<p>I'm a junior right now in high school but I'm apprehensive because I don't know if I'm headed in the right direction if I want to apply to "top tier" schools (probably not the ivies, but just below them in terms of selectivity)</p>
<p>Here's the thing: I know that I have excellent "stats" because I genuinely love school/academics. I take the toughest classes I can, and my standardized test scores are high so far because of my mind and studying skills. I'm a geek, and it's glorious.</p>
<p>But I don't think that my extracurriculars are quite as stellar as my stats...</p>
<p>Freshman year, I made sure to get involved in extra curriculars that I was interested in, and I've continued the ones that I've liked the most, but I'm not "stellar" with any of them. For example, I'm extremely active in my high school's band program, but I've never made any auditions for the "honor" groups like region/all-state band. I also run a popular independent publication with a large group of kids in my school, but I quit being an editor at my high school's mainstream newspaper because of some severe disputes with the older staff members and the adviser. </p>
<p>I have a gripe with the general "club scene" at my school because they meet during lunch and end up getting nothing done. Consequently, I never got involved in the academic teams like math team and science team that probably would have interested me (as a person who's nerdy about school) if I didn't feel that they wasted time.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm not one of those kids who's got insane extracurriculars to accompany great stats, and I keep seeing these people who get rejected because they have high stats but not as stellar extracreds. Do colleges, like, discriminate against those people? Should I be worried, and with a few more months left in my junior year, what can I do to fix it? Or is it too late?</p>
<p>Yep, and it's too late. Sorry. Good luck in community college and becoming a janitor. HAHAHAHAHA</p>
<p>no, seriously, get some extracurrics and stop being such a snob! Don't overglorify yourself or all your recs will be bad and then my first paragraph will be true.</p>
<p>I look at it this way -- unless you KNOW you want to go to a school that's gonna require those extracurriculars or you have anything in mind you've been wanting to try, don't bother. The schools you like best may not necessarily be the ones that are the most selective. Life's too short to waste time doing things you don't like to pander to higher education.</p>
<p>Don't you think college admissions officers are a bit tired of seeing kids who are editors of their school newspapers, play in the band, and are on the math team? Yes, they garner some awards but nothing that distinguishes them from all the other applicants with comparable grades and test scores. Don't do ECs because you 'need to'-find something you love and pursue it, even if you do it alone, win nothing, and can't claim a 'leadership role.' It will enrich your life, make you are more interesting person to talk to, and open up opportunities you never dreamed of...and yeah, maybe it will help your college applications too. (And no, it's not 'too late' in the middle of your junior year to do this.)</p>
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...I keep seeing these people who get rejected because they have high stats but not as stellar extracreds.
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<p>Unless you've read the files on them in the appropriate admissions offices, you don't know that.</p>
<p>You don't think that running an independent publication, in which you're supervising a big group of people, is a good EC? I do. You don't think that a strong record of commitment to an activity (band) shows something positive about you?</p>
<p>If you've got the time and want to do more stuff...you don't like the ECs at your school, so do something in the community. This is a guess, but I suspect that someone who bothers to run an indy publication probably has political causes that they're interested in - go find local activist organizations that support them. You're a math/science geek? Work on an open source software project, or see if you can get a prof a local university to let you be a research minion.</p>
<p>First of all, in the title, it would be "Weaker ECs" not "Weaker XCs." It was just bothering me a bit :)
Second of all, don't worry. ENJOY what you do; don't just do it for a boost in admissions. Admissions officers aren't stupid, they can tell when someone isn't genuine about what they're doing.
But, if you're still worried, start some volunteering. Get an internship. Go to a summer program. There's plenty of things you can do other than extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>I myself lack ec's. I was in the science club 9-10th but it no longer exist due to majority were former seniors. Other clubs offered at my school are not up to my interest enough, though I'm looking forward to college that I'll be able to find ec's of my interest.</p>
<p>coolbreeze -- totally agree with you. there's a thread on the front page under "featured" that intrigued me. it's about how that one school in NY is cracking down on useless/poorly run clubs. these clubs which just don't continue/work out basically epitomize my school and make me very angry haha</p>