No sports/barely any leadership? Am I in trouble?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>I'm about to be a junior in high school this year. I have hopes of getting into Stanford like thousands of other students. </p>

<p>I do not play sports in high school or any sport competitively. I do archery but I can only shoot on Saturday mornings. That is now difficult because my job (I work at the library) requires me to work mornings every other week, and I don't always have a ride to go. </p>

<p>Stanford has an archery team and I don't think a gazillion people play that sport. It's fun, relaxing and I love it, but I can never go which is depressing. </p>

<p>I do play piano and this will be my 9th year playing. I have several tiny awards, and I am a paid piano accompanist for the 7th and 8th grade choirs. Unfortunately, that's about all I can do. I play violin and I was in the school orchestra, but I had to quit this year because I am taking AP bio and AP chem which take up a total of 4 periods in the day (3hrs of science a day) and there was no more room in my schedule because the classes that filled it up had to be taken. Had I stayed, I would have been a first violin and might hold a position as secretary, treasurer, VP or P. I know it was a mistake to quit, but I really wanted to take these classes. </p>

<p>I am part of yearbook and I plan on holding an editor position this year and next year. I am currently the editor of the Underclassmen Pages. We also started a Science Olympiad team late last year and we went to states. A friend and I won 6th place in states for Anatomy & Physiology. I'm more prepared for this year because now the team exists, but it's impossible to win or place in states because I live in Ohio and Centerville/Solon always win nationals :/</p>

<p>I used to volunteer at the library and now I work there, so I can't volunteer anymore. I'm working on my application to volunteer at our hospital (which is on the top 10 list of best hospitals in the USA). I plan on volunteering anywhere from 4-8 hours a week to add to my resume. </p>

<p>I have about no leadership positions. The only one I have is a STEM project in 8th grade where I was team leader for 4 people and we won 2nd place overall. </p>

<p>Am I in trouble because I don't do sports? I prefer doing things with my mind. Games like chess, scrabble interest me. I can be athletic, but I won't join the team sports at my school because the people on those teams just leave me out or don't like me (I am NEVER mean to them, if anything, I always help them with school/homework, I swear on my life)</p>

<p>I love playing ping-pong as well. But that isn't a 'sport' in college if you know what I mean. I want to start a club in school...but I'm pretty sure no one will join. I want to start a club, but I need ideas on what to start that students WILL join. </p>

<p>I'm very sorry for this long post...I guess I shouldn't ask if I am in trouble, because I am..I should be asking how to fix these problems, but I need suggestions. I've searched and searched for answers, but I don't know what to do. Please help me!</p>

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<p>also, I am currently ranked 35/344 have a weighted GPA of 4.5290 and an unweighted of 3.999 :slight_smile: </p>

<p>My classes this year are:
Spanish 4 honors
AP Bio
AP Chem
Pre-Calc Honors
Law 1st sem. psych 2nd sem.
English 11 H</p>

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<p>You absolutely don’t have to do any sports to get in. That’s a very old myth. I’d say most students at Stanford didn’t do a sport in high school (or if they did, not for very long / not as one of their long-term commitments, which are the ones that matter). </p>

<p>Not having any leadership would be a problem, but you have plenty of time to fix that by taking on more responsibility in activities you’re passionate about (remember that you don’t need a title to show leadership). The Stanford admissions site says that junior year is the time for students to deepen their commitments by finding what they like most, taking on leadership, etc.</p>

<p>You have plenty of extracurricular involvement, so you are not ‘in trouble’ - you’re right on track, but as said, now is the time to find what you really love to do and to commit yourself to those activities more. Junior year is the most important, so use your time well, don’t engage in clubs you don’t like, and really demonstrate that you are exceptional by doing awesome stuff in activities you’re passionate about. In other words, carpe diem :)</p>

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<p>thanks for your input :D</p>

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<p>Stanford Archery Team is awesome! I was in it for a short time (before I got busy with other things), and it was a blast. And Ping Pong is definitely a sport; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.</p>

<p>To be honest, I really didn’t have too much leadership before junior year, either. But Junior year was where I buckled down and really started getting into my ECs. Working and being an editor on the school paper both show leadership in my opinion. Sure, you may not have as much as some people, but you have more than enough time to fix that. And leadership doesn’t just mean a title. Starting that ping pong club, organizing any sort of event which interests you, or mentoring are all things which I consider leadership.</p>

<p>When I applied, the only sports I had was that I play Tennis in my free time. You absolutely do not need sports if you have other major interests.</p>

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<p>awesome! I really want to be a part of it. Thank you! :smiley: :smiley: I got my schedule today, and they didn’t change orchestra to law/psych so I’m doing orchestra again because hopefully it looks good after doing 4 consecutive years of it. I might take those classes online</p>

