<p>I've got 3 EC I think are pretty unique. But the problem is I havent received any state or national award and I am an Asian. My scores are good, but I am currently going to an public urban high school with high percents are black and hispanic; my school doesn't rank very high, it is probably unheard of. I am very committed to my activities, have been acclaimed at school & community but never beyond the city level. I am the president of 2 and vice president of another.
I would like to shoot for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Rice, Stanford and two safety schools. Is it possible for me to make all five? Being an Asian made me feel intimidated(I'm an immigrant though, not yet granted US citizenship, am I still considered international?)</p>
<p>Chances are you will not make all five. Maybe not even two. Thats why they are “reaches”. Keep doing your thing and maintain passion in your E.C.'s but you are applying to the top 4 schools in the WORLD, you would have to be beyond amazing to make all four. (plus have some hook…)</p>
<p>1) The number of ECs doesn’t matter so much as your dedication to them. You don’t need to earn any big awards for it to count either. Just something you really like doing that isn’t school.</p>
<p>2) If you have permanent resident status you are eligible for federal aid as determined by the FAFSA. This makes you a domestic applicant. Certain other immigrant categories also qualify. Read all about it at the FAFSA website.</p>
<p>3) Being a stellar graduate of a no-name public urban HS can be a very good thing. It brings diversity to the campus. Way too many applicants at fill-in-famous-name-here are from wealthier suburbs.</p>
<p>4) You need one rock solid True Safety. This is a school that has to admit you based on your stats (check your in-state public Universities, and your local community colleges for the GPA and SAT/ACT scores that guarantee automatic admission). It is also a school that you can pay for without any financial aid other than federally determined financial aid (figure out your EFC with the calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and [::</a> College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5D::”>http://www.collegeboard.com) ). And, of course, your True Safty must offer the major you are interested in and be a place you are willing to attend if everything else fails. Almost all of these are rolling admission schools, so you can apply in August or September and get yourself in line for any goodies they have to offer (honors program, merit scholarships, better housing, etc.) before anyone else does.</p>
<p>please don’t tell me your three ECs are:
-key club
-national honor society
-JV tennis</p>
<p>If your ECs are more on the lines of published research, starting an online business, and writing for your local newspaper, you’d be WAY better off. </p>
<p>It’s not the number of ECs, its the quality. Extreme example: if someone’s only EC were cell research, but they individually found a cure for cancer (or, more realistically, a practical treatment to slow it down), that would be SO MUCH better than some guy who is “in” ten clubs but rarely shows up for them and hasn’t done anything significant with them.</p>
<p>BTW, I only had three significant ECs, which were golf (varsity and volunteer coach), tutoring (volunteer at school and privately for pay), and science olympiad (tons of mundane medals, but nothing at state or national level until after I got into college). And I got into 2 out of the 3 schools you listed.</p>
<p>@GammaGrozza: No. I didn’t count tennis as an EC. With that and another added I got five.
And no I don’t do any research, online business or write to newspaper. But rather I focus on activities, not prolific by any mean
And I listed 5 schools, not 2.</p>
<p>^So what exactly do you do? And I didn’t apply to HY, hence me saying 2/5 would be misleading.</p>
<p>thats sad
hm…</p>
<p>Without explaining your EC’s, you give us an immensely limited scope of how qualified you are…</p>
<p>I agree with NWdivisionCHAMPS even overqualified people would have trouble getting into all the best schools because they ARE reaches and obviously extremely hard to get into</p>