Please be honest with me: am I screwed?

Applying to College
1

<p>So I have a good GPA (4.8 weighted, 4.02 unweighted) and I've scored well on practice SATs (around 2100). I want to get into schools like Carnegie Mellon, Reed, Emory, and Johns Hopkins, but my ECs are quite weak thus far even though naviance tells me I have the right stats. </p>

<p>I'm going into my junior year and I've only done science league, Model UN, and won the science fair last year. I didn't realize how important ECs are until I visited this website. For next year, I'm gonna try to volunteer in some sort of biology lab (interested in medicine), start and environmental activism club, become president of MUN, and start a local red cross organization with my friend. While these may seem good, it might also appear to colleges that I'm just trying to cram ECs during my junior year. </p>

<p>I have a rigorous schedule, will probably write an essay about my interests, and will probably get some good letters of rec. because I try really hard in class. I just want to know how much of a limiting factor my ECs are.</p>

2

<p>Look up the Common Data Set for each school, section C7 to see how much weight ECs place in admission. It will vary by school.</p>

3

<p>I see nothing wrong with your current ECs. Only add things if you can really do justice to them.</p>

4

<p>How can u possible have a 4.02 UW??</p>

5

<p>^my school isn’t that competitive. 4.02 is an a average out of a possible 4.33, which is an a+ average</p>

6

<p>Don’t just join clubs or start a club because you think it’s going to help on your application. Be dedicated to what you do, as many colleges prefer to see the depth of your involvement rather than the breadth of your involvement. Not every activity needs to be some unique club. Many times, the most mundane of activities suffices.</p>

7

<p>These days, colleges don’t want to see a ton of EC’s. They want to see a couple activities that you’ve spent a ton of time on. Model UN is great. Keep with it. Adding a leadership position to that activity would be wonderful. Science league is great. Science fair great. Keep with it. </p>

<p>Off all the things you mentioned joining or starting junior year, I’d just pick one that’s connected to what you already love and really do it right. It’s unlikely you will be able to start a red cross chapter AND an environmental club and do them both justice, for example.</p>