<p>As some of you may know I have had the blessed opportunity of being accepted to some schools. I would like to share with u a story why I think ecs r important. Y u don't have to be a genius to be accepted.</p>
<p>This year two kids from my grade applied as soph repeats like me. Naturally the whole school found out. We applied to generally the same schools we all requested for finanial aid. Everyone thought my two other classmates would get in n not me. I had 3.65 gpa with a c in Spanish nd in 1 regular class. I was a dumb jock supposedly even if I did mun gov nd etc. One of my classmates was taking 4 aps as a sophmore 99 ssat taking calculus and on the quiz bowl and plays the violin and straight a's. Another classmate classmate took 3 aps all honors straight as nd tutors. Their essays were about helping homeless people or what admission people wanna hear. My essay was how my family battled bankruptcy near homelessness and how it made me stronger.</p>
<p>As march 10 came along everyone in my grade thought the other two kids would get in everywhee nd I'll end up nowhere. Even my counselor. That day I proved mostly everyone wrong by being accepted to most schools wl at two ( came off the wl at one) rejected by none. My friends who applied also? No acceptances, mostly rejections and some wl without financial aid. </p>
<p>I don't want to sound like I'm bragging again, but I want to express why in my opinion ecs r really really essential in a boarding school app.thanks so much to cc for helping me through the process. I promise to b back next year if I'm wanted to guide 2011 apps how cc guided me.</p>
<p>Thanks for everything,
jyun212</p>
<p>haha thanks but i’m nowhere near as athletic as you. the only sport i’m good at, is a sport that virtually no boarding school really has. obviously athletics and being recruited played a big role in your acceptances.</p>
<p>congrats on deerfield, btw. so jealous…</p>
<p>My friend in chicago got in at Exeter. Nothing spectacular, just really involved. School president mun nd golf</p>
<p>I think that ECs CAN be a huge hook and very essential. Having great ECs is great and really helps in admissions, so jyun is definitely right. However, if you don’t have great ECs it isn’t a death null. I have some ECs but nothing exceptional, not always straight As ect… I was Accepted at two GLAD CHEMS and WLed at two GLAD CHEMS with no rejections. So if you’re a next year app with no amazing ECs don’t lose hope. Lots of people on CC said that I didn’t have much of a chance without a large list of ECs and awards, needing FA and not being a perfect applicant grade wise (very high SSAT though). Good Luck everyone!</p>
<p>I don’t wan t to use my 2,000 post yet so I’m editing. I can’t take credit for this acronym because I think it was used last year. Anyway I read it somewhere. 'Grats on your acceptances jyun!</p>
<p>I agree with blue ur certantly not screwed but for all the apps who feel ur “smart enough” don’t count yourself out</p>
<p>blu i like ur acranyms for the school</p>
<p>GLADCHEMS is pretty old, and more accurate than HADES, but i think middlesex is feeling left out…</p>
<p>blueraven, i’m curious. if you didn’t have great ECs or great grades and needed FA and the like, and you still got accepted… your essays were probably exceptional, right? makes me wonder about the adcom’s whole process :S</p>
<p>I’ve had a very different life experience to most kids (not going to elaborate to much online), my SSAT was great which should remove any academic doubt, my essays were good I’d say (I ranked second for my age in my country a few years ago) but I rushed them, I also interview brilliantly to be honest… Plus, with the risk of sounding arrogant, I’m a nice kid most of the time, at the end of the day, applicants are going to be living breathing people who are going to be eating breakfast with you and rooming with other kids. I know plenty of really bright kids I wouldn’t want rooming with me.</p>
<p>“my essays were good I’d say (I ranked second for my age in my country a few years ago)”</p>
<p>ok if you won a national award in writing, then i’d strongly doubt that your ECs were weak. thank you.</p>
<p>It wasn’t like that DiveAlive. It wasn’t an award, it was just ranked on compulsory national tests we took for gifted screening in 6th grade. Doesn’t count as an EC…</p>
<p>ah, ic. if you were ranked 2nd in the country, then your essays must have been exceptional, nonetheless. congrats on groton x_x</p>
<p>jyun, were you recruited?</p>
<p>hahha, makes me sound better than I am but they definitely weren’t lackluster. Thanks DiveAlive! I’m just kidding on the rivalry stuiff, while I’d rather my thread won its not the end of the world!</p>
<p>Recruited in the sense of football? I guess so</p>
<p>jyun i got a question i am doing a 4 week conservasion volunteer trip this summer in new zealand. i know alot of kids talk about volunteering but to actualy have done it is a different thing. do you think that it will look good on an application? like do you think it will be something that sets me apart from the rest</p>
<p>i think it’ll look ‘good’, but pay-to-play volunteer opportunities are becoming really common (like with the whole building schools in africa thing).</p>
<p>I thought it would be a very interesting place to go to my first choice was Kenya but since i am only 16 years old and i will going by myself my parent thought i should go to a much more safe place so they suggested Australia or New Zealand.( they have both been to both places many times). I am also going to see alot of Lord of the Rings site so it should be good! </p>
<p>p.s DiveAlive its not a typical “volunteer africa” trip its conservation and wildlife.</p>
<p>Sounds cool! I heard there was some nice wildlife down there and the LOTR stuff sounfds awesome.</p>
<p>when you say “i’m going on a conservation volunteer trip”, it sounds great, but when you continue on “in NZ, because my parents think it’s safe”, it’s totally a turn-off. So just emphasize on the first part (if you write essay or your interviewer ask you), and not on second part. Lol
Yeah the pay-to-play volunteer opportunities sound so… I mean how about poor kids like me, I can never afford air ticket and program fees to Africa, Alaska, Mars, and the like. Or while people go to piano class, golf course, skydiving trips… I have to stay home looking after my younger siblings, doing housework and stuff like that. As admission people love to read essays about Iraq trips, I think less-wealthy kids may be at slight disadvantage because they can’t afford exotic exquisite ECs, not only in terms of $ but also in terms of family circumstance and stuff.</p>
<p>I’m going to do nothing over the summer (probably not even go home) because of BS fees so you’re not alone… It’s a very small percentage. but hey at least they’re using their money to help others. Being rich isn’t a crime and there’s no point being bitter about it. You’ll face heaps of it at BS.</p>
<p>No I know, it’s just life, I’m just a little too influenced by Holden Caulfield 
But someday I’ll become rich too
I look forward to BS this fall, it’ll be a very new and different experience to me</p>