<p>I do not have any decent ECs even though this is my last summer as a high school student. im gonna turn in my college application in december most likely..</p>
<p>Now,, summer vacation is half gone, and i have like a month left to my senior year.
In my case, is there any way to make decent ECs for college application before this december?
I am talented in math and science. I usually think about science olympiad or math olympiad but is there any competitions going on before december?
and, other than those competitions, can i still have decent extra curricular activities? </p>
<p>Give me ideas please. Thank you.</p>
<p>I'd say its too late to start extacurriculars without looking like your padding your resume...I'd say enter a contest but most contests only tell you if you've won too late so thats hard too...</p>
<p>Virtually the only colleges that factor ECs a great deal into their admissions decisions are places like HPYS. For such schools, ECs that many would think are extraordinary -- things like being student government president or football team captain -- are ordinary in their pool. To have ECs that stand out at places like HPYS, one needs things like being Girls' State governor, national president of National Honor Society, Intel #1 winner, having started (without your parents' help) some kind of nonprofit that really does something, doesn't just exist on paper, having written and self-published a good novel.</p>
<p>Should you plan to apply to HPYS, it's way too late to do something to make your ECs stand out. </p>
<p>Most other colleges, however make admissions decisions mainly based on grades, scores and your curriculum. ECs may be used for merit aid. The exception for all colleges is recruited athletes -- students stellar in sports that the college needs players for. Those ECs are at the top of the list of ECs to have, but it's too late to develop those since you're a senior.</p>
<p>You may not have official looking ECs, but the universities are also interested in what you've been doing with your spare time. So even though there may be no specific category for what you've been doing, it would help if you mention what type of things pulled your interest other than homework. You'd be surprised how interesting you might be.</p>
<p>Have you worked at a part-time job? Some adcoms are looking more closely at whether students have worked and it seems to count for something in the same vein as ECs. ECs tell the adcoms something about you: interests, skills, level of committment. A job can show do that as well. Maybe not your interests, but it can show that you had to use time management, showed responsibility, followed through on a committment. It's too late to build up an EC resume, but it's not too late to get an after-school/weekend job.</p>
<p>jazzymom, would it look less impressive having a summer internship than a part time job during the school year? I mean, both of them are jobs right?</p>
<p>Frankly, I don't know how to answer that. Some of the articles I've read irt to working were simply making the point that the adcom officers acknowledged the value of an ordinary after-school/weekend job bagging groceries or scooping ice cream. So my impression was that, other than the type of ECs that are hooks (top athletes, musicians, Intel winners etc.), an ordinary job would not be a bad replacement for ECs at the non-national award winning level. IOW, that for the OP, working at a job might make up for not joining MUN or being president of the Spanish club. </p>
<p>But I don't think the adcoms giving some nods to ordinary jobs should be construed as taking anything away from how they might look at a summer internship. The issue is not really whether one is more or less "impressive" than the other in and of itself. Don't forget that this kind of thing is looked at in context with all the rest of the factors in your application and it's the total package that will impress or not.</p>
<p>^true! so they'll be lenient if a student has to sacrifice extra-curriculars for jobs huh? sounds fair</p>
<p>If you're really good at math and science, try stuff like USAMO, USNCO, etc.. That will impress the adcoms. But it's very hard to make so idk.</p>