i’m still a sophomore during summer but i’m soon to be a junior and i barely have any ecs. (corona is making me stress even more) i joined two clubs freshman year (leo and friends club) and i volunteered sophomore year in leo club. i’m gonna continue leo and friends club as well as another club until senior yr. other than that it’s currently sophomore summer for me and i’ve done a summer youth camp. i might have a chance at getting a part time job for my friends business too. i am still scared as i believe this isn’t good enough. anything else i could do? (gpa - 4.0 uw all throughout freshman-sophomore year) (sat-not yet and psat-improving)
i also might major in business if that helps.
******PS: i know that ecs are one of many aspects in the apps but i am most stressed abt the ec section of apps.
To be honest, this is the perfect time to start! You have two more years of highschool and starting your own initiative in the next two years is ideal. I would suggest you start your own initiative or passion project, especially because there’s more free-time than ever. Because your GPA seems high, I would say do some research or take a college class. As for projects, you could do anything from a virtual initiative, to planning a real-life event once things clear up, doing a fundraiser, starting an organization… there’s so many options and if I had this much time last year (I’m a senior) I would take advantage of it too!
Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions.
thank you for your reply and suggestions!! i am considering doing some of the activities you listed and i have thought of new ones as well. also, i am taking some college course classes (aps) during my junior to improve my gpa. again, ty for your reply!!
Besides homework and dinner, what do you normally do for the ~8 hours between the end of the school day and bedtime? what do you normally do on the weekends? last summer?
i usually just go on my phone for a bit, talk to my friends and do some sat study,other than that i don’t really do anything else. however for weekends, it varies bc some weekends i volunteer at events my clubs offer. i also do sat study on weekends as well. last summer i didn’t really do anything bc my family and i went on diff trips throughout summer. however, as of today, my friends and i are creating a club and i am also looking to do research in a college. i may also have a chance at an interview for my friends business.
You don’t need to be involved in 35 clubs, or even in 6 clubs. Two or three is great. However, now is the time to up your activity. Now is time to get more involved, taking on more responsibilities, helping plan new activities and expand existing ones, etc.
My kid’s extracurriculars were dance lessons, the school dance troupe, GSA, and unaffiliated political activism. However, the political activism only started during her Junior year.
Looking at your present ECs as well as your plans to expand them, I would say that you’re on the right track. It is pretty normal for high school students to start slowly with ECs, and build up as they get more comfortable, and more senior as members.
College AOs aren’t counting up the number of ECs applicants have and giving higher pints to kids who have a larger number. They are looking at your ECs to see what you did with your time when you weren’t studying or doing homework. There is no different between spending 5 hours a week each on two activities and spending 2 hours a week each on 5 activities. They like seeing that you accomplished something with your time.
They do like seeing concrete accomplishments, and the more impressive the accomplishments are, the better AOs like it. There is also an unfair advantage for activities for which there are competitions and awards (as any parent of a dancer will tell you). However, there is no advantage for quantity over quality, in fact, the opposite is true. Investing a lot of time in a small number of EC is far better than investing little time in many ECs.
If you still feel that you have the time and energy to add another activity, do so by all means. That research project is a great idea, as are your other ideas.
I’d say don’t worry about it too much. You seem to be on the right track. Doing 2-3 ECs should be more than enough. If you get involved in more than that you might see it affect your grades, sleep, or social life. Your GPA being a 4.0 is going to be a huge help as well. If you do end up doing well in the SAT then you should be in line to get into your dream uni. Not 100% sure about IVY though