<p>have you ever heard of anybody who doesnt have leadership, didnt win national awards, not a minority, not athletic and got into any of the ivies?</p>
<p>cuz that pretty much describes me. i have everything else. i know that sounds vague, but i'm pretty much lacking leadership and prestigious awards...</p>
<p>What do you do with your time? The people who are accepted to the Ivies are exceptional in one way or another. Figure out how you are exceptional and let them know about it. I think everyone who gets accepted to the ivies has something that makes them stand out among their peers besides the usual gpa/sat achievements. Sometimes exceptional people participate in leadership and get national awards, other times exceptional people write books, paint, act, or play sports. Being exceptional is what probably counts more than exactly what area you are exceptional in.</p>
<p>does being incredibly hardworking at school and sciency, reading count? i mean, people like me hardly get recognition outside of school.. i mean, our school doesnt do academic competitions or anything..</p>
<p>and im seriously occupied by school that i dont have time during the school year to do much else..</p>
<p>A good amount of the kids from my graduating class who attend Penn fit that description (around 16 kids).</p>
<p>"That description"
as in nerdy, bookish, and school-oriented? if so, that's great :)</p>
<p>They're for the most part, just normal kids who are smart.</p>
<p>You are definitely at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>The thing is, many students have stellar grades AND ECs/Awards/Personal attributes. And if colleges were to place you side by side with one of those people, they'll probably take the other. However, don't be discouraged, you never know what might happen.</p>
<p>I'll admit I've never heard of that. But I don't get surprised easily.</p>
<p>use your essay to show a distinct side of your personality; that could help</p>
<p>To Ealgian & xybciba: do you mean that you've never heard of anyone who's gotten into HYPSM without leadership and prestigious awards?</p>
<p>To frutiaspice: i don't have SPECIAL ECs/Awards/personal attributes, i don't LACK them:</p>
<p>I came to the U.S. when i was 9. Do colleges care?</p>
<p>I mean i have National Merit (222 very likely semifinalist) and AP Scholar with Distinction, but i figured that's pretty minor, because a lot of people have those. I am ranked 2 out of 490, i took all honors classes as a junior. </p>
<p>I've been tutoring kids every week since the 9th grade now. I have done sports, but only varsity, nothing special like state ranks and stuff. I have two clubs where i am just a member though :/ I've volunteered with this Asian American Donors program doing office work and calling people about blood drives and stuff.</p>
<p>And I also have this internship right now, i mean am i really such a poor candidate? Does leadership matter THAT much?</p>
<p>nope. i started a thread on this a while back. leadership is not everything. i mean, otherwise there would be too many chiefs and not enough indians. RIGHT????</p>
<p>Colleges- Ivies especially- want people that stand out. People that stand out are people that are passionate. Are you passionate about science? Then write a kick ass essay telling them that. You don't need ECs or awards to be remembered... but you do need the adcomms to remember you for some reason... hopefully a positive one.</p>
<p>It really doesn't have to be leadership but you want something to make you stand out. For example, I don't think what made me stand out was leadership, because what I had was pretty generic. Rather, I think it was an award that I won in junior year.</p>
<p>I can write a kick ass essay, i mean, i can really describe something if i truly cared about it enough. </p>
<p>I just feel so intimidated by those Sci Oly, Sci bowl, biology presidents out there. Our school do not offer those things, and yea, i guess i could have started them if i was "special" enough, but i guess i'm not</p>
<p>what award did you win frutiaspice?</p>
<p>and also, what about my being an immigrant thing?</p>
<p>I was a national finalist for USABO.</p>
<p>I know think the immigration factor stands out too much. There are a lot of immigrants (especially Asians from the bay area). Most of them have achieved pretty good scores and other things as well. I was also a immigrant and a lot of my friends also were.</p>
<p>Immigrant factor stands out too much? as in not that special? okay then, i was just curious. i mean, i felt like it was pretty special</p>
<p>USABO, see there's another one of those things that our school simply does not offer</p>
<p>sorry, I meant to say "I don't think it stands out too much" because seriously, we have a lot of immigrants in the bay area. </p>
<p>You could always ask your biology teacher whether she would be willing to sign people up and you could try to gather interest from the school.</p>
<p>hey, wow you totally sound like me! so are there any case of applicants actually getting in like that? no leadership etc. ;( anw your ECs dont sound too bad, definitely not as bad as mine, hahaha. what clubs are you in?</p>