Hey everyone. I’m currently a junior right now and I wanted to see how I could improve my ECs. Please keep in mind I want to apply to selective colleges so please be honest. So far this is what I have:
-Girl Scout: completed bronze and silver award, working on Gold, been active since elementary school
-Key Club(the equivalent of a volunteering club): been active all throughout high school, plan on joining to board this year
-Art honors society: Just joined last year, currently running for secretary
-English Honors Society: just joined this year and plan on staying next year
-Social studies honor society: same for English
-Soccer Referee: this is my job currently
-Art Club: just joined this year, plan on being more active next year, currently painting a mural at our school
-Writer: I write for fun, I’m actually currently writing a book, do you think colleges will care about this?
-Artist: I sometimes do commissions
That’s pretty much it for now, what should I work on, or is this okay? Any other advice?
Also:
I’d like to find some new extracurricular that align with what I’m interested in. I love art, reading, writing, volunteering, photography, anything along those lines. Can’t seem to find many activities that align with that, any thoughts?
b u m p
what colleges r u applying to?
Still doing research but some I have in mind are NYU, Boston College/University, University of Rochester, and similar schools. However, i’d like to see how my ECs compare to those applying to even more selective colleges
To answer your question about the book, actually publishing one is generally considered to be a major boost in admissions.
I think your ECs are fine for those colleges. The very top colleges are often looking for something that stands out more in terms of awards or accomplishments. Your book might matter if it is published – you can still mention it in your apps either way.
Thanks! I definitely plan on mentioning it. And this summer I’m going to try to be more proactive: maybe do an internship or attend a summer program, or at least juggle another job or volunteer opportunity as well as apply for awards (more specifically essay contests, which are my favorite)
If you have a museum in your city, you might want to do an internship/volunteer. As for a summer program. look into a writing program. Some good ones are Kenyon, Univ of Iowa and Sewanee
Thanks! I’ll definitely look into that!
Improving grades and test scores is more important than “improving” ECs.
Well of course, but at this point I’m doing pretty well with my grades and I’m not taking any standardized tests until next year so I’m trying to keep up with ECs in the meantime!
My daughter is very active with art ECs, and here are some of the things she is doing: assistant teach kids’ art classes at a local art gallery, enter the Scholastic Art and Writing contest (deadline is early December), worked on a public art exhibit in our town, try to have her works featured in a juried art show. She also takes art classes outside school. There’s plenty you can do if you are interested in art.
Wow thanks so much! I’ll definitely look into that Scholastic Art and Writing contest!