<p>Hi,I'm new here!
I am currently in 11th grade(ISC).
What I want to know is how important are extra curricular activities and does it matter if a candidate has great grades.I have not done much extra curricular activities :(
Moreover can anyone suggest what EC I can do in a year?
Thank You in advance.:)</p>
<p>They are VERY important</p>
<p>US colleges have a very holistic approach to education. This means that extra-curriculars are all important. Great grades matter, too, but only marks and SAT scores will not get you anywhere (based on my knowledge, that is). There are colleges like MIT where academics take more precedence over other things, but in general you need good ECs. </p>
<p>There are literally hundreds of ECs you can do. You could do music (vocal or instrumental), dance, art, public speaking, just about anything. Find something you are passionate about and go for it! If you know what major you’re going for, then doings ECs related to that could give you an edge. For example, if you want to do computer engineering, designing websites (maybe for your school, for school clubs, or for local organisations) would look good on your application.</p>
<p>Also remember that it is not just ECs but also leadership that matters. If you could found a new club in your school or spearhead a volunteering project, that would be great. Speaking of volunteering, even community service is favourably looked upon, but don’t just do it for the sake of it. Again, make it related to your field if possible (volunteer in a hospital if you want to become a doctor, for example).</p>
<p>If you can, take AP exams in addition to your SATs, and try taking them early so that you don’t get over-burdened in 12th grade. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you Khione for your valuable help!:)</p>
<p>You’re welcome :)</p>
<p>Well, for MIT, Intl. Olympiad Medals seem to be pretty much a requirement (for Indian students at least), so that’s technically an extracurricular, albeit one strongly related to academics.</p>
<p>depends on where you are applying…</p>
<p>quiverfox,what do you mean?
</p>
<p>what major/university???</p>
<p>I’m still in the selection phase(I’m a 19’er) but I will pursue a major in Computer Science (you can recommend some colleges too,:D)</p>
<p>comp Sc. Ok so it is one of the toughest majors around…hope you are aware of that.
You should know the ranking so I won’t go by that.
EC’s in terms of Coding/programming are very important…Try codechef, practice and make something cool…not the next facebook as such but at least a compiler…(even I could do it…so It’ll be easy:))
Try out the informatics olympiad too</p>
<p>Will it be okay if I can get up to the national level in the olympiad?</p>
<p>can you is the question…</p>
<p>Quiver, I think which olympiad he/she performs in is a much bigger worry.</p>