hi everyone. My name is Joey, and since im shooting for the IVies, im pretty concrened about my Ec’s.
here they are:
EC:
-Completed a four year curriculum at a Secondary school
(Hebrew College) specializing in Jewish Studies, with outstanding marks (4.0 GPA).
-Writer and co-editor of high school paper for 4 years.
-member of my school’s Jewish Student union for 2 years,
officer of this ‘club’ for a year, and then president of the ‘club’ for my comming senior year.
-member of the American Poetry society for 3 years.
-rode horses for 6 years.
-tutored 8th garders in math and science for 3 years as
a paying job.
Community service:
<li>worked at a 6 week summer camp which involved much community service (about 40 hours).</li>
-joined a proggram in which I worked as an aid for autistic children during my junior year (the whole school year).
<p>Have you accomplishment anything exceptional, or made an impact with any of your ECs? For example:</p>
<p>"-member of the American Poetry society for 3 years." </p>
<p>Did you get in based on your merits or is the club something anyone can join? Has any of your poetry been published in any books/magazines?</p>
<p>As far as they go, your ECs look fine, but none of them really stood out to me (unless you've done something exceptional with one of them). So don't count on getting in based on them. </p>
<p>Basically, they won't keep you out of the Ivies if you are exceptional academically, but don't expect them to help that much either. You may want to try ED at some of the lower ivies depending on your academic stats.</p>
<p>I see. But what do you mean by 'something exceptional'? for example, in the Jewish Student Union (mentioned above) I organized events, or in another instance I joined Zionist rallies. Is that what you would consider exceptional?</p>
<p>I can't define what Ivies view as exceptional, but stuff like awards at the national level, or the state level at the very least. Something unique. </p>
<p>Stuff like officers in unions and clubs are a dime a dozen, anyone can be one. What separates the cream from the crop is what you do with that position. Likewise, anyone can join a rally. If you are truly passionate try to organize one!</p>
<p>To be blunt (don't take offense, this is just what I'm interpreting this as), it looks like you are just doing most of this stuff for the college app. </p>
<p>Do what you like, poetry is good if you can do it really well (it could be exceptional). At the end of the day, its not what colleges like, its what you like (that doesn't include stuff like sitting on the couch and playing halo 24/7 though). Tempus fugit! Don't worry about whether or not its going to be good on the college app, just do it if you like it (And if its not illegal/bad/anything like that :D).</p>
<p>I don't want you to think that I am ripping your stuff apart, but there are wholes than can be poked through. Your EC's are not clearly defined:</p>
<p>*member of the American Poetry society for 3 years <a href="what%20does%20being%20a%20member%20require?">/i</a></p>
<p>*rode horses for 6 years <a href="unless%20you%20are%20an%20accomplished%20equestrian,%20this%20could%20come%20back%20to%20bite%20you.%20Horse%20riding%20is%20an%20expensive%20EC.%20Depending%20on%20grades/%20scores%20Adcoms%20may%20beleive%20that%20money%20could%20have%20been%20better%20spent%20on%20tutoring%20to%20raise%20grades/scores">/i</a></p>
<p>*worked at a 6 week summer camp which involved much community service (about 40 hours). How did working at the summer camp involve community service? * Did you work 40 hours a week for 6 weeks or did you work 40 hours over a 6 week period? Did you get paid? If yes, not community service because you got a monetary gain.</p>
<p>joined a proggram in which I worked as an aid for autistic children during my junior year (the whole school year).</p>
<p>They are kind of all over the place and don't show any real passion about who you are and what yo are commited to. It is better to have one EC that you have been commited to over a long period of time and have taken a leadership role than it is to have a laundry list of what you think the adcoms want to see.</p>
<p>Kids fall in different categories according to EC's. Some just play video games and goof off. Some plan every EC's with a mind towards college admissions. Others do what they feel like, do a lot, but its all a little jumbled. When it is jumbled, you need to repackage and do a marketing job in order to pull it together. Adcoms do want to see "passion" and long-term commitment in a one or two EC's. This may not be hard to do since you probably did have a guiding light behind everything. Please answer the following:</p>
<p>Hebrew College is listed as an EC. I'm not Jewish. Is this in addition to high school?</p>
<p>What was involved in the Jewish Student Union work?</p>
<p>How involved were you in horseback riding? Is this a big interest for you?</p>
