<p>Hello amigos,</p>
<p>I'm a Honduran student (Central America) and I'm planning to apply to Swarthmore.
SAT scores:
CR- 790
Math-730
Writing-670
SAT II
Physics and World History. I expect 750 or more in both. I'll take the tests in December.
GPA: 3.72, Rank: 4/83 (maybe #1 has a 3.8 GPA)</p>
<p>Good essays and good recommendations.</p>
<p>I don't have much EC's because my school didn't have any activities whatsoever. I know this is not a valid excuse though. Anyway, my only real activity is really good I would say. I go on Saturdays to a rural community some miles from the Honduran capital city Tegucigalpa, to take food, clothes, books, occasionally medicine, etc to the poor community. Actually, this is my Common App essay subject.</p>
<p>Do you think not having many EC's will hurt me?</p>
<p>What are my chances?
<em>I need a lot of financial aid too.</em></p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>I do not think that your lack of schoolwide EC's will hurt, since your school does not offer any. Swarthmore is looking for students who take advantage of what their school has to offer. You have chosen to make a community service project an extracurricular activity. Depending upon how long you have been doing this and what it actually entails, will be what is important to the Admissions Office. I assume that you will not have the opportunity to visit Swarthmore and all the other schools you are applying to, so you will have to do a lot of your research online. Swarthmore is looking for students who are a good academic fit and can bring something besides academics to the college community. The more you learn about Swat or any of the other schools, the more you will be able to discuss (in your essays) how you see yourself fitting in at the schools.</p>
<p>But Swarthmore won't know my school has no activities unless I tell them.
Should I attach a note then? It seems to me a little ugly to attach a note saying "My school has no activities".</p>
<p>Do you have a guidance counselor of some sort? Generally, this type of information is contained in a report which your school submits to the college.
It's generally called the "School Profile," and contains information about the courses which are available, the grading system, the ranking system (if any), etc.</p>
<p>there is a school counselor, but she has been working for only one year ... in some ways I am more informed than she is. She told me the school is working on a "school profile", which is not finished yet, and I do believe it includes ranking, courses and that type of stuff, but not the absence of EC's.
I guess I should push my counselor to include a note in my school profile that says the school didn't have EC's, after all it's not my fault and I should not be affected, specially when dealing with prestigious colleges where competition is really tough for internationals who need financial aid.</p>
<p>I agree, daniel. The counselor should be asked to include a note with all your applications that the school does not offer an extra curricular activities.</p>