My High School Doesn't Let Me Get Involved!

Applying to College
1

I go to a high school with close to no opportunities of getting involved in the school or in the community. I know getting into highly ranked universities you have to get involved and get into volunteering programs etc, but I can’t get involved in school? They offer very little chances of getting involved within the school community. But they do offer them, just very little. For instance, being a student representative etc. That’s it! Although, people in my high school have ended up going to highly ranked universities, such as Cornell, Georgetown, Berkeley, UCLA, so there’s no need to move high schools.I want to stay. My high school is an affordable IB school, so i’d very much like to stay. Also, I want to do more and be more involved but I am given very little opportunities.

So, basically: My high school doesn’t give me opportunities to get very involved, how else can I get involved?

Thanks.

2

churches, homeless shelters, civic organizations, youth organizations…you’re going to have to look within your community at large to get involved.

3

Turn to community groups. Maybe ask about starting a club at your school?

4

What are your interests outside of class? I know students who volunteer at the hospital, tutor at an elementary school, perform music on Sunday afternoons at a senior center, and find many other local opportunities outside of their high schools.

5

You seem like a smart kid. Therefore, it would be very easy to volunteer as a tutor for middle school/high school kids who need help with subjects that you are good in.

6

I didn’t know you had to go through your HS to do things in your community.

7

EC activities do not have to be done in the confines of your school. As noted above anything you do outside of schoolwork is an EC. You can volunteer, play music or do anything else in your community, your church etc. and it will have equal weight as a school-based EC. You may have to do some additional work to seek things out, but it is very do-able.

8

When you talk about getting involved, you seem to be focused on volunteering. While volunteering is of course a great thing to do, it is not required to go to college. Colleges that care about ECs want to see you deeply involved in something. It could be sports, music, theater, various math or science competition teams, debate, model UN, DECA, etc. It doesn’t have to be volunteering in the community.

9

Don’t wait for someone else to make an opportunity for you. Either find a group in your community or start working on a community problem yourself.

10

What kinds of volunteering do your parents or your parents friends do? Surely you have some acquaintances who can inform you about opportunities in your community. Is there a neighborhood Facebook page that you or your parents could follow or a weekly neighborhood newspaper? I agree that the HS is not the gateway to community involvement.

11

Holding down a part-time job is also an EC.

Have a chat with your guidance counselor about what the students who were admitted to those places did while they were in high school. That will give you a notion of what is possible for you.