<p>Do you write poetry? What did you do in the Poetry Society?</p>
<p>Did your high school track your community service hours? Some do.</p>
<p>Being an Editor of your school paper is a big deal. Adcoms will flag editor of newspapers/yearbooks, presidents of student councils, and captains of sports teams because it shows leadership.</p>
<p>At HYP, a good EC involves winning national and/or regional/state recognition. It drops off sharply after that. What you want to do in your application is not just list a bunch of EC's, but you want your personality to come thru in the application. This isn't easy. If you love horses and that is a passion, that would be a good thing to get across, but you can't just list that you rode horses for 6 years.</p>
<p>to answer your questions:
-yes, it is a separate program in addition to highschool.</p>
<p>-In the Jewish Student union, we ordinarily met every week to discuss issues in the Jewish world, and often (once a month) organized and coordinated events with other Jewish agencies in the Boston area.</p>
<p>-I rode horses every week. I did it as a hobby, and not competitively. I originally started riding when my autistic brother did it for therapy, and I started with him in order to give him company.</p>
<p>-I enjoy writting poetry. In the poetry society i joined several competitions, (3 so far) but had yet to win any prizes.</p>
<p>-My house school doesnt track community service hours.</p>
<p>Ivies are hard to get into because so many people apply. This is an oxymoron, but it does put the emphasis where it needs to be. If a person isnt a URM, legacy, or whatever, then the most qualified person in the world still only has a 1 in 4 chance of being accepted at HYP. A good EC at HYP is some sort of national recognition or at least regional/state recognition. There is a feeling currently going thru the threads at CC that the statement that After you reach a certain level academically, then the ECs are more important. means that someone with good ECs at their high school may be able to get into HYP with a 1350/1600 SAT. The certain level academically that you have to reach at HYP is a 1550/1600 SAT.</p>
<p>Fortunately, things get better very quickly after you leave the area of HYP. For next few schools including the other Ivies, they do want people who have a combination of top academics along with personality. This is true at any of the selective colleges except for a lot of the large public universities that are more numbers driven. A good book to read is Harvard Schmarvard by Jay Mathews to get an idea of how brand consciousness is driving the admission process. Rather than just pick some prestigious college names, you need to consider factors such as large/small/midsize, LAC/university, rural/urban/suburban, public/private, political atmosphere on campus, social life on campus, Division 1 sports teams on campus, and so on. The Ivies really have nothing in common except for the prestige factor. </p>
<p>I would recommend that you get a copy of Acing the College Application by Michelle Hernandez. She recommends that your ECs not be presented in a resume format, but rather in the same format as the EC chart on the application form. I believe that this would work better for you personally.</p>
<p>ECs need to be concentrated in one or two areas, have passion, and have long term commitment. Ideally, you want them to pick two words to describe you. I think those words in your case are Jewish and Writer. In the Activity-list, include information about what is involved in each activity. The Hebrew School is a big item. Make it clear to people like me that it is not your high school. The Jewish Student Union is an add-on to that. Dont call the Jewish Student Union a club. It sounds more impressive to be President of the Jewish Student Union at my Hebrew School. Emphasize that you coordinated events with other Jewish agencies in the Boston area. Leadership is good. The fact that you were editor of the high school paper is a big item. They will flag that as a leadership position. The poetry is an add-on to the writing. Additional items are the horseback riding and community service. They will ask how many hours/week and weeks/year and what years you spent on each activity. It is really hard to qualify numbers like that so put down what you are comfortable with. Include prose to describe the activities that are not self explanatory. </p>
<p>I dont think that it is healthy to pick all of your ECs in high school with an eye towards how they will look on a college application. It is more a question of organizing what you did and marketing yourself at the time of applying. You certainly have done a lot of stuff. Get you personality into the application.</p>
<p>You're welcome. You certainly did a lot of stuff. Most people don't do random things indiscriminately. It is just a question of marketing to pull everything together.</p>