<p>I’m a compE at Georgia Tech, and the best computer-oriented people I know didn’t have much any high school computing ECs, mainly because while a school might have one or two people with the computer skills, it’s rare to get enough enthusiasts to do much with it! But the people I know got into basically every top engineering school you can name (MIT, caltech, stanford - they’re GAtech president’s scholars) despite a lack of computer ECs. Don’t stress that - it’ll show in your interview remarks and writing more than a list of clubs.</p>
<p>As you mentioned, it might be worthwhile trying to start a computer science club. I’m the president of a cs related club at my school and we’ve worked with middle school students who are particularly interested in cs and taught them how to use Alice and some Java. There’s a foundation around where I live that focuses on giving families computers when they can’t afford them and we’ve worked with the children of those families to teach them the basics about computers. So try and look for an organization in your area that helps the community in computer related areas. Also check to see if any colleges nearby have programming competitions for high school students. My school has been to the competitions at Loyola (MD) and UMD. You most likely won’t need a ton of students to go to the competitions, just four or so.</p>
<p>Oh and another thing, try and learn about a new topic in cs over the summer independently. One summer I essentially taught myself the entire AP CS curriculum and I’ve also spent some time learning about GUI’s, graphics, and game programming. You could also try learning a new language. This isn’t an extracurricular, but it’s something that you can mention in an essay or during an interview that helps to show your passion for the subject.</p>
<p>okay, I know carnegies computer science is intense, like they accept about 600 and because they’re tied with MIT they expect half of that to go to MIT and then plan for a class of more than 300 (maybe more this year). So they’re crazy intense with computers, I didn’t realize that till after I applied and was rejected (but I put it as my second choice after their engineering school, which was what I wanted and accepted into and I was like “what? how am I rejected to the backup school?”). But really for that one just play up your creativity and do really well on the math SAT. They’d like it if you wrote about your love of track and running, the good AP Computer class will help prove your knowledge and if you have an interview you can explain more of your situation at school about the lack of computer clubs. I don’t think senior year is a good time to start a club, especially if you’re the only one really interested at school. Just play up the areas you do have like the track and volunteering.</p>
<p>
AuburnMathTutor already said it but … Open source is a great resource to learn from … I would say that you would learn the most from it as well (opposed to some most BS clubs) … and I have been told personally from a couple of HR dept. that students with Open Source work on their resume are highly regarded. Whether or not computer science departments actually share the same opinion (they should!), I do not know.</p>
<p>But it couple possibly take over a month or even more to become really acquainted with a project, not sure how much time you have.</p>
<p>
Yes, thats why I like software … you can get started and make something pretty great with only time invested.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no requirement that your ECs reflect your intended major. Where does that come from? </p>
<p>Indeed, looking like a very well rounded, or at least INTERESTING and DIFFERENT sort of student who is following their actually interests- rather than some some sort of prescribed resume padding formula- is going to have a much better chance.</p>
<p>Anyone can start a club. Its so cliche as to be meaningless. It’s only value is if you do something substantial with the club (ie. demonstrate real leadership) that it would be indicative of anything. </p>
<p>What do you ENJOY doing besides your coursework? Follow it. That is the point of ECs.</p>
<p>One thing that I absolutely LOVE and am extremely passionate about is the ambulance corps. that I volunteer for. Currently I am only in the youth corps., but once I turn 18 I really want to be a senior corps. member, and perhaps take an EMT class. I’d also love to continue this in college, since I know a bunch of schools actually have volunteer EMS programs.</p>
<p>Do you think that would look good, even for an engineering school?</p>
<p>You do not have to let engineering related things to consume your life in order to get into a good school. In fact, that would probably be a bad idea. I’ve heard that many of the more selective schools are looking for well rounded students.</p>
<p>As an example, the ambulance corps thing sounds very interesting. I’m sure someone at <em>SELECTIVE SCHOOL</em> would much rather hear about your passion for that rather than hear about how someone built a robot for the 100th time that day.</p>
<p>For CS: There are online coding contests you can get involved in. (Mentioned in cc before but I don’t recall it right now, I’m sure somebody does or a search will turn it up.) Making apps for the Android phone. There’s probably a CS type Olympiad too. Even things like involvement with wikipedia moderation would show passion. Campaign against net neutrality or write letters to ICANN supporting new top level domain names or something.
For engineering: there’s the FIRST robotics competition, etc.
There are some ACM or IEEE high school activities you could also get involved with.</p>
<p>Is it just me or does this stuff seem just… stupid? I mean, I know that school is important and all and that trying to look good for MIT Stanford and Caltech is the goal but… it seems like all these things are so superficial and unnecessary that it starts to be something that you just do to add to your resume.</p>
<p>Just some thoughts. It struck me when I was reading the above posts about coding contests… like a CS olympiad? It struck me as such an odd thing… I always made programs because it was fun and I loved doing it. Which makes me think about things like science olympiad… don’t people do physics just for fun? I think it was rocketDA that mentioned once that he got an internship at NASA or something right after high school or during… I was shocked. He must’ve really been interested in rocketry (something October Sky-like about it, heh).</p>
<p>I’m rambling, but I feel like I had to share my thoughts on this. If your only goal is to get into a top school, then fine. But if you really love doing these things, I think it’s pointless to have to ‘show’ people how great you are at it. At some point in the advanced levels, it’ll show. It’s like sports: if you’re good enough, eventually the right people will notice and you’ll get somewhere with it. Sure it’s good to plan ahead and make an effort, but sometimes it just gets too much, politics get in the way, kid teams are run by coaches who are making a living off of the success of their team of 12-year-olds. I see the same sort of thing in college admissions and the applicants’ attempts to stand out. For god’s sake, who cares??</p>
<p>Just ask yourself:</p>
<p>For CS major:
Do you like sitting in front of a computer all the time?</p>
<p>For CpE major:
Do you like physics and electrical stuff, and at the same time enjoy programming?</p>