How important are Extracurriculars

Ok so i’m a junior at a public highschool, but i do not have any outstanding extracurriculars because i always have to help outta my family’s restaurant from 3pm to 9pm everyday after school and i work full time on the weekends. the only club i joined at school is women in computer science club. My unweighted GPA is a 3.92 and my weighted GPA is a 4.75. my class rank is 25/165 and i’m taking a lot of AP Classes. My question is what are my chances of getting into top universities like Cornell and NYU. Also, what are my chances of getting into universities like Pitt and Penn State Main. Thank you.

As long as your grades and your test scores are excellent, your EC may actually be the “helping out” your parents after school. It would certainly be an interesting topic to write in one of your college essays. So I think you would still have a chance at the schools you mention as long as the schools are made aware of your family situation.

Thank you so much. This has always been a part where I’m worried the most since my counselors always make a big deal out of extracurriculars and i know i lack extracurriculars. I tried to attend clubs but because my parents immigrants and they aren’t fluent in english i spent a lot of time at the restaurant helping them out.