<p>My grades are unweighted somewhere above 3.75 and weighted above 4.0, and let's just suppose I get 2200+ on my SAT I, then what colleges could I look at? My EC's are really sad: Newspaper, Yearbook is pretty much all I have :( I am only a Junior but those are worthless for any decent school out there so I don't know what to think. </p>
<p>I have never really thought about my future until this year, so I keep crying over spilled milk for not joining any activities that are good on a resume :\ This being after I started looking into elite colleges without realizing the acceptance rates lol /stupid</p>
<ol>
<li>Federal Reserve Challenge Team (Highly selective 5 member team)- 3 years (National Finalists last year)</li>
<li>Model UN- Awards at, Harvard, Princeton, Boston University, George Washington, and MIT (more to come hopefully this year including yale)</li>
<li>Model UN Staff in my school where we run our own conference- 3 years</li>
<li>Started a “Tutorial Society” in my school where we help tutor underprivileged children</li>
<li>INternet Science Tech Fair- National Honorable Mention (2nd place out of like 500 projects- ran by Univ. Southern Florida)</li>
<li>Vice President for “China Care”- spreads cultural awareness for adopted children</li>
<li>General Manger for Project Peace AHIMSA- spreads cultural awareness and advocates the knowledge of peace</li>
<li>Science Outreach Program- we go around in local middle schools and teach kids science topics</li>
<li>National Gold Rated Choir and Chamber Choir (a member- chamber is selective) - 3 years</li>
<li>Orchestra - 2 years</li>
<li>Junior Varisty Debate- 2 years (well not all 3 were JV)</li>
<li>Reserach at Columbia University for 2 Summers</li>
<li>Volunteered at Columbia University Hospital</li>
<li>Oh!. math team 3 years- Made AIME’s. Some local and regional awards here and there- ARML high scorer~ (for those of you who knows what that is)</li>
</ol>
<h1>15. Wrote for the School newspaper for 3 years as a member. I just like writing, and cant find enough time to really dedicate myself to it so thats my fault.</h1>
<p>I swea the kid who posted this said that he thought these were mediocre… what the hell is he thinking. Even if I had to write everything ive done down it would say</p>
<p>job for 6 months
newspaper for 2 years
yearbook for 3 years
community service… o barely any tho so why am i even putting this down</p>
<p>cool i have 4 things which mean nothing and some punk wants to make me feel like crap for being a normal kid when he is the next jesus christ… why did i join CC this site is full of posers</p>
<p>Don’t freak out, just start joining something, anything. It is not too late to add to your resume. Not sure how athletic you are, but anyone can run. Spring sports, like track, are a great option if there aren’t “cuts”. Find out what your schools track team policy is --who cares if you don’t run that often ;). You just need to letter. Cross country, ditto. you have time to get in two years of track and one XC.</p>
<p>Play up the yearbook writing thing/writing in general. Attend a summer writer’s workshop at a university (apply to Kenyon, and UVA–due Mar.1). this summer and next.</p>
<p>Volunteer this summer! Find volunteer work for teens. My son volunteered at a local art center for the summer working as a teaching assitant. this summer and next.</p>
<p>These are just a couple ideas, but hope you see where I am going here. You need to look at yourself on paper and see what you feel may be missing. Take what you are already talented at and run with it! There are so many great summer programs to take advantage of and it’s really not too late. The worst thing you could do is just throw in the towel now and decide that it is what it is. No! You have so much control right now to do it differently. So start looking through all the clubs your school offers and join what you are actually interested in. Good luck to you!!</p>
<p>Okay thanks for the support, but I’m just a pretty introverted guy so I don’t know about a writing program… I’m assuming it has discussion and stuff that I shouldn’t spend my time on and look stupid. And we’re pretty poor lol =P</p>
<p>Just saw that other guys list you posted, hilarious! Yep, that’s the Ivy hopeful. But here’s the thing, there are loads of others just like him and many come off looking less than truthful on their applications. Admissions officers are very skilled at seeing through the BS. CC can scare people --don’t read those if you can. Just focus on getting some things added to your own resume and remember to always be truthful (can already see that you are since you didn’t mention the community service ;).</p>
<p>No, the UVA writers workshop has some of the coolest, nicest kids, and believe me, they are not all extroverted! My son attended two years --once in poetry. My S is a “smart/indy kid”. There are kids with dreadlocks, geeks, theatre kids, girls scouts :). Anyone can fit in there and they are super supportive of each other. Please consider applying!</p>
<p>Ahh I pretty much know I just need to take action but my issue is confidence honestly :s I enjoy relaxing and just messing around so that combined with my confidence is a pretty fail resultant. I just have to overcome that and ACT and join the stuff I thought about. </p>
