Next year I will be a Junior in high school, but I have already figured out what I want to study in college: Asian Studies. The problem is that I have not expressed a passion towards the field of study I am interested in through my extra-curricular activities. I plan on doing some volunteer work at the international institute in my city, but I don’t know if this is specific enough. Also, senior year, I want to do an independent study on Chinese history. Would this look good towards colleges? If anyone has any other ideas on how I can express my passion, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi avionx,
This is an excellent question and often overlooked by many students. It’s good to see that you have already found a major you are interested in pursuing. The earlier you know, more power to you to build a strong application. I’m not sure what your academics look like, but you typically want to get involved in about 3 ECs and hold leadership positions that you have at least some passion/interest for. The volunteer work is a great experience and I also recommend you pursue your independent study the summer prior to senior year. Check out MIT Inspire, which is a competition where you can carry out your own research topic and compete - this looks really impressive and will help you stand out. Be careful about becoming too well-rounded…you don’t want to be the jack-of-all-trades but master of none. You want to show you can challenge yourself but have 1 or 2 things you are truly passionate for. I think the independent study and volunteer would be great.
You don’t need to show ECs in your specific area of interest (although it is fine to do so). So do the things you feel drawn to doing and strive to make a positive impact.