<p>So I am a current hs junior and want to pursue a field in engineering but haven't decided any specific major yet.</p>
<p>what kind of extracurricular activities could I get involved in???</p>
<p>I joined my schools stem and spaceset clubs this year, but we really haven't done anything</p>
<p>I enjoy swimming though and im a good writer, but ofc. these aren't related to what I want to pursue.
I tried racking my brain but got nothing...
please suggest something I can get started on and show commitment to even if only until the end of sen. yr.</p>
<p>btw, I cant really get involved in quiz bowls or stuff like that, im a junior already...</p>
<p>You don’t really need to show STEM commitment to get into an engineering school. What pays off are high level STEM courses and solid scores on the Math portion of the SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>But anyways. Maybe contact a local college and see if they’d take a highschool intern to do absolutely anything for them.</p>
<p>Is there a FIRST Robotics team you can join for next year? You won’t really accomplish much before apps go in, but at least you can say you are doing it (and colleges do like that activity). Even if your school does not have one, sometimes schools that do will let kids from another school join.</p>
<p>Can you take a summer class in something related? Either at a community college or online? Or teach yourself a new programming language. If you can’t afford classes you pay for, take a couple of Udacity or similar online courses. The key for college is showing interest – doing something with your own time in the area. A technical college in our area offered some free Saturday courses for kids interested in Robotics, maybe there is something like that as well.</p>
<p>You might look online for “citizen science” opportunities and see if there is something there you could get involved with. There are a lot of things where they are looking for individuals to help with analysis or collecting data. You don’t have to be super fancy to impress a college, they want to know you did the best you could with the resources you have available. Colleges do not require that your ECs be “organized” – you can talk about things you do on your own as well. In fact, I think they like to see things that are outside the normal school ECs.</p>
<p>You said you got involved in your school STEM and Spaceset clubs this year. Could you maybe help young boy scout or girl scout troops work on a badge related to science topics?</p>
<p>STEM Ec’s are often not team-based, so look outside of the realm of your school. Are there any colleges nearby? Research labs? Do you know anyone in STEM? Reach out to as many connections as you have and try and get some research work done. Such opportunities are few and far between, but if you get it, you’ll be golden.</p>
<p>wow, thanks for all the help guys! I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>yes, there is a first robotics team at our school. I was going to join in ninth grade because it sounded interesting, but I heard it was really time consuming and you had to be a science technology geek to actually play an important part in the team, so I backed out, which I now regret. They already went to finals this yr, so is it really worth it joing sen yr and putting it on apps?</p>
<p>but I will definetaly look into some online courses at sites such as courser and stuff which I just heard about.</p>
<p>also, Nihilus, how do I get ahold of a research opportunity for the summer? do I just contact a local college professor? if so, how would I bring up the topic and convince him to let me do some research, please reply, the idea seems cool!</p>
<p>bumppppppp, anyone else have any advice?</p>
<p>Before looking for ECs, be sure to do the best you can in the most rigorous math and science (particularly physics if you interest is engineering) courses available to you.</p>
<p>Do engineering schools value engineering extracurriculars?</p>
<p>I’d like to do engineering but my extracurriculars are not anything close to stuff like robotics (but they ARE all concentrate on one area and I accomplished A LOT)</p>
<p>FIRST is time consuming, but also really fun. And there are roles that are not just hands on engineering (our team needed fund raising, awards essays written, logo design, etc.). I do think it is worth it, especially if you want to be an engineer. Even one year of experience would be a really good thing even if it weren’t for college applications. Depending on how active your team is they might have some activities planned over the summer and fall, so you should touch base with your team and find out if you can get involved. How else do you become a science and technology geek except by doing it? :)</p>
<p>This is a good thread on looking for a research position.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/1063234-how-apply-independent-research-internships.html?highlight=research[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/1063234-how-apply-independent-research-internships.html?highlight=research</a> </p>
<p>Regarding whether engineering schools value ECs, I suppose it depends on the school. I think the top schools like to see some ECs, and they like to see some indication of interest in STEM fields in your ECs. They don’t all have to be science related, but a healthy amount should be.</p>
<p>If you’re shooting for a MIT or Stanford or CalTech, yes, you’re going to need some engineering ECs. But for many top engineering undergrad programs, STEM courses like AP Calc/Physics/Chem/Bio/Compsci and high scores on SAT/ACT Math will be fine. STEM opportunities can be few and far between in high school.</p>
<p>That being said, if you can pick up a cool engineering EC, it would go a long way with engineering schools.</p>
<p>I’d like to study computer engineering</p>
<p>My extracurriculars are in fact science related, but definitely not technology/computer related</p>
<p>My D found quite a few STEM related activities in high school, including robotics, programming club (formed by another student her junior year), monitoring a bluebird trail, collecting insects, self-studying for the USA Biology Olympaid (which I don’t recommend trying unless you are VERY disciplined), going to an engineering camp (Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman), and taking a Udacity course online. There is a math club at school but she did not join. You don’t have to do everything through school, and what you do doesn’t have to be super technical.</p>
<p>AtypicalAsian, that is probably okay. Although it wouldn’t hurt to add some computer related activity this summer/fall if you are a junior. Even teaching yourself a programming language is something to add to your application.</p>
<p>I’m currently a junior. Sounds like you’ve done a great job raising your daughter!</p>
<p>I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for your help. Id appreciate if anyone else chimes in with more insight. I’ll follow this thread.</p>
<p>My goals aren’t MIT or Stanford…I’m aiming for UCSD (they have impacted majors, applicants don’t apply to engineering school).</p>
<p>Well, it wasn’t my choice for her to do all that stuff. 
The comment about being disciplined for the USABO comes from experience – she wasn’t super disciplined and never made it past the first round. It was still an interesting experience for her, though. And I think colleges appreciated that she tried it on her own when no one else at her school was doing it. All I really did was provide freezer space for the bugs she collected until she got around to mounting them and walked her bluebird trail with her for company.</p>
<p>yea, I need ec’s because I didn’t do so well in academics. I got a B in Bio honors and C+ in geo., so I had to transfer over to chem cp( B+/A) and physics cp(a/a). I am trying to make up for these weaknesses next yr. I singed up for AP Calc, Stats, and appealed for physics. my sat 1 math was a 710, but im going to take 2c next wk.</p>
<p>I am learning java right now, but its part of a class, would that still count intparent?
will also probably look into some coursera courses over the summer…</p>
<p>buuuump, please help!</p>