<p>For instance last year I was planning on running XC so I started jogging during the summer but it was just not very fun and I kinda burnt out after just a few days and said it isn’t worth it. It may not have been worth it but I never figured it out… And yes I’m into writing as well but I don’t plan on writing a full-fledged novel in a year :p</p>
<p>edit: With the writers workshop- it says 1400 dollars so I can ask my parents about that or get a job thanks for the firsthand knowledge</p>
<p>And if I am not even an entirely good writer, I just like writing - then I could still fit in ? I get good grades on English things, but that doesn’t make me a great writer</p>
<p>ah see on a post by someone about it they said they only accepted 20% of the applicants?!</p>
<p>Given the way you describe yourself-laid back, introverted, maybe a bit shy - why are you trying to push yourself into a school full of hyper kids with sharp elbows? You’ll be a lot happier if you focus on finding schools that fit who you are, not who you wish you’d been.</p>
<p>Given your interests and self-description, I think you’d be a great fit at a good midwestern LAC - small classes, lots of focus on writing and faculty interaction, a laid back, quirky, unpretentious vibe. Why not give us your grades, test scores, class rank, financial situation, and what you really want out of an educational experience and maybe we can come up with some suggestions that you might not have considered, but perhaps ought to.</p>
<p>Don’t worry so much about joining activities that “look good on a resume.” Your experience with jogging pretty much shows that’s not going to work for you. Instead, focus on things you really like and turn them INTO things that look good on a resume! </p>
<p>The other posters are right . . . there are lots of ways to turn an interest in writing into something more substantial. Other ideas - start a literary magazine if your school doesn’t have one, start an underground 'zine if they do, intern at a newspaper or publishing house during the summer, volunteer at an extended-day program helping kids with their (English) homework, really work to be named an editor of YB or the newspaper as a senior, etc.</p>
<p>i work at a tutoring center and one of our students was accepted to northwestern ED with only 2 ECs but she had great grades in the IB program and a 2250+ SAT score.</p>
<p>I think EC’s may be important when your scores are right at the mid-range for a particular school, but I think if your scores are at the top of their range the admissions people just aren’t going to care as much. Look at LACs for which you score is at the 75% level. If you get a 1420, you should double check but you might be talking about Colby, Hamilton, Lafayette, Colgate etc. These are excellent schools.</p>
<p>OK I was kinda freaking out yesterday because of Exams and I don’t know why else, but what I want is a small college, probably a LAC and far from Maryland. I can honestly say I’m working to become more of a leader, but I’m just naturally very introverted. So my ideal school would be something like Amherst, but Amherst is top tier so stepping down a bit (I honestly do not know many LAC’s) would probably be a good idea :p</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the posts though, after rereading my own I would have expected some hate after being so lazy and too condescending towards successful students, I apologize.</p>
<p>Well I got all year to decide so I’ll figure it out, I don’t know what to give you really. I’m not trying to be a specific occupation right now, so I am not exactly basing my school off of majors.</p>
<p>We really do need more info, there are far too many schools to provide you worthwhile suggestions without more info.</p>
<p>How far away from MD do you want to be? I live in PA with very many LACs - Is PA far enough away? Do you want to stay on the East Coast?</p>
<p>Ask your parents to run an EFC estimate so you know the minimum your family is expected to spend. Although you want to leave MD, finances could prevent that. Consider the financial end NOW before setting your heart on schools which you cannot afford. If your EFC is higher than your family can afford, your search will need to focus on school which you can receive large merit.</p>
<p>What type of peer group do you want? </p>
<p>Do you want science/math courses or prefer humanities?</p>
<p>Do you want to study abroad?</p>
<p>Do you want lecture courses or prefer more discussion based courses? I know some shy kids who prefer VERY large schools because they can blend into the background easily. </p>
<p>Do you prefer a lot of outside activities? </p>
<p>Being with interesting people, the small class size, it is located far enough away from Maryland, not too much set on partying and blazin’ out of your mind, the teachers are there for undergraduate teaching. Maryland is a large feeder to Amherst though so it would only hurt that I’m not from a unique location. </p>
<p>Point is… just from my short life so far, I jumped from a school with a class size of 40 kids to 20 kids to one with 350 kids and I really preferred knowing everyone at the former two. I realize that I can have a good social life no matter where I go, but I liked being in a small comfortable more so than one where I can “blend” in. </p>
<p>Pretty much all of the smart kids at my school are really nice people, but the less intelligent ones are condescending and disinterested in anything related to their education, so that is why I would like to go to a school with more intelligent people, not because I myself am elitist.</p>