I come from a school that sucks in opportunities. I want to go to a really good school but I am afraid the college will think it is a joke that I even applied, just because I didn’t have much to take part in at my school. There is only cheerleading, basketball, dance, softball, volleyball, and soccer available to girls. I play softball in spring but was cut junior year from varsity to make room for two girls (one, a senior who had never played for the school, and another, who, as everyone knew, sucked terribly!). I am trying out next year because the coach got laid off and I expect we’ll get a new one. I am in NHS but that’s it as far as clubs for me. We have Spanish, Environmentalist, and SADD, but that is it. And those clubs do not do anything and I didn’t want to be in a club that was just to put on an application. I was in Reading Club but my school doesn’t have it anymore. I don’t have a paper at my school or a magazine, just a yearbook class that I could never take because of my schedule. Being a Class Officer is about popularity because the dumbest people tend to be elected to those jobs, and Student Council conflicted with other things I did, so I could never join. I don’t have the talent for band or choir but I do enjoy writing, yet there is nothing I have to get into for it. I am trying to submit short stories to get published though. I’m hoping for that at least. So I suppose I’m wondering how much a college looks at extracurriculars, or lack thereof, and if they make exceptions when the applicant didn’t have many opportunities? Andybody with knowledge of this situation please respond.
<p>what about looking for opportunities outside of school?</p>
<p>why don't you start a club? from your interests, it seems like you'd enjoy working on a paper. i know some kids who started their own paper in high school. it might be a lot of work, but it would also be fun and colleges would really like it!</p>
<p>do volunteer work at red cross, hospital, library, etc.
Also, acquire a job and start a club. At your school, you could probably ask the principal and top english teacher to support you in creating a journalism club or something.</p>
<p>You have an excellent opportunity to use yor imagination and change the situation. Colleges would love that!!</p>
<p>somewhat off the topic here but anyhow...ain't it kinda hypocritical to start clubs, volunteer etc when a person has no interest whatsoever in those things and just does them so that his/hers application would look better? especially volunteering...I mean, doesn't the lack of passion show? Isn't the essence of volunteering something like...hmm to help other people out one's goodness of heart and without any ''hidden'' purposes?</p>
<p>back to the subject...I'd say that if you don't have this deep ''passion'', then yeah I guess you should choose the ECs that would possibly benefit you the most in the future. I wish I had thought on this myself a couple of years ago but oh well...</p>
<p>We have like four clubs at school but I haven't heard anybody complaining thus far. The thing is that here no one bothers to obsess about their ECs. the common/ in many cases the only EC that many of my classmates have is aerobics. I think that no one in the entire school does, e.g., volunteer work...</p>
<p>I have really great ideas and if NO one volunteers that is really sad and lazy imo</p>
<p>My school would only allow a school paper to be started as a class, and it is offered when we sign up for classes for our next year. It's just that the classes at my school are based on enrollment, so if there is less than say twelve picking that class, they scratch it. I have a friend who went to the top english teacher and tried to get the ball rolling for a journalism club and the principal and the teacher never got back with my friend on it. That was last year. I had a teacher friend who was transferred to my high school who tried to get a speech class started because we didn't have one before he came. He was laid off for budget cuts and they MIGHT have his speech class. Had he been able to stay I'm sure he would have wanted to start a paper. I do have a job, I work at a movie theater going on almost 1.5 years now. I have 43 hours of community service, 31 of which was tutoring. My problem with starting clubs is there is never any enthusiasm from others to join. And then the teacher sponsoring says they're not going to waster their time. However, I really respect the game of tennis, and I was looking to take lessons finally now that I found a place where I could really learn. Can I put that down on my applications even though it will seem like it was to buff up the application? I truthfully really like tennis and if I get good I'd like to play for a club at college or something.</p>
<p>Do things out of school...play tennis, sure its fun and healthy...it seems silly to me for people to be afraid to try something because it will look like padding, </p>
<p>What are your passions- art, music, politics, sports, service, literature, figure that out and you will be able to find something, such as Toast Masters, for those that like speech, refereeing for those that like sports, museum volunteers for those that like art, libraries for those that like literature, homeless shelters for those that want to help others, all kind of stuff is out there, you like writing and maybe journalism, many places have little local papers that may need help...and if not a paper, maybe a newsletter for a non profit</p>