Ideas for how to stand out (extracurriculars and activities)

Applying to College
1

So I’m an ambitious-minded high school freshman (going on sophomore) looking to get into prestigious colleges such as Yale and Princeton. The reason I say ambitious-minded is because I am not afraid of making my ideas work. My main problem is I haven’t yet. I’m coming to you guys today for help on what I can do to increase my chances. Please read this all the way through and answer- it would mean so much to me!

Here’s some background information.

  • 15 year old asian-american female.
  • Main interests: economics, biology, psychology.
  • I haven’t taken the PSAT yet, but judging from practice tests, I’d put my SAT score at about 1400-1450 now. I think with more studying I am hoping to reach the 1500s sophomore year.
  • My course load freshman year hasn’t been challenging since they are all mandatory freshman classes. However next year will be rigorous. My freshman GPA is at around a 3.8 which I’m not particularly proud of (if I’m going to apply to these elite colleges). I definitely slacked off this year.
  • I go to a selective boarding school, so it will be hard to stand out amongst the other students.

I’m not too worried about my stats. I will work my a** off to get overachieving grades despite my upsetting start. However, I am worried about how I’m going to stand out within the sea of other applicants with the same stats. I don’t have many completed extracurriculars, but here are the ones currently in the making.

  • putting together an organization teaching underprivileged (foreign) students basic english and entrepreneurship skills, valuable education they would otherwise not have access to. Will be doing this over this summer.
  • writing an economics article/research paper that I will be submitting to several notable publishers whom I have built connections with
  • economics and science olympiad (???)
  • writing an economics reference book for middle/high schoolers

I feel like these aren’t enough, especially if I decide I can’t go through with some of them. Please let me know if there are any other extracurricular ideas or opportunities for awards, programs, competitions, etc. tailored to my interests. Money is not a problem for me so honestly I am able to do most anything! Again, I am pretty ambitious so feel free to throw out literally whatever you can think of.

Thank you so much for reading this and I hope to hear from some of you soon!! :slight_smile:

2

You may be able to find your answer in this recent article from College Confidential, which covered this topic in depth. You can read it here: https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/extracurriculars-that-help-you-stand-out

3

The above cited article is worth reading. Clear & concise.

4

Also check out:
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.

“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”

http://www.examiner.com/review/be-a-relaxed-high-school-superstar

5

Agree with above. Your extracurriculars seem pretty unique, but I wouldn’t try to do these things for the sake of standing out; do them only if they truly interest you. HYP are a reach for everyone, and they do look for authenticity in your essays/recs/other things over perfect grades/test scores.

6

Hi Parents, what do you think are the most appealing/important/noteworthy extracurriculars for your child?

  1. Extracurriculars that give back to society
  2. Extracurricular opportunities with start-ups/brand name companies
  3. Extracurriculars that have transferable skills
  4. Extracurriculars that resemble series of small projects