Wow, this post is a master piece.
AWESOME & THANX SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH
i just recently got a job about a month ago, is it worth putting that on the application where it says work experience?
Great Thread.
I would up your karma etc w/e reputuation if i could
this is something a lot of people should know
OMG This thread is really helpful. Now I got a idea of what to write in my resume.
About how hard is NYU to get into on a scale? The online charts seem to be very vague. I got a 2040 on my sats (cr: 670 m: 660 w: 710) and i have an unweighted GPA of about 3.65 and my rank is like 110 / 442 the reason is because i took some of the hardest courses at my school. Do i have a chance? and how good. I will have a good essay, and 2 interships one at San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Services for Brain Injury Clinic. All other stuff controlled do i have a good chance. Should i apply undeclared would that help also?
Same for Boston University, USC, Purdue, Tufts, and University of Chicago.
Also my previous SAT score was 1850 and now i got a 2040 should i take it again i might do worse or should i stop since it shows an upward slope. Also my gpa going to colleges might increase since they take into account mid year grades and they are lookign good and my rank might go up as well.
Hi~
alot of people seem to know alot about college admissions on this thread, so I was wondering if anyone could answer my question…
Is it okay that my passion shown by my ec’s is completely unrelated to my major?
I’m really passionate about singing.
I’ve been in choir all my life; currently I’m vice president, assistant music instructor, and soloist of my high school’s award winning choir.
I’ve won several awards in singing competitions.
I’m also my school’s official music instructor (just a unique thing at my school; in charge of any event with music…like festivals, parties, etc.)
I’m in my church’s choir(soloist), and I’m the song leader for my church’s youth service. I’ve also been piano accompanist for the children’s service (not now though).
BUT here’s the problem:
you’d think I’d want to major in voice, right?
However, unfortunately that wouldn’t make my parents very happy and most importantly, singing, although I absolutely LOVE to do anything related to it is only a hobby for me 
I want to become a surgeon, but I don’t really have any activities that show my passion for the medical field or sciences except maybe all the science classes I took or one award for chemistry olympiad and volunteer work at a international science festival. So I don’t think I could make myself out to look very passionate by writing about ec’s related to my major…
Is this a major problem??
should I just write about my science ec’s?
Oh…and I plan to major in biology or biochemistry.
My D is in the same situation. Her best and most impressive ECs are in theater followed by voice. But she wants to major in chem. Hopefully, schools who care about these ECs will be satisfied with her participation in them in college theater or choir, or at most, minoring in them. I am curious about answers to this ques. Any experience out there?
no experience, but I don’t see why that is a problem. It is an Ec and a hobby. colleges understand that - you don’t have to major in everything you enjoy. that would just be ridiculous.
Uhm…
I am an international student. I’m a junior this year and im not really familiar with how things work here, especially with the Extracurricular activities. Can you tell me where to start and how.
Thanks a lot
Here’s another perspective: Don’t write an essay about your extracurricular activities at all. The admissions staff can look at other parts of your application to see what you’ve been involved with. Instead of rehashing or reexamining something already listed in your application, try writing an essay about a personal life experience, an aspect of your personality and how that might have changed through outside expeiences, or maybe a time in your life that you faced and overcame an obstacle, and how it made you better as a person. No matter how well done, essays about some extracurricular activity can often seem disingenuous and forced, as if you are trying to convince the admissions staff and possibly yourself that your little clubs and sports had some larger meaning. Let me put it another way: If you had to choose one word or one short phrase to describe yourself, would that word or phrase have anything to do with one of your extracurricular activities? If not, maybe you should take another route in writing your essay.
mmm… one question… where do u put all your list of ECs?!.. I mean in the common application there is no space… sorry but I’m not very familiar with this process… I am international!..
they have a space for them on the common app, there just aren’t many lines. you can just list your top several, or if you really want more use the additional information section.
I would mostly agree with this, however the common app does require the short essay to be about an EC.
I don’t have any volunteer hours and I’m a junior. I wish I did but I am actively involved with other things and went to Germany on an exchange this summer. Any recommendations for volunteer activities that I could begin this summer now that time is presenting itself? Or is it too late and will it look fake to admissions officers?
It’s not too late. Make sure you do something that helps others.
That makes me feel bad because my name is Jill…
but on the good side, I did what Jenny did!
My son wrote his main essay about something totally unrelated to his EC, however he did write his supp essay about an aspect of his EC (basically how he grew over the years in the organization, trite, I know, but it must have worked). I think you have to show how what you’ve given to and received from your EC makes you a better person and someone who would make a great contribution to the school. Not every contest winner necessarily can contribute something to a school community – you need to show the adcoms how what you’ve been spending your time on makes you a more interesting and more valuable candidate than someone else.
do i have to have certificates to prove my ECs?and any volunteer work that ive done?
Ahhhh I’m getting mixed messages!! So I wrote about an EC for the long essay for my common app, but we’re also required to write a short “activities” essay for the common app. That means I’ll have 2 EC essays? Isn’t that kind of bad?
And if colleges keep seeing the same EC’s over and over again… in your resume, your recommendations, your essays… do you think they would get tired of this? Or would it help your image and make you stand out?
Well - what EC are you writing about? As you’ve probably guessed, adcoms have seen the ‘How I won the %^&^$% championship 3 years in a row’ essay a bajillion times. I’d stay away from that.
However, it really is alright to be talking about your EC as long as you talk about a SPECIFIC instant concerning that EC. For example, say you’re interested in soccer, then you could talk about specific game or a specific practice that was really influential in your activity. While it may be an <em>instant</em> DO NOT talk about a championship, because everyone else has already done that.
As long as you’re talking about an INSTANCE in your long essay, it’s cool if you talk about your same EC twice, because your long essay will talk less about your EC, and will be more like a personal essay with your EC as its theme.
I’ve come to the opinion that it really doesn’t matter (within reason of course) WHAT your essay topic is as long as its syntax is good and you talk about a personal experience… something that no other applicant can discuss because it only happened to you.
I won’t claim that I know everything about college essays, but if you have any questions, PM me.