I've hit a brick wall with ECs

[nick3162]

@a20171

Do you have any specific goals in the stem field to make a profound impact one day? For example, do you want to help create new medical technology? Electronics for recreation purposes? Looking for internships in the fields you plan to go into with people doing what you want to do or using the technology you want to improve one day would help make some great essays and show passions.

Thanks for your comment,
I’m currently in the negotiations for a part-time web design job (15 hrs/week) with a local company specializing in education. I’ll leave any more specific details redacted, but hopefully that demonstrates some initiative on my behalf.

It’s not exactly related to any speciality I want to enter. Though since I’m looking to double up this summer, I can try to find an area that meshes computer science with one of my passions such as geography or animated data maps/simulation. It’s a bit more of a risk to pursue a project of which I’m the founder though, as my skills aren’t strong enough to the point that I can take on an invention of any kind.

I definitely think, as you brought up, focusing on how my extracurriculars can compliment essays is a key consideration. I’ll keep that in the back of my head as I search online for opportunities the rest of spring break.

[nick3162]

@intparent

You are looking for a roadmap or a shortcut.

When has it ever been productive in life to tell someone what they’re looking for? You don’t know me; these assumptions are way too overbearing.

I definitely think colleges want inventors who make their own paths. I’ve tried to involve myself in startup companies and am now applying to local volunteer organizations who are in the early stages of getting up-and-running.

I guess I’m just a bit confused with where these assumptions are stemming from. I can’t help but get the intimation that you’re judging my character more so than the integrity of volunteering ideas.

I seem to remember you from a post about crazy parents a while back (http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2039614-too-many-crazy-parents.html). I’m certainly not pointing any fingers here, but I did write a post on there that I think helps to articulate a bit of my frustration with the direction of our current discussion.

Here is my excerpt from that thread:

While yes, I value the feedback given by parents, along with the dedication they show in seeing us succeed, there seems to be a point at which their intervention gets a bit intrusive. At least in the high school forums,where I dedicate the majority of my time, the main focus lies in chatting with other high school students and less so on hearing the comments of parents.

There are certain discussion points in particular where a personal experience with modern high school is needed to gauge an understanding of the situation. All to often I hear over-generalized advice from parents who are riding off the fact that they “think” they can relate to a student’s life, while in reality, have no perception of what it feels like to be going through our experiences.

The notion that all parents give generalized advice is overly assumptive, and of course there are exceptions, but looking to the larger picture, I think parents need to come to realize when to take a step back. Too often they feel qualified to respond to a comment simply based off rumors or trends they perceive to understand, while at the same time falling into the habit of counseling unpersonalized and stereotypical advice.

When I ask for feedback on a schedule, I’m looking to relate to actual experiences with courses. Parents who intrude by dissecting the schedule’s perceived balance does nothing but perpetuate the stereotypes which have lately skyrocketed the competitiveness of admissions. In this case, I would instead value for parents to recognize their lack of knowledge and give advice pertaining more to their own experiences, rather than those of an entirely different age group.

So with that said, I’d like to post a friendly disclaimer onto the thread. All CC’ers are welcome to post here, but I would prefer hearing the commentary of fellow students who know what I’m going through rather than parents. Hopefully that can be a general rule of thumb going forward. If you feel that you have productive advice and are yourself a parent, I’m still open to the idea of hearing it, as it will move along the conversation in the direction I originally intended. However when it comes to the divisive breakdown of what your perception of my authenticity or hidden motives are, I would respectfully like that to stop.

[socaldad2002]

@nick3162 while I can appreciate what you are trying to do and you certainly have put some thought and actions into your ECs already, a few comments.

IMO, admission officers would like to see depth and long term commitment to one or two areas of interests instead of dabbling in 8-10 different ECs. When I was in HS we had maybe 5 or 6 real clubs. Today HS’s have 60-70 clubs created by students who erroneously think starting a club with 3 members will show leadership, passion and commitment. I think most AO’s see right through this as false interest and superficial.

My advice is to do activities in HS that you have real passion for, take it to a deeper level, demonstrate your commitment and show how these activities are challenging you to grow as a student academically and individually.

In admissions, I think ECs are low on the list of what’s important. Course rigor, GPA, test scores, and excellent essays with demonstrated interest at some schools are going to rule the day. If you can tie your ECs to future college major or ultimate career goal, great, but make sure you enjoy being a teenager in the process.

Good luck!

[nick3162]

@socialdad2002

IMO, admission officers would like to see depth and long term commitment to one or two areas of interests instead of dabbling in 8-10 different ECs.

I’m not suggesting that each EC would involve concurrent participation. It’s more like including an internship one summer, a part-time software development position for a couple of months in another. There’d be a core focus of 3-4 commited ECs, with the rest being 3-4 month projects and one-off (yet focused) excursions.

The advice of sticking with 1-2 may be true for other majors, but in the least with computer science, I think it’s natural to have a more varied list that encompasses different experiences at different companies.

Today HS’s have 60-70 clubs created by students who erroneously think starting a club with 3 members will show leadership, passion and commitment

That’s inaccurate in my case. My school has maybe 15 at most non-sports related clubs, most of which fall under the category of being, as you would say, erroneous. And that’s coming from a large suburban high school of over 2,400 students.

[ My advice is to do activities in HS that you have real passion for, take it to a deeper level, demonstrate your commitment and show how these activities are challenging you to grow as a student academically and individually.

Very valuable advice, thank you

In admissions, I think ECs are low on the list of what’s important. Course rigor, GPA, test scores, and excellent essays with demonstrated interest at some schools are going to rule the day. If you can tie your ECs to future college major or ultimate career goal, great, but make sure you enjoy being a teenager in the process.

I’d say I’m covered f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶ in terms of academics and test scores. When it comes to essays and recommendations, I definitely acknowledge there’s some work to be done on that front.