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<p>Yeah, like said above sports aren’t a requirement. As far as leadership positions, think of yourself in context of where you are in high school. You’re just about to become a junior, and what sophomore holds a leadership position? Typically those positions come late junior year or early senior year, so don’t worry about it! You still have quite a bit of high school to go through so you’re on the right track.</p>

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<p>I hope that you’re doing orchestra because you love it, not because it ‘looks good’ to have it for 4 years.</p>

<p>FWIW I also didn’t have leadership before junior year. I never did sports, because I had lots of other stuff going on (and I also received a likely letter in the end).</p>

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<p>I never had leadership in high school :).</p>

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<p>It’s not. I wanted to stay in it, but I would have had to quit because of my stupid schedule. One AP science is 2 periods long, so I am doing 4 periods of science a day. I need 4 years of history for an honors diploma, but it’s not worth dropping orch, because that’s my break in the day when I can do something funn!! I’ll take the history class online or as a senior.</p>

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<p>Get back in the orchestra</p>

<p>ECs are very important</p>

<p>My son has very few ECs, and it is going to hurt him</p>

<p>Just like you, he quit (karate) to concentrate on his studies.</p>

<p>Academics is not everything</p>

<p>Being first violin is impressive</p>

<p>I don’t think you necessarily need leadership per se, but being in the orchestra is a good EC. </p>

<p>Kids on the track team do not show leadership either, for example.</p>

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<p>and since I’m doing orchestra this year, I plan on doing it as a senior, so I can run for a position. Hopefully like VP or maybe treasurer/secretary</p>

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<p>We just came back from a Stanford tour with our Junior son and based upon what we learned from the admissions officer leading the info session there are definitely some things you can do.</p>

<p>Most important is that you need to figure out WHY you want to go to Stanford so really dig into what the school offers and how that relates to you.</p>

<p>Additionally, Stanford really likes students who have done research or have been entrepreneurial at the high school level. Don’t rely on your high school but go beyond to find an opportunity to start or join a project that involves the sciences, arts, etc. or will be of benefit to your community. I know this is vague but Stanford appreciates this more than run-of-the-mill Pres. of Student Council, Pres. of (obscure) Club, etc. This is what we were told in so many words and I think it was genuine.</p>

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<p>“Not having any leadership would be a problem”</p>

<p>People overemphasise the importance of leadership for college admissions. It is important and helps, sure, but it won’t make or break your app, IMO. I didn’t really have any.</p>

<p>Best advice is to put your energy into your passions (music I take it?).</p>

<p>“Stanford really likes students who have done research or have been entrepreneurial at the high school level”</p>

<p>As much as Stanford appreciates the passionate musician, chess-player, gamer. I’ve seen em all (well, not all).</p>

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<p>Also, I just read a post about someone having amazing SAT scores, lettering 12 times in 4 varsity sports, and all of this other stuff making her an amazing student but was not accepted. </p>

<p>The thing is, even though I play piano, millions of people play piano, and out of those millions, thousands are in competition and are recognized…I have never competed in a piano competition, the only thing I have is 2 consecutive Unanimous Superior Ratings from some Piano Festival…</p>

<p>I was planning to start writing or at least practicing my essay writing from Stanford’s provided topics (even if they do change, I need practice!! :D)</p>

<p>I haven’t taken an official SAT, but my practice was a 1640 or something (my critical reading is pretty bad, but math was reasonable) so I am planning on starting to study some vocab and techniques to improve…but I don’t know how likely it is for anyone to jump like 400-500 points :/…</p>

<p>Does anyone have any tips to help improve my chances a little bit? I have a 3.999 unweighted GPA, and a 4.52 weighted GPA. My parents are both from Iran, but I was born here, but technically I’m white. I am in the top 10% of my 344 person class (ranked 35 or 36 can’t remember) Currently I am taking AP Bio and AP Chem simultaneously (the only person in the entire school at the moment, I have 3 hours of science a day lol, no history). …please help :)</p>

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<p>And my dad lost his job almost a year ago, and Stanford’s financial aid is unbelievable, so it would help a bunch, especially because I have a brother 1 year younger…</p>

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<p>however, I only have around 84 hours of community service, I used to volunteer at the library, but I was then hired at the library, so now I work there part time :slight_smile: I plan on going to volunteer at a hospital which has 4 hour shifts, so that will be awesome</p>

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<p>bump? :slight_smile: thanks</p>

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<p>You sound very motivated and determined to get in, although you must realize that 2200+ is almost required for a school like Stanford if you don’t have something extraordinary backing you up. I urge you to pursue something along the lines of a startup business, even if it’s a small online initiative. It will really make up for your lack of leadership positions and also show maturity and professionalism.</p>

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<p>does Science Olympiad help my chances a bit? :slight_smile: lol</p>