<p>Right now im a junior in high school and i have a decent GPA of about a 3.2, but i have some really great accomplishments... </p>
<p>I'm on the Pennsylvania Thespian State Board
The Great Pittston (my town) Drug Coalition
Class Officer
Treasurer of SADD/TATU (Students against destructive decisions and Teens against Tabacco use)
Secretary of FBLA</p>
<p>Among other things...
I was just wondering if they would account when it comes to looking at my college application and if they would really help all that much?</p>
<p>ECs always help as they show your interests, passions, and accomplishments; however, the most important thing that colleges look at is one’s GPA. It doesn’t matter how many clubs your in, sports you’ve played, or leadership positions you’ve held if you don’t have a good GPA.</p>
<p>The vast majority of colleges won’t regard ECs at all in their determination of offers. Only the tippy-top few place weight in ECs. What are some of the schools you’re targeting?</p>
<p>Usually state universities make admissions decisions overwhelmingly based on: whether you’ve taken the required coursework, your state of residence (in-state is referred), and your gpa, scores, and possibly your class rank. ECs (except for recruited athletes) aren’t considered for admission, but may be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>Private universities are more holistic and don’t favor in state applicants. Still, gpa and coursework are the most important thing on one’s transcript. That’s because the college most of all want to make sure that accepted students are able to succeed in the academic work of colleges.</p>
<p>Test scores are next – for schools that consider them. ECs may tip a student in for admissions, and also will count for merit aid for the schools offering that.</p>
<p>It’s only the most select colleges – the ones like Harvard that get an overabundance of applicants with outstanding stats – that are able to pick and choose among applicants to create lively campuses that are diverse including in terms of student-run extracurriculars.</p>
<p>That is true. These ECs are helping to shape you into a fine young person who will contribute and make the world a better place.</p>
<p>However… college is about academics, which are generally measured in GPA. Your GPA says you are a good student, not a very good student, not an excellent student.</p>
<p>Trust the admissions system. Colleges who will accept you are the colleges where you are most likely to do well and thrive. Don’t waste your time thinking about getting into colleges full of 3.7, 3.9 and above gpa students. Before you even start college do you want your competition to be that far ahead of you?</p>
<p>As far as EC’s, my suggestion is to do what you are passionate about. This will enhance your life overall and help create great experiences for you to write about, that said, GPA and test scores are really the main component (as said above many times). Just make sure you have a good selection of schools where your own gpa/scores fit…ie: reach/match/likely - this is what I did and it played out. Got into 1 reach, 2 matches, 1 likely (withdrew the rest once I made a decision-before they sent their decisions)</p>