<p>As the title says, how important are extra curricular activities at US unis? Surely the just want the equivalent of 10A*s at GCSE and 4As at A-level (British qualifications)?</p>
<p>I was speaking to someone applying to Harvard and they said that extra-curriculars are almost as important as high grades, and there is a lot of emphasis on ECs. Is this true? At my Oxford interview they didn't ask me anything about my 6th form sports teams and didn't seem concearned that my extra-curricular activities, whilst still pretty impressive, weren't as numerous or in depth as some of the lists that I've seen on these boards.</p>
<p>ECs are important, in the sense they give admissions people a glimpse into what makes you tick, what your passions are besides studies,etc. Now if your passion is academics, did you go beyond the ordinary and do research or something.On the other hand, for instance, if your passion is football, were you able to play at a 2nd league club(or were you the captain of your 6th form team?), yet still maintain OK grades?("OK grades" as in very good grades, but maybe not exceptionally good ones)</p>
<p>From reading about the admissions processes at elite universitites, what i've gleaned is that you can be an "academic" admit, meaning you're potentially one of the most exciting future scholars in your discipline. OR, you're a more normal admit. In this case, you'd basically have to look "solid" academically, after which they basically judge you on personal qualities.(coz so many candidates look solid academically!) So in many many cases it comes down to personal qualities--traits that are presented by your teacher recommendations, school report, essays, interview, how passionately you've pursued whatever you believe in and are excited about,etc,etc...</p>
<p>gaahhh i've written way too much. Anyways, what were your A levels? And did you do edexcel? I did A levels too, so we're in the same boat i guess..err, kinda..anyways cheers!</p>
<p>p.s. oxford and US college admissions are two totally different ball games..well not even ball games as such--they're more like cricket and wrestling--absolutely NO similarities!( or maybe they can be similar, like if you're like the type that wants to wrestle with the "stupid umpire", or that sorta thing....hmm interesting...)</p>
<p>Yes ECs matter a lot, but if you're an international, the colleges you apply to will understand that it may not be as important where you're from - so not having as many ECs as an American student won't kill you.</p>
<p>there are many many internationals with gr8 ECs, so maybe the colleges will understand, but they'd still wanna know what you've been doing with your free time??(and whether you did that thing pasionately)</p>
<p>like AboutTime said, the two processes are quite different. US colleges look at applicants in a much more holistic way, so they look not just at grades and scores but at extracurricular involvement, community service, sports, competitions, etc. There are no real cut-offs or score/ranking requirements. US schools also look very closely at the personal essay, which is different from the British essays. However, no scary interviews :D</p>
<p>AboutTime are you applying to a US uni then, if so which one(s)? I'm not actually applying myself (The cost is ridiculous) but know people who are and was just interested in how the two admissions processes compare.</p>
<p>ECs are kind of a misnomer - the most selective colleges aren't looking for lists of clubs, but rather evidence that the applicant has accomplished something outside of the classroom, or has the potential to do so. They like things that indicate high levels of accomplishment and passion, that show leadership quality, and/or that demonstrate a commitment to one's community. Killer ECs are often referred to as "hooks" - if you published a novel, soloed at Carnegie Hall, or founded a homeless shelter in a community that lacked one, you've got a serious hook. Most applicants DON'T have that kind of activity on their resume, of course, but it's all a matter of degree.</p>
<p>Once you get outside a few dozen very selective universities, admissions tend to be more dependent on academic stats, particularly at public universities.</p>
<p>EC are a way for colleges to distinguish the 4.0 valedictorians from each other. Granted, it usually only those schools with tens of thousands of applicants that place such importance on them.</p>
<p>Chris my friend, YES, the costs do look ridiculous. BUT, there are like 6 american universities which, in the case of international students, officially pledge to meet every damn penny that you may require to attend. Say your dad can come up with a few hundred thousand pounds for your studies. In this case, you've got to pay the whole thing to attend the college(which comes to an aggregate of approx 48000 US dollars).Say your dad cant pay a single dime, then they DEFINITELY are going to give you all the financial aid you need(yes, they ARE able to give quite a handful of international students all the money they would need to study, eat, and live at the college!). Sounds nice right!--umm not really--it's insanely difficult to get admissions into the top colleges; infact, I daresay that the top 10 american colleges are much more difficult to get into than either oxford or cambridge, but that's just my opinion...</p>
<p>Where am i applying?--umm lets see--colby, oberlin, university of pennsylvania,cornell , 3 other pretty unknown colleges, and i guess that's it...oops wait,i forgot one--i think it's called something like haarvd or something....yeahhh i'm not a big fan of this wierdly named college called harrrvrad, hence i keep forgetting that i will apply there. but yeah i definitely will apply there coz the name's kinda funny..</p>
<p>if your friend did 4 alevels, what were the subjects..i'm just curious...
