Hey guys, my income for 4 ppl family in an apartment is 30k. How lenient will colleges be towards my ec’s? What if work replaces possible internships I would’ve been interest in? Thx
Ps. I haven’t worked yet but I might during the summer going into junior and senior year.
Colleges will understand that low income students often don’t have the luxury of significant ECs outside work.
Cool! Do you consider 30k a year low enough for that consideration? And if I didn’t get a job in HS, that would be a bad look, correct? (Assuming I don’t have the same opportunities for ec’s bc of my income)
And how lenient would colleges be towards a student like me? What ec’s would they expect? Would they expect awards and leadership roles? Examples would help, thx
Work is an EC. Don’t worry about this.
Thanks, I’m just worried itll be looked as something that doesn’t hold much value
Work is a great EC if you have to support your family. And 30K income is very low for FA, you might get a full ride scholarship if your stats is high enough. Harvard even took in a kid with great stats that is from the street.
Work is an extracurricular. I was in a similar situation; my essay mentioned that I helped support my family financially, and the skills I’ve gained.
Colleges want to see productive use of your summers and they also expect activities outside of the classroom during the school year.
Work is a productive use of your time. Please note, however, that it is possible to work AND participate in some extra curricular pursuits.
Although some ECs can be expensive, the vast majority are not.This is important: Low income alone will not give you a “free pass” to not develop interests and activities outside of the classroom. Work can certainly count for some or much of this, but you really need to find a way to participate in something else. Look for school-based EC opportunities that are low cost. Or develop your own passions - running, writing, reading, etc., and be able to speak to them. You will be competing with other kids who do.
I’m pretty sure the point isn’t that ECs are expensive, it’s that needing to work to support your family makes it extremely difficult to find time for ECs. My extracurriculars made it pretty much impossible for me to work during the school year, and the reverse can also be true. However, if OP isn’t working during the school year, they should definitely be able to fit in ECs. I participated in a lot during high school, and none of them cost me more than an extremely occasional couple dollars.
Work definitely counts as an extra-curricular. But if you are only working during the summers, colleges will want to see that you spent your time during the school year productively. Extracurriculars for the most part do not cost money- for example, I participate in about 6 extracurriculars and have only ever spent money on one, when I travel to Model UN conferences.
Some low-income schools have virtually no active clubs. We had three; two were for certain ethnicities. These clubs met just once or twice throughout the school year!
The YMCA & Boys & Girls Club are in many low-income areas. They always have great (active) volunteer opportunities!
Agree, work is a fine EC. Bottom line is that colleges want students who are active and engaged in something and not sitting around the house for hours after school every day watching TV and playing video games. If you working can help your family that is certainly a worthy use of your time.