hey guys, i am an international student and i study in bangalore, india but i am a US citizen. My academics are really strong but my ecs are weak. I have MUNed but at only school level and i am not too interested in it.
Can you guys recommend extra curricular activities i can do, especially activities which i can do by myself without being reliant on any of my peers. Other students in my class aren’t very motivated!
thanks a lot!
Learning the importance of cooperating with unmotivated classmates in order to achieve something of value would make a good EC.
I clicked on this thread because I’m dying to find out other ways of “How to Improve ECs”
@JustOneDad howw?
Was the title of the thread a question?
yes, sorry 
What are your academics like?
really high grades in 10th grade IGCSE - 8 A stars and 1 A
probably did well in 11th grade AS Levels - results coming out in a couple of months
SAT - got 2070 - will retake, i didnt work hard for the first time, but now i plan to score 2300+
SAT subject tests - 800 in math 1 & 2 , physics and chem
AP - probably 4s or 5s in chem, phy c e&m and mech , calc bc - results coming out in a week
bumppp
Wow! Those are really good. You’ll get into almost any school. What are you looking at?
really? @TheTactition are you sure? i mean i got to bump my ECs chances of top school like MIT , princeton, caltech?
i just have the hurdle of SAT so yeah
@Sriscavenger Don’t be fooled by TheTactition… You most definitely cannot get into any school without ECs. If you’re a rising senior and you don’t have impressive ECs, you better say goodbye to MIT, princeton and caltech. Caltech also admits mostly students with ridiculous test scores - their average SAT score for admitted students is something like 2300. If you don’t have the ECs, youre better off shooting a lot lower. What lower-ranked school are you looking at?
“Almost” any school man.
To get into Caltech, you pretty much need to be perfect in every way imaginable. Get those straight 5s, 2300 and stuff, along with outstanding ECs. And even with all that, there’s no guarantee of admission. MIT and Princeton are marginally easier.
One thing about ECs though, go for quality, not quantity. It’s better to have one thing that admissions officers will remember you by than to be that regular student who is a member of 10 different clubs in high school.
Honestly though, you don’t seem to have much of a chance at Caltech. There are going to be applicants with ECs developed through all 4 years of high school, and since they’re not the last minute ECs that you’re looking for, they’re definitely going to be stronger.
This might sound cheesy, but do something you’re passionate about, not something that you’re doing just because you think it will look good on your application. Most colleges can see right through that, so don’t force yourself into it.
Don’t go in with the attitude that you can’t rely on others. Colleges accept you on the basis of how good a fit you will be, and if all of your activities make you seem the lone wolf, you won’t be a good fit in most places.
@MrWiggles - will stuff like astronomy club help - i will put in a lot of work , or is it better to do other stuff like volunteer - like cleaning a lake?
@Sriscavenger This is going to sound harsh, but it will be better to hear this now than feel angry and disappointed later. Astronomy club and volunteering are useless for colleges like Caltech/MIT/Princeton. Frankly if you volunteer 1000 hours princeton doesn’t give a damn. Same goes with astronomy club. Think about it - millions of high school students are in clubs like astronomy club or whatever other club their school has. Millions of teenagers are volunteering. Neither makes you stand out and are very generic and useless for top tier schools. If you’re applying to a school with 50%+ acceptance rate they will be helpful.
@MrWiggles We’re on the same page now
so what do you think will help me stand out and be impressive?
Something special. Maybe set up an organisation of some sort, do something in your field of interest. If you like programming, then maybe design an app.
Should be something you’re passionate about and possibly good at. Challenge yourself a bit, learn something new and put it to use.
If you’re looking for a more specific idea, I’m sorry I can’t help you
@Sriscavenger Are you going to be a senior? if so, it’s too late to have any ‘outstanding’ ECs. You should shoot for some lower-tier schools.
Edit: it appears you’re going to be a senior. Unless you’re a genius, it’s too late to do anything that’s good enough for Princeton, MIT, or CalTech. I’m sorry, but those schools are out of reach.