<p>Thanks a lot, but it would seem I have one more question about the activity list (well, my activity list at least); one which requires a little briefing to understand. Skip to the second to last paragraph for the question itself - encapsulated by *****'s.</p>
<p>In Trinidad the school system is lamentably lackluster. Even "prestige" secondary schools, like the one I went to, are fraught with problems, running the gamut from teacher absenteeism to inoperative Chemistry labs, to frequent teacher changes for a given subject, to dealing with the inherent challenges in switching the syllabuses of all the different subjects from 'A' levels to CAPE. Regardless of the exact nature of the problems though, one fact remains; it is nigh-impossible to succeed when reliant solely on your school. Which brings up the major quirk of our educational system: Private lessons.</p>
<p>Students of all backgrounds, all schools, all intellectual and scholastic capacities, take private lessons - at great expense to their parents and/or their own savings to boot - in order to ensure their academic survival. Taking private lessons is by no means indicative of laziness in school, scholastic ineptitude or even monetary wealth; it is simply a fact of life. </p>
<p>I am one such student who took private lessons to supplement my government-funded schooling. If I hadn't, I would have surely floundered academically, along with many others. In fact, those who obtain the best results are (unsurprisingly) those who go to these "outside teachers" for class, devoting hours upon hours of their time to these costly sessions just to keep their grades up. </p>
<p>I spent upwards of 20 hours a week in lessons, between actually being in class, commuting and doing the <em>homework</em> assigned by the teachers. As you can imagine, this ate quite a lot of time that could have been spent furthering my passions and taking part in community service. In the end, all this payed off - I got my A's and my 1's, and for my academic excellence I won a highly competitive National Additional Scholarship entitling me to around US $10000 a year. </p>
<p>I managed to have a life though; I taught myself to play guitar, formed a rock band and was in a couple of choirs. However, having looked at some of the ECs that other applicants to Ivy League schools have undertaken, I can't help but feel like a worm crawling among Superhumans would. </p>
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<p>Having said all that, my question is this: If I have an activity that took up a LOT of time, an activity that was essential to my academic survival but which crippled my capacity for extra curricular involvement, how can I use this to my advantage, incorporate it into my application? </p>
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<p>I do NOT want to seem like I'm making excuses; that is the last thing I would ever want to do. What I do want to do is put my achievements (or lack thereof) into perspective, into context, all without coming across bitter, derisory or derogatory of my school and country, but I fear that no matter how well I tiptoe with my language, the whole thing will come out... damaging my cause. Is there ANY WAY to gussy up my application so that Ivy League admissions officers will not throw me in the pile of other applicants with 2300+ SAT scores and pathetic community and extra curricular involvement, so that they would know, beyond any reasonable doubt, that I am ready to take on whatever challenges they can conceivably bring? </p>
<p>I'm sorry... I got carried away. If anyone read this through to the end, they're either a saint or completely bored. Thanks very much for your time.</p>