<p>Hey everyone in the college confidential community! (I'm a first time user!!)</p>
<pre><code> I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and my dream school is Princeton. I'm trying to find ways to bump up my application while I still have time. I do extracurriculars (track, tennis, debate, forensics, newspaper; and I started them all last year and plan to continue through senior year), and my GPA and grades are good too. But I'm having trouble finding something CREATIVE that will make me stand out. I really want to find something that no one in my school has done. Does anyone have any innovative ideas for me? I'm pretty good at all subjects EXCEPT science (chem, bio, physics etc...) I'm really open to anything (internships, jobs, competitions/contests, starting a club or organization etc...)
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<p>And thank you in advance to anyone who replies :-)</p>
<p>p.s. I'm desperate...</p>
<p>Win an international level competition, cure cancer, get an internship at Goldman Sachs, and more incredibly hard ways lol</p>
<p>Starting a club is a GREAT idea. It shows leadership and initiative, which is great. Pick something- ANYTHING- you're interested in, and create a club. </p>
<p>It's also not a bad idea to get a summer or weekend job. You might be able to be a camp counselor, or work in retail somewhere.</p>
<p>Also, community service! You don't have to have 5000 hours, but it's good to "do good" even if it's only a little. Community service could be almost anything. You say you're good at most subjects, so maybe you could start tutoring elementary or middle school kids. Or you could volunteer at a nursing home or soup kitchen. </p>
<p>Also, make sure to work extra hard in science classes. They may be difficult, but that doesn't mean you should slack off.</p>
<p>Get your but up from your computer go and Stand Out!!!(side)</p>
<p>First, and foremost and REPEATEDLY understand that Path 2.0 is usually an improvement on Path 1.0 and Path 12.0 may really, truly be the real you.
What is it that makes Princeton sing to you? A particular program? A strong sense of snobbism? You visited the campus and loved the buildings? If it's the "snobbism" or "I wanna be an elite XXX" then there are lots of places where that is possible. (Quite frankly, if you wanted to be the most elite explosive engineer on the planet you really, really should consider going to NM Tech in Socorro NM. And if you wanted to be the most elite chef in the world, then a Cordon Bleu school . . . </p>
<p>You can do everything in the world you can think of to make yourself a Princeton person, including getting a tiger tatooed on your butt -- and still not get in. You are far, far better off figuring out what makes your heart sing and then pursue that along with the best grades in the toughest classes your high school has to offer. Then, no matter where you land, you will be a passionate, prepared student. </p>
<p>Think of middle school dances. Who does the Hot Dude ask to dance? The really, really desperate girl who is dripping with sweat, begging "please, please, please pick me because I massively have a crush on you" or the smiling, happy girl who ARRIVES with the air of "I'm here and I am going to have SO much fun tonight." ?</p>
<p>You have a crush on Princeton. OK. Fine. Maybe that will work out. But it'd be very smart to recognize that it is a crush and then start a more intellectual list of the qualities that are important to you -- and realize how many places have those qualities.
(Are you SURE you're not a SWATTIE? Swarthmore draws motivated, brainy people who are a bit . . .choosier than most). Good luck!</p>
<p>well assuming you dnt have this incredle talent, professional opera singer/olympic swimmer or just native american, i would recommend a unique community service project.
for example i went to ghana over my junior summer and taught english at a local orphanage.
im sure noone else in ur school would do that.plus its a great thing to do. gl.</p>
<p>You stand out by not only getting high grades and scores, but by identifying and pursuing your passions as creatively and as in depth as you can.</p>
<p>This means you may have to sample a variety of things to find out what you really love.</p>
<p>It doesn't mean mindlessly piling up lots of community service hours in a quest to impress colleges. If you love community service or want to make a difference, certainly pursue that interest. But don't just do random hours to try to impress colleges. Top colleges are far more impressed by the impact of your EC, service, sports, church, etc. activities -- impact on you and on others -- than they are impressed by the amount of hours or years you've spent doing those activities.</p>
<p>Pursuing your own interests -- no matter how quirky or typical -- is what's important, and doing so in the manner that I have suggested.</p>
<p>Frankly, most people lack the confidence to do this, so if you do this while also having excellent stats, you stand out in admissions and also have a far more fulfilling life than do people who do only what they think will interest colleges.</p>
<p>Islanders' idea of having a unique community service probably won't impress colleges. Top colleges aren't impressed by students whose affluent parents pay big bucks to send them to do CS abroad. Top colleges also aren't particularly impressed by students who return to their parents' home countries during summers, and then do CS there -- CS that probably was arranged by their relatives.</p>
<p>Top colleges are impressed by students who create local CS projects out of their own interest. For instance, getting your NHS to do a fundraiser for a charity that you care about could be impressive, and typically would take more organizational work, leadership and creativity than would participating in a packaged, expensive service project abroad, and admissions officers at top colleges realize this.</p>