Hi! It’s pretty much the end of my junior year and I haven’t done any extracurricular activities. I only have a job that I started last November. It was difficult for me to be involved with clubs/sports because I never had reliable transportation after school. And with the Coronavirus going on, most summer programs are canceled so I’m not sure if there’s anything else I can do now. Did I ruin my chances of getting into a decent school? I would honestly appreciate any advice (or a harsh reality check) from anyone (I can provide more information/stats as needed). Additionally, I want to major in Data Science/Analytics or Business Analytics in Ohio so if anyone reading this has experience with it, I would love to hear about it. Thanks for reading!
Not at all. Often people don’t appreciate their own activities. You worked! That’s great. Sit down with parents or a friend and go over EVERYTHING that you did, from art at home to babysitting to working a job, to taking care of pets. Everything. Many schools allow you to send them resumes. Put your experience in resume form and attach it to your application or email it to the adcoms. I’m sure that youve done plenty.
@iPink123 How do you spend most of your free time?
@CaliMex I spend most of my free time on computers. Sometimes I just play on my laptop or help my parents create websites for projects. It’s one of the reasons why I love data science but also leaves me with nothing to talk about on college applications. I can’t think of anything else (other than studying and work).
helping create websites is definitely an EC
Creating websites absolutely counts as an extra-curricular activity.
What else do you do on your laptop?
Do you create games in addition to playing them?
Have you taught yourself any computer languages?
Have you researched any special interests while you are online?
Can you say more about how you spend your time on the computer? Perhaps we can help you describe what you do in a way that works for your college applications.
That’s honestly surprising! I always thought extracurriculars were only school activities or community service.
@CaliMex nothing else college worthy. I’ve tried creating games before but since I barely knew how to code, they weren’t successful. Recently, however, I’ve been researching computer languages used with my major (Java, Python, etc) and I’ll probably start learning the basics since I have the time. Would that help at all?
It really depends which college you want to apply for, and if you’re an URM (underrepresented minority). This is what I have heard from older seniors who have experience with the process. Generally, they said you could get into a state school like UT Austin without many ECs but unless you were an URM you needed good ECs for Harvard, Stanford, etc.
@ProudTyy I’m an African American female and mainly applying for in-state schools in Ohio. I haven’t considered any Ivy League schools due to my other stats.
I agree that helping to create web sites is an EC. A job is also an EC. Universities understand that some high school students need to work to earn money. Perhaps just as important, universities understand that working at a job gives students a valuable perspective. For one thing it allows students to have a better understanding of why they want to attend university.
I think that you are fine, at least on this aspect. Of course we do not know your grades and test scores but that is an entirely different issue.
I would suggest you consider ivy league schools. They do give a large advantage to African American students, and Harvard is free to anyone who gets in and can’t afford it. If you have a 4.0/1600 SAT, you have a good chance of making it into these schools.
What are your stats OP? Maybe we can give you some college suggestions. Meanwhile, don’t worry too much about your ECs. You’ve probably done more than you realize. Most students will be in the same boat this coming application cycle. Now, and going forward, focus on doing your best and get to know your teachers. Recommendations will be very important this upcoming cycle. And if you can’t work this summer, there might be plenty of organizations looking for volunteers, even remotely.
Also, you can ask your guidance counselor to note in his/her letter of rec that reliable transportation is a problem. It gives context to why after school activities are not easy for you.
This. It is a much more familiar problem for applicants than you might realize. Colleges really do consider context. Lots of students can’t do school-based activities for reasons outside their control- and that’s ok. I heard an admissions Dean say “we don’t care what you do- we care that you do something with your time, and that you can talk about what that means to you”.
@DadTwoGirls , @ProudTyy , and @Lindagaf Hello! Here’s my stats to get a better view of my situation (since my ECs aren’t the only thing holding me back):
Major: Data Science/Analytics (also Business Analytics it just depends on what the school offers)
Gender: Female
Race: African-American (first-generation American)
Income: Lower middle?
School: I go to a public high school and my class has 450+ people in it (pretty competitive)
UW/W GPA: 3.476/4.033
My class rank isn’t updated with my junior year grades yet but currently, I’m around
the Top 30% (there are different class ranks for UW and W GPA and I’m not sure which one is used)
ACT: 26 (everything is so unpredictable right now so I’m not sure if I’ll retake it)
Class Rigor: 10 Honors, 3 AP (no scores yet since I’m taking them this year), and 1 college course. I also have 3 AP classes and 2 college courses planned for my senior year
Recommendations: I haven’t asked my teachers about them yet but, I’m scared that they won’t be as strong due to online learning (it took a toll on my mental health earlier which affected my work ethic and communication with them)
I wasn’t the best with time management and dealing with stress earlier in highschool but there’s an upward trend towards my grades with a jump in my weighted GPA this year
I’m mainly looking for schools in Ohio, but I’m okay with OOS schools too. I don’t expect any Ivy Leagues or T20 schools with my stats; I’m just looking for realistic schools that have my major and would accept me despite my stats. I can provide more information about my specific classes each year too if needed.
I want to thank everyone so much for replying to me! I greatly appreciate everyone’s insight.
@collegemom3717 I was nervous about colleges seeing no ECs on my application and taking it as a huge red flag. I didn’t even consider telling them the context because I thought they would completely disregard it. It’s nice to know that they actually consider those factors.
@iPink123
I don’t think you can make T20, however it is definitely worth giving Ohio State a shot. I believe you can get in with your stats.
I think you can get into a top-20, a black female data science is the dream of many colleges, you check a lot of boxes, especially if you’re first-gen, i.e. both your parents didn’t go to college (not sure on that). But you should get your ACT score up to 28 or higher. The number of black females in tech is like 1-2%, so use that to your advantage. good luck!
@theloniusmonk Really? I never knew that the percentage is so low. Both of my parents went to college then immigrated to the US to have me, which makes me a first-gen American/second-gen immigrant (sorry for the confusing terminology). I feel like that’s less weight to colleges compared to a first-gen college student. Hopefully, I can cram in one more ACT before admissions, thanks!
I would not be looking at top 20 schools with your stats and lack of confidence in your EC’s and letters of rec. lets focus on more likely places. Ohio State is possible but not a given- def look at Ohio U and Univ of Cincinnati.
Agreeing with the others: use all the online resources you can and re-take the ACT- raising your ACT can help you get stats-based financing or make you more interesting to meets-need schools.
Then spend some time looking at the meets-need schools, starting with the old “Seven Sisters” schools- because figuring out how you are going to pay for school is the next step!