ok bye</p>
<p>I think ECs are important, but they won't cover up things like SAT or GPA, unless they are truly amazing (eg national-level science research, or somethingl like that)</p>
<p>It really depends where you're from. If you're from the great britain area, ECs are pretty much expected. If you're from any of the asian countries such as china, korea, admissions understand that it's pretty difficult to juggle ECs and school work together.
However, even if an asian applicant from china/korea/etc does not have any ECs, awards and honors are the things that allow the applicant to stand out from the bunch of international asian applicants - especially places like harvard.
Plus, 4 A's at A levels dont seem that competitive either (again, for places like HYP). If you come to the International forum, you'll see a lot of applicants with 5+ A levels. But if 4 A levels were the most rigorous course load at your school, I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine.</p>
<p>NoFX, i beg to defer. 4 A levels are pretty darn rigorous. Those who are doing 5 or 6 mostly have "fluffy" subjects (like the general studies A level, which imo is crap).</p>
<p>Yes 4 A levels are rigorous but I'm just saying that I've come across people on cc who's taken 5+ A levels.
At my school, there's quite a lot of people who will have finished 5 A levels by the end of their senior year (speaking in terms of the british system: IGCSE math in year 10, AS math in year 11, allowing A level in year 12, then 3 A levels in year 13, and 1 extra A level will be open for space since A level Maths will have been completed in year 12 - hope that makes sense..).
A couple of people will finish 6 by senior year. I've never seen one with 7 in my school as it's not allowed, but I've seen a couple on the intel board.</p>
<p>The British unis give 3 A-level offers because they don't want to be unfair to the people from schools which only do 3 A-levels. That's why for people entering sixth form in 2008 they're introducing an A* grade at A-level. (Having heard this I now feel a bit annoyed they didn't do it sooner because I want my A-levels to match my GCSEs on job applications etc, oh well lol.)</p>
<p>Off-topic but... are A'Level marks at all considered? For example, when you have two applicants with 4 As each, then will the one with significantly higher marks in all subjects get the nod? Or are marks ignored altogether?</p>
<p>They don't have access to the actual marks, just the overall grades on the UCAS form (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service form). Cambridge now ask for the marks on a supplimentary form and I think Oxford are planning the same thing for next year.</p>
<p>The place they can make a distinction is with GCSEs because not many get straight A* grades in all their exams. Also, a lot of subjects now have a written test at the Oxbridge interview designed to test how you think instead of what you have been taught.</p>
<p>The interviews are apparently the largest factor in the decision process. They ask you a random question and then effectivley ask 'why?' after your answers a couple of times, though they phrase it differently of course. Then when you're in an area they can see you've never thought about before and have no knowledge of; they question you on it. They give you some information, they expect to need to give you help and if you don't need help on that particular question they'll ask you another until you do need assistance. The purpose is to see how well you think for yourself on your feet, not regurgitating taught knowledge, and to see how you would do in one of their tutorials (One or two students per teacher).</p>