<p>I'm going to be a senior in the upcoming school year and I just want to know if ECs are that important because mine really aren't very impressive:</p>
<p>Yearbook staff member
Memory Bridge Participant (volunteer with Alzheimer's patients)
Library Volunteer
Nursing Home Volunteer</p>
<p>All my classes were honors or AP (except for PE), but my gpa/test scores aren't that great either:
4.63 weighted
28 on ACT (i'm going to retake it in sept.)</p>
<p>I'm not trying to get into the ivies or anything, but should I be worried? Do you think I'll get many scholarships with these stats? This is probably a stupid question, but is there anything at all I can do to improve my ECs at this point?</p>
<p>There are some terrific schools that do not care about ECs, as you’ll find out on almost any CC thread discussing this issue. Your best bets include the public schools – schools like UMichigan and Berkeley are absolutely fantastic on their own, as far as academic rigor and opportunities, and a lot of very smart people end up at these schools. The flip side is that a lot of not so smart are in both too, and one of the attractions of the best Ivy Leagues is that a higher percentage of the schools are full of rather smart individuals. </p>
<p>I don’t know about scholarships – the one thing about those is that if you’re needy, more people will be out to help you, but it does help to have something EC-ish to write about in application essays.</p>
<p>Gosh – I may be missing some critical details here, but volunteering in nursing homes, libraries, and a companionship program for Alzheimer’s patients sounds pretty “impressive” to me. Not sure why you’re selling this short.</p>
<p>If you want to kick it to a higher level this year, you might try combining your skills and service in a creative way that will leave a legacy. Go beyond just showing up. Does the nursing home or the library need any documentation for future volunteers? What about a newsletter for the nursing home to send to its residents’ families? Or a project to help families make scrapbooks for the residents? Anything that shows initiative and creativity, and makes an impact that will last after you’re gone, would add an interesting dimension to your resume (and be more personally rewarding to you).</p>