There are no extra curricular activities were I live. I go to job corps and we don’t have sports, academic clubs, or any thing like that so I’d like some help on knowing what to do.
Please & Thank you
Isn’t “job corps” an extra curricular activity?
We have all heard many times about how the most selective universities require extra special ECs. Personally I think that this is a bit ridiculous. Many high school students are just trying to do too much, with too many ECs, too many AP classes, too much stress, and too little sleep.
My personal advice would be to keep ahead in your classes, do well in school, to the extent possible where you live do what you want to do with your free time. If you want to start an EC then do so. If you want to do job corps then do so. Then, when it is time to apply to schools, apply to ones that appreciate you for what you are and what you have done. There are thousands of universities in the US, and you should be able to find a very good fit at many of them.
Most state colleges and universities are focused on grades and test scores, with ECs a distant third in their consideration. As DadTwoGirls says above, do well in school, do your job corps, and you will be just fine.
And what are possible plans and goals? What can you afford?
ECs don’t have to be organized and group oriented. They often grow out of hobbies. I’ll list a few options, but the idea is to do things you genuinely enjoy.
Running
Biking
Gardening
Knitting or crocheting
Wood working
Baby sitting
Working with computers
Giving blood
All of these can grow into something meaningful. Running can lead to training for, and running, a half marathon. Knitting can lead to creating items for a cause such as knitting hats for babies in intensive care. Giving blood could lead to organizing a blood drive for your school or neighborhood.
These are just a few examples. How do you spend your time now?
^^^I would consider the above to be hobbies and not ECs if they are done alone at home. The exception is babysitting which would be a job. But any volunteer work in your community, church etc. would be an EC – it doesn’t have to be in a school. And any job would be treated similarly to an EC.
I do agree that the OP should continue along the path he/she is on. ECs are not important to many colleges. The technical training received through job corps could help to strengthen the application.
@DadTwoGirls Its a oncampus school I don’t go anywhere or do much of anything. there is no AP or IB courses
ECs are extra curricular activities, so I think hobbies count. They’re a way for colleges to get an idea who students are and what’s important to them.
“there is no AP or IB courses …”
OP, Where are you, what state do you live in, what are your grades like, and what do you want to do for college/university?
As one data point, my younger daughter had great grades, great SAT, almost no ECs, and very little in the way of APs (there were no AP classes at her school either). She was very attentive in class and very good at helping other students which helped her get very strong references. In September she will be going to a very good small university that doesn’t care at all about SAT and ECs, but does their admissions based on grades and references. As it turned out her very strong SAT didn’t matter at all, her lack of ECs and APs didn’t matter at all, and her strong grades and references got her in rather easily into a very good school. I would take this as a case of finding a very good match to what she wants in a school and to what she has to offer.
There are over 3,000 colleges and universities in the US, and many more outside the US. Even with no APs and only job corps as your EC I think that you also can find a very good match for what you want in a school and what you have to offer.
@happy1 - Yes they are hobbies, but hobbies can be extracurricular activities, especially if you can get others involved and start club or a spearhead volunteer effort.
@Hellofagal provided a number of such activities and where they might lead with some creativity, imagination, and drive.
@LoveTheBard I think we will have to agree to disagree. Our HS guidance counselors made a clear distinction between hobbies and ECs and discouraged putting hobbies (things done alone at home) on college applications. Their reasoning was that colleges that value ECs are looking for students who are out and involved in the school or community,. If the OP were to take a hobby and start a club, help in the community (ex. help in the town’s gardening club), join a running or biking group,in the area, volunteer at the school to help with computers etc, then IMO the hobby would turn into an EC
Certainly two reasonable people can have two different views on this but that is my understanding. I do think that involvement in job corps and babysitting would suffice. I’d recommend the OP speak to his/her guidance counselor about this.
@happy1 - Actually, I think we are agreeing more than we are disagreeing on the hobby versus EC distinction. I probably should have used the verb “become” rather than “be” when I wrote “…but hobbies can BECOME extracurricular activities, especially if you can get others involved and start club or a spearhead a volunteer effort.”
My point was exactly yours - a hobby can become an extracurricular depending on what you do with it. And I do believe that ECs are important to many colleges as they help them look beyond the numbers and see where kids’ passions lie.
Where we might disagree that just listing Job Corps and babysitting is enough to make a student stand out in terms of admissions to some of the top schools, which tend to be more holistic in their admissions processes and expect a great deal of involvement and leadership in community service, extra-curricular activities, volunteer work, etc.
It’s quality over quantity though. With respect to ECs, it’s better to do a few things and do them with passion than it is to have a laundry list of clubs in which you have a more peripheral involvement.
@LoveTheBard Yes, we do agree then. 
And I’m not sure the OP is looking towards the super competitive schools so hopefully he/she will be fine. .
@DadTwoGirls Would mind saying the name of the college that is really only focusing on grades and references? You can pm me if you prefer. Many thanks!