paper. It doesn’t dilute, it expands. Vibrant communities are made of vibrant people.</p>
<p>Unless you are doing Liberal Arts, colleges DO NOT want well rounded students. Yeah they may take a few here and there, but elite colleges don’t want the soccer playing, violinist. </p>
<p>Elite and low acceptance colleges genuinely care about people who are specialists. It may be nice to think colleges want vibrant communities with happy and driven students, but the American education system is a business and colleges try to maximize. </p>
<p>Also, this is a quote from a 2012 Forbes article. </p>
<p>“Colleges want the well-rounded class, not the well-rounded kid – The worst-kept secret of college admission is that colleges are looking for the well-rounded class, not the well-rounded kid. They want some real scholars for every department; some superb athletes; some great musicians and actors; a few rich kids whose parents can build a library wing; and some legacies to keep the alumni happy. The applicant who is attractive but not really special in any one category is going to have a much tougher time getting in.”</p>
<p>^AB, you are quoting a youtube by someone selling his study program?! And some lawyer who wrote a book and doesn’t tell us he ever worked in admissions?</p>
<p>Perhaps the problem here is trying to generalize about this issue when most likely each admissions department approaches things somewhat differently? Discuss.</p>
<p>True, the top colleges vary in terms of what they’re looking for (Caltech, for example, cares a lot more about math/science than about other things) but they don’t have a set model for applicants to follow. In the end, of course, colleges do evaluate the applicants’ story in terms of their own interests but those interests are tough to predict and tend to be similar (although the traits they look for officially vary between colleges)- so looking at the story in terms of how well it would be received by “top colleges” in general isn’t much more of a flawed analysis than looking at it in terms of how a specific college would see it. That said, there is going to be variation between LACs and NUs, probably.</p>
<p>@lookingforward Lol I mean, it’s pretty plausible. Look at the prices of colleges these days. I think there’s no doubt that money is what is #1 to them. </p>
<p>@fallenchemist I definitely think that every college has their own wants for students. But when we are talking about highly selective colleges, they tend to accept students who already know what they want to do in the future</p>
<p>I’m planning on majoring in journalism in college and am probably going to take a journalism class at my high school next year so that I can join my school newspaper. However, I was worried that participating in the newspaper for only my senior year (you have to take the class before you can join) would look bad to colleges. Will colleges understand that it’s not an attempt to “pad” my application if I also indicate that I plan on majoring in journalism?? </p>
<p>@castle027 - well, when the alternative is to do nothing, I think doing it is definitely preferable. Besides, while I cannot say this with any authority, it does seem to me like I have heard that many schools restrict being on the school paper to seniors because the number of people that want to do it easily exceeds the number of positions needed. So it might not be that unusual for a college to see that.</p>