<p>I'm a freshmen currently studying in a competitive high school in Singapore and I'm definite that I'll be going to the states (or UK, but they don't care for ECs) for college. I'm planning to apply to schools like Cornell, UCLA, UCB, NYU etc. I was apparently not aware of the emphasis universities place on ECs when it comes to admissions, and my current stats are a mess. I've only held a minor leadership position, I've never won any competitions, and I don't participate in sports nor do I play an instrument (I stopped at piano grade 2). All I have is a whole bunch of community service (300++ hours) and a place in the school's humanities programme.</p>
<p>What should I do now? Pick up a sport? Start learning an instrument? I'm desperate D: help!!!!!!</p>
<p>irrelevant :
I took the SATs for funnnn last year and I got CR 610 Math 780 Writing 590. I still have 6 more years till college applications because of mandatory military service so those scores don't really matter I guess. I don't understand half of the words they use and I'm not sure how I can improve my CR and writing scores D:</p>
<p>i know i sound despo and incoherent :(</p>
<p>I find it hard to believe you took the American SAT’s as an international for “fun” (no studying?) last year (8th grade?) and got a 1980 “without understanding half the words”.</p>
<p>Regardless, your community service is an extracurricular, and if you have lots of it then thats a good thing. Main thing is schools don’t want to see you sitting a home doing nothing.</p>
<p>The “half” part was more of an exaggeration to emphasize on the difficulty of the exam. I did study, in fact, my father lugged back 10 books from SAT crash-course centers in China and I spent 10 days cooped up at home doing nothing but those stupid books. I said it was for “fun” because it wouldn’t matter in my college applications anyway. A number of students here (my friend did, she got into Purdue) apply after 10th grade to US colleges (nearly all of them female, since they don’t have to serve the military), and their SAT scores are all in the 2100-2200 range when they took it in grade 9.</p>
<p>I did not fake the scores and I’m trying to get that across here. If you didn’t know, Singapore is an English speaking country. Thank you anyway, for your reply.</p>
<p>Schools have different expectations for internationals on ECs because they know it’s not common in many places. And 300 hours of community service IS an EC - what do you do? </p>
<p>ECs include anything you do for fun, as a hobby or with your family that is important in your life - it doesn’t have to be school-related, you don’t have to have a ‘leadership’ position, you don’t need to ‘achieve’ something. You can be active in your church, an avid gardener, raise prize-winning guppies, remodel old cars, work in your family business, take care of siblings while parents are working, etc…</p>
<p>ECs are a way for the colleges to determine what you can contribute to campus life (you won’t hide in your room or spend 4 years in front of the television), if you have any skills besides those that are reflected in your academics, and what interests you have besides school. This shouldn’t be too challenging for most people to come up with. Only those applying to the most competitive, most selective schools have to worry about their ECs being ‘distinctive’ in some way.</p>