<p>I am planning to transfer to a four-year university. I have almost completed my Associates and my high school studies; since I have been putting the bulk of my effort into academics, I have not been doing many EC activities. My teachers have told me to put academics in front of EC. Do you know how college deans at public state universities view EC? I can see how they may think that someone who partakes in many extracurricular activities AND maintains decent grades is good at prioritizing their time. Would colleges be willing to overlook my lack of EC if I managed to earn an A.S. by my HS graduation?</p>
<p>Hi WonderGirl,</p>
<p>I don’t think ECs will make that big of a difference, unless you are a borderline case. I had a pretty good list of ECs and I still didn’t get into two of the four schools I applied to, when I was in a similar situation. Unfortunately, I don’t think colleges find the whole HS + college thing that impressive. Or at least the two I applied to didn’t. I’ll share some information about myself and you can draw your own conclusions.</p>
<p>Last year I completed my A.S. degree from the Honors program at a local CC one month before my high school graduation. I had a 4.0 GPA, and a lot of extra-curricular activities (the biggest one probably being my community service - I was president for two years of a community service club I started, participated in an AmeriCorps program, completing over 500 hours of service in less than a year, was the event chair of a Relay For Life held at my college, won the top graduation award for service and involvement, my club won Club of the Year, etc.). I think my extracurriculars were probably the biggest thing I had going for me. Although I had a 4.0 GPA, my course load wasn’t very rigorous since I was trying to meet high school requirements at the same time. I applied to four schools: Ursinus College and Dickinson College (accepted to both, but couldn’t afford either), and Harvard and Williams College (rejected by Harvard, wait listed by Williams). </p>
<p>If you are only looking at public state universities, then I think your experience will be quite different from mine. I’m pretty sure the biggest deciding factor will be your GPA in that case. Also, I don’t know what difference applying as a transfer applicant instead of a freshman applicant will make. However, the two things I can say for sure are don’t assume that the HS + college combo will automatically get you in somewhere, and apply to more than four schools (if you can afford it) ! </p>
<p>I hope this helps you, and good luck!</p>
<p>Well, I am not planning on applying to prestigious, private universities, but I appreciate your advice. I am currently maintaining a 4.0 G.P.A. and intend to take the most rigorous courses that would apply to my degree and interest me. I am considering majoring in BME. I am probably going to look at some public universities. Do you have any idea how much letters of recommendation are valued? A couple professors have offered to give me recommendation letters. Just out of curiosity.</p>
<p>OP, are you a senior in HS? Did you not apply to colleges this last fall? Will you be at a college/university this coming fall? Or do you plan on a gap-year?</p>