<p>Peer tutor for ESOL student (daily in every single class because my school is small and it's like a middle school where I see the same students, 9th-12th)</p>
<p>High School Concert Choir 9-11th (99% 12th grade if I get in with my audition which is most likely)</p>
<p>Online newspaper club - written 40 substantial (most of them are pages long) Most in 10th grade (this is why my grades were a bit lower in 10th then 9th but my 11th grade grades are looking good), will continue to write in 11th and 12th (9th -12th) THIS IS MY PASSION</p>
<p>Citywide Science Fair Project (11th grade) Started my project, didn't go compete yet</p>
<p>Nation Honor's Society (My school takes it very seriously) I'm applying in February, most likely will get in</p>
<p>Math tutor (12th grade) This is a maybe, since the roster for each student is the same for the most part...will have to see depending on it</p>
<p>50+ hours of community service, will have way over that in 12th grade</p>
<p>Side note: I only take AP Bio because this is the only AP class I can take, the other offered in AP Music Theory, but I don't get to take this class, only like 1/8 of the HS gets to take it.</p>
<p>Also my family's income is like <$15k and both my parents are sick.</p>
<p>And my school is about 250 students for high school, another 250 for middle school but that doesn't matter.</p>
<p>EC’s are fine but it is not easy for ANYONE to get into an Ivy because there are only so many slots too fill and way too many applicants for those slots.</p>
<p>Go to the financial aid threads and look for the list of schools that guarantee merit scholarships. Be sure to apply to those as well as to the Ivy’s.</p>
<p>Your ECs are good, but remember, with selective schools it’s mostly a crapshoot. Work hard on those essays and may the odds be ever in your favor :)</p>
<p>I think those ECs are really good! Did you write about your family situation? I would have. If you have the grades and test scores, I think your ECs will be fine. But, like people said above, getting into the Ivy Leagues is crazy hard. Good luck!</p>
<p>Let me repeat this for emphasis, after seeing your post about your other school choices. GO TO THE FINANCIAL AID threads and look at schools that guarantee merit scholarships. You need to look at schools that you can be more sure of getting into AND that you can afford to attend.</p>
<p>Work ethics are wonderful. But there are hundreds of thousands of kids with great work ethics and great grades. We get lots of posts from seniors in their last months of school who suddenly find that they cannot afford the school of their choice, or are rejected from every school to which they’ve applied and cannot understand why this happened (usually because they applied only to the top tier schools).</p>
<p>I don’t want to seem negative, but I don’t want you stuck in their positions. Do yourself a favor and start now to research those merit scholarship schools. One that you may like is Alabama.</p>
<p>If your family income is small, you should consider being a Questbridge applicant. There’s a forum here about it or you can go to questbridge.org</p>
<p>If I may ask: what is your immigration status? What is your home country? (US legal status is not a requirement of QBridge, BTW)</p>
<p>Yes Questbridge is an excellent suggestion. You can apply as a junior for certain scholarships, and as a senior to be a Finalist.</p>
<p>Top tier schools will look for a) what you do with what you have available, b) what you do on your own initiative.</p>
<p>No one will judge you for not taking AP’s that are not available at your school. That is not your issue. They want to see the most rigorous schedule within what is offered at your school. However, there are students who will do this on their own, self study and take the exam, because they feel they maxed out the offerings at school.</p>
<p>I second (triple) Questbridge. Find info ASAP and apply as soon as you can.
Try to get elected to some leadership roles within the EC’s you name.
See if you can get recognized for your help in tutoring ESL.
See if there’s a community college nearby. See if you can dual-enroll (typically it’s paid for by your school), either over the summer or during the year. Or both, actually. An A in a college course would do wonders to show your initiative, ability, and drive.</p>
<p>Everyone can have dream schools, they’re easy to find. It’s harder to find safeties you like. As a junior, finding these (academic AND financial) safeties should be your task.</p>
<p>Considering your income and results, Berea should be a no-brainer. Start requesting info there.</p>
<p>Then, look for schools from this list where your stats place you above the top 25% applicants, and fill out the “request info” form from their website. Note that all these schools are highly selective so there may not be many that meet full need where you’re also among the top applicants. These schools tend to be the most generous financially.
[url=<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students]100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight<a href=“To%20find%20whether%20you’re%20at%20the%20top%20of%20the%20potential%20application%20pool,%20type%20%22college%20data%22%20in%20your%20browser,%20followed%20by%20the%20name%20of%20each%20college.%20In%20addition,%20regardless%20of%20stats,%20the%20college%20you’re%20aiming%20for%20now%20should%20have%20a%2030-50+%%20admission%20rate.”>/url</a></p>
<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says
It is commendable that you are taking part in a variety of activities. At a small HS they need kids to be involved or things just won’t happen. But you asked about how your list will look to elite colleges. Mediocre, I’m afraid. Essentially it looks like you’ve signed up for a bunch of things, what adcoms term “a mile wide and an inch deep.” I see 2 problems with what you list[ul][<em>]No leadership or achievement. Just member of this, took part in that. [</em>]No initiative. You just joined a bunch of activities that were already out there.[/ul]
Your answer to better ECs is staring you in the face. Why aren’t you doing more to pursue it? </p>
<p>“Online newspaper club” sounds like something anyone can do; if I was an adcom I’d guess that you just signed up at some website and contributed articles. Now maybe these are 40 Pulitzer-worthy columns that you spent innumerable hours writing but the adcoms don’t know that, and they don’t have the time to read them and decide. Probably not a strong EC. </p>
<p>You ought to be writing the “Student View” column for a local newspaper. Even better is a larger-circulation paper. What, you say? They don’t have a “Student View” column? That’s great news!! That means you go and see the editor, sell her on the idea, and since you’re the only applicant you get the position! And it’s an example of initiative that selective colleges expect. Don’t stop there. Enter writing contests. Go to workshops. Take a class at a local CC and get on their newspaper staff (after all if you’re taking a class you’re a student there). Get a summer internship at a paper (hint: those “Student View” columns are going to stand out to the editors reviewing your app). This is just the tip of the iceberg; if it’s your passion and you spend the effort you will find even more ways to stand out.</p>
<p>I’ve already thought about Questbridge, I’m definitely applying for that. </p>
<p>The online newspaper club is a school thing, but most of the people in that class barely write any articles, in 10th grade it was me and this other guy that contributed majorly to the newspaper.</p>
<p>I also have Red Cross Club (11th), but that’s very minor.</p>