<p>I just realized that I don't like any of the clubs at my school. I used to think that I liked French, Spanish, writing, and others, but once I joined some clubs in those areas and actually did thosr things, I hate them. So, right at this moment, I am not in any club. I am just finishing up some required meetings for the clubs I joined in the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>I tried out for a few sports, but I was cut from all of the teams. So now, I only have outside of schools ECs, which my GC thought wasn't good enough.</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t factor ECs into admission. The ones that do are places like Harvard that have such an overabundance of high stat applicants that the college can pick and choose from among those the ones who’ll contribute the most to an active, diverse campus. At most, the majority of colleges use ECs only for merit aid consideration.</p>
<p>Your unusual pursuit of self study of several languages may make you memorable in the colleges that factor more than stats into admission.</p>
<p>Esmee: As I recall you are a freshman. You have time. Think about what really interests you. Outside of yourself and your college obsession. I would suggest some community service. Perhaps it can be related to your interest in languages.</p>
<p>^Northstarmom, ''places like Harvard"? I know schools like Stanford or MIT are def. like Harvard. but…how about the top 20 schools? like Hopkins, Cornell and Emory? Do they also put a LOT of emphasis on ECs ???</p>
<p>Yes, many of the top 20 schools use ECs to help them select students from their outstanding pool of applicants. The more competitive the school, the more they use ECs to help them pick and choose from an overabundance of outstanding applicants.</p>
<p>OP – Since you love foreign languages have you considered being a foreign exchange student? You might want to check these sites for information:</p>
<p>Esmee,
From your previous posts, it seems you have a family income of $18 k and desire to have a career in law enforcement. You don’t need ECs to go to a college that will allow you to enter a law enforcement career possibly as a police officer. You can enter law enforcement by going to community college.</p>
<p>The kind of colleges that consider ECs as admission factors are places like Harvard, which aren’t the kind of college that you’re headed for or need for a career in law enforcement. </p>
<p>The main advantages of ECs have nothing to do with getting into college. ECs help you discover and hone your interests, strengths and talents, and also help you improve your social and leadership skills and give you a chance to make more friends.</p>
<p>What if you want to be an International police officer, where the competition is fierce? </p>
<p>At that point, Ivy league or no? Though Ivy league does not have a criminal justice program, you don’t have to study something particular to become a police officer.</p>
<p>esmee,
why don’t you look at schools which offer majors and have connections in criminal justice, forensics, etc. Generally you don’t get hired right into interpol, etc.–you end up working for something like the FBI or a large police force first.</p>
<p>If you want to do something like the CIA or homeland security, it helps to have a substantive background of value…foreign languages, forensics, math/programing/ code breaking, the sciences, etc.</p>
<p>Check out all kinds of programs and see what interests you.</p>
<p>If you aren’t satisfied with the club offerings at your school…start one! Or find a job or volunteer at an agency which interests you and might help you refine your career interests.</p>
<p>or get a job to help earn $$$ for college expenses</p>
<p>Don’t worry about things like French club…that kind of thing doesn’t really impress admissions people much because those clubs generally don’t do anything worthwhile.</p>
<p>esmee, at that point it will be about what you did for the previous 10 years and what advanced studies you have completed. Your undergrad will be in the rearview mirror.</p>
<p>These are the ECs I’m putting on my Common app. the first one i’m elaborating in the section on the next page after the chart</p>
<ol>
<li>ASB Officer
For three years, founded two student involvement projects. ran for president & lost (write about this in my “addl info” section</li>
<li>Student rep to the school board
Only one from my high school, sit on the board with the district at meetings.</li>
<li>JSA founder/president
junior statesmen member and founder–basically it’s debate club but with a national organization. i also went to summer school at Princeton through a scholarship with them.</li>
<li>Piano
i’ve taken piano since age four, used to compete a lot but stopped so i could continue to enjoy it.</li>
<li>track and field
long jump, 100 and 200 and relays</li>
<li>National honors society</li>
<li>I have a black belt…but i got it a long time ago and don’t to TaeKwonDo any more. does this count?</li>
<li>cross country</li>
</ol>
<p>Alright. After thinking about it, I know that the schools that are the most suitable for criminal justice are not the schools that don’t need ECs, but a good GPA and test scores.
However:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I just don’t want to go home, do my homework, and then go to bed. I want something to commit to. I uber love German, but just self-studying won’t be enough. German Club won’t work at my school, because no one likes German in my school. </p></li>
<li><p>I really don’t know if being a police officer is my intended career forever. I have fluctuated from astronaut to mathematician to writer in a few a months.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That might be tricky to balance though. While I’m sure math can help you in a career with NASA and you can always write about your experiences (or anything else) regardless of major, it’s going to be hard to do effective police work in space. I read an article recently about how low crime rates are in other planets in the Milky Way and if you tried to work on terrestrial crime you’d be hampered by the fact that you already have a demanding career working for another government agency (NASA). </p>
<p>Besides, just because you don’t go to Ivy League schools doesn’t mean that you’ll be going to a school that is inactive or doesn’t have much to do outside of studying. The vast majority of schools, public and private, aren’t too worried about ECs outside of merit money. </p>
<p>One other idea that you might be interested is to start your own club. If you can find something in common with other people, you can start a club about almost anything as long as it’s interesting to you. The best part is since you’re in charge you get to President, Fuehrer, Captain (all things that show “leadership” to colleges) and you can make sure that the club remains active and enjoyable.</p>
<p>I’ve tried starting clubs. One time, it was that the school thought that there wasn’t enough money to start this club. One time, it was that no teacher wanted to be advisor of it. One time, no student wanted to join.</p>