As a sophomore that’s about to become a junior next school, I’m trying to decide what to do with my EC’s. As of right now, this is what I have
- Student Council Class VP
- Key Club VP
- Around 60 Hours Community Service (I ultimately plan on getting 100)
- Varsity Band 1st Chair Trombone/Section Leader
- 2 years Marching Band
- UIL Mathematics 1st place district, 1st region, 7th state
- UIL Calculator 1st place district, 1st region, 6th state.
- UIL Number Sense 1st district, 2nd region, state qualifier
- AMC 10 Top 1% Distinguished Honor Roll (Score of 132)
- AIME score of 8
In my junior year, my main plan is to get better at the 3 UIL math events and also achieve higher on the AMC/AIME series so that I have a shot at qualifying for the USAMO. This summer, I also plan on writing a math book as a side project that would help my UIL math team, AMC competitors, and middle schoolers in mathcounts.
My question is: If I wanted to get into a top university (like MIT), would it be appropriate for me to keep focusing and get better at the math EC’s that I already have? If not, what else should I do in terms of EC’s if I want to get into an ivy league university? This is all under the assumption that academics are already in good condition (guaranteed top 3-4 rank within class and also a very high SAT score).
MIT probably sees lots of talented math students like you but it’s something you’re good at and seemingly passionate about so see how far you can go with it. If you want to really stand out, think about you can use your talents to serve others by maybe starting a math mentoring program or something along those lines as just one idea. It’s great that you’re doing well in math competitions but it would be even better if you are able to take those talents outside competitions.
If I wanted to extend my reach in math past competitions alone, would writing a math book that I could give to motivated students in middle school/high school help (like I said in OP)?
Also, I’m not very experienced in starting my own clubs/programs in general. If I really wanted to start a mentoring program in math, what are some of the ways I could go about starting it?
Keep up the math- USAMO looks very impressive on applications if you can get it. Try out some science fairs, it sounds like you may like it. There are plenty of opportunities to get big awards there which will make you very attractive to top universities.
@wongl0786 That’s exactly why such ECs like starting an initiative are so impressive - because there is no clear path towards how you would have achieved such a thing, it would be a true testament to your initiative and passion. I’m no expert either but you would approach it the same way you would approach anything else. Think of a concept, identify a target population (maybe students at a nearby school that don’t have the same opportunities), create an agenda, talk to appropriate school administrators, recruit students, and set something up. There are obviously a lot of hurdles that you would have to go through, but the best students forge on. Again, this is just one example of one of the many ways you could really stand out. You may well get into your top choices w/o any ‘extra’ ECs given your talent.
The book sounds nice but with an undertaking like that, it’s harder to quantify/qualify how ‘legit’ it ends up being so you have to be somewhat specific and think of a metric to be able to convey its quality. Somehow having it published somewhere (maybe on the web) or distributed by the school would legitimize the project vs a home-printing job for example. I hope you get what I mean…
Anyways don’t get me wrong - you are already on an excellent trajectory w/ your ECs and academics. I’m just being picky.
"That’s exactly why such ECs like starting an initiative are so impressive - because there is no clear path towards how you would have achieved such a thing, it would be a true testament to your initiative and passion. "
@dblazer, this is very insightful. Top colleges are looking for kids with the initiative to do great things with the resources available to them. Being bright (as evidenced by grades, academic transcript, and test scores) and achieving at a high level when following a set path are a good start, but doing something that goes off the beaten path and which requires creativity and initiative makes a tremendous impression. I wish more kids understood this, as so many seem to simply try to pile more and more pre-canned activities (clubs and pre-existing programs) onto their application.