I’m a freshman and I’m aiming for selective colleges/ BS/MD programs. However, the only extracurriculars that I have are science related. How do I look for extracurriculars that colleges would find interesting and would show that I’m well-rounded?
you don’t - there is no magic pill for picking ec’s. Colleges want to know what you enjoy and are passionate about but that is something you need to figure out for yourself.
Not all ec’s or even any ec’s need to be connected to school. Think about what is available in your area and think about ways to get involved and what sounds interesting to you.
Do you have any senior housing? Can you be a friendly visitor, read to seniors etc
Do you have a food pantry/soup kitchen? Can you volunteer?
What recreational programs are available - if your too old to participate can you volunteer?
Can you help with an after school middle school program doing science experiements?
Does your city have a youth civic program?
Think about not science clubs at school - maybe more will interest you.
However you do not need to do tons of ecs - you want quality over tons of quantity.
What you do doesn’t matter - it is how you grow with it showing passion, dedication, and leadership.
Seek out extracurriculars that YOU find interesting.
Just agreeing with the other posters. Colleges have seen just about every EC out there. The key is to find ECs that you love, that you will then stay with, be “deep” with them, progress with them. So go with what you are excited about and want to dig into.
“How do I look for extracurriculars that colleges would find interesting”
As others have said, you don’t.
Universities want you to have done well at whatever ECs you do. The point is not to pick the right ECs. The point is to do very well at the ECs that you do. If you like the EC that you are participating in, you are more likely to do it well.
Like everyone has stated. They look for interesting people, not interesting ecs.
Write down the things that matter to you. Use google to see if there something locally that fits. Even better is when there isn’t and you make it happen.
Also I know there is a website out there that lists these types of things. One student I know used it to get involved in representing a national group as the local rep against distracted driving. It mattered to him. They put together events at the school and helped to save some lives. I know it was also consistent with his values. It came out during application season. I always thought he and the ec were equally interesting.
Find an EC that you find interesting and do something with it that would force a college to find your participation to be interesting.
You don’t. You find ECs that YOU will find interesting.
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
http://www.examiner.com/review/be-a-relaxed-high-school-superstar