<p>I've recently become interested in engineering, mostly BME/ChemE as a result of taking higher level math and science courses. My problem is that I don't have any extracurriculars related to math or science. Will this hurt me a lot in the long run?</p>
<p>My school has a math team, but that has never appealed to me. The first science related club was started this year, but it's a complete joke and full of kids who want it on their college apps (plus it's my junior year, a little late to be showing dedication to a club). They go to the science museum and talk about the weather and stuff, it' not exactly intellectually stimulating club. I'd never heard of Science Olympiad until I joined this forum, so obviously I never did that.</p>
<p>What I do spend a lot of time on is music. I played piano for six years, handbells for 9 years, and have been in band since the 5th grade. Band is the most important to me; I play clarinet and oboe in concert band, wind ensemble, and pit orchestra. Along with a lot of dedication to music, I am involved with my school's LINK program. We mentor freshman throughout their entire first year of high school, plan events, etc. I also am a member of NHS and a club that works to lessen hunger in the local area.</p>
<p>I feel happy about my extracurriculars, since I don't have a lot of and put a lot of time into each of them, but I'm worried because they're totally unrelated to engineering. Does the fact that I'm dedicated help outweigh that fact? Thank you for any responses!</p>
<p>Your dedication and committment to your chosen activities is absolutely more important than whether they relate to any major you might be interested in pursuing.</p>
<p>I did essentially no STEM-related extracurriculars and I turned out just fine. Honestly, it won’t matter in the long run, and only certain college even care.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the replies! They make me feel much better about my situation! I’ve just been so worried after seeing such awesome STEM ECs on here like national science fair winners, etc.</p>
<p>I’m looking at schools like Rice, Duke, etc. Not any Ivies, but still schools that are near or arguably equal to Ivies in quality of education.</p>
<p>Not planning on taking the SAT (Midwesterner here, not crazy about the SAT format) but I did take the ACT for the first time without studying and got a 34. I’m retaking it only because my math score was very disappointing, a 29. (I didn’t realize stuff like the equation of an ellipsis would be on the test).</p>
<p>My GPA is currently 4.0 (knock wood) so I’m ranked 1/~550, as our school does not weight grades. I’m taking BC calc and AP chem now, and plan on taking AP stats and bio next year! Our school does not have any advanced physics options. I’m not too into the humanities…</p>
<p>I’m hoping that my good grades in math/science will help show that I’m a candidate for admittance! Obviously I haven’t written my essays or gotten rec letters yet, so I can’t comment on those aspects of my application yet. I’ve still got months to go, after all!</p>