Question about Extracurricular's

<p>So right now I got about 6 Extracurriculars, being a sophmore;</p>

<p>Math League Member (9th 10th)
Model UN Member (9th 10th) Vice President (11th)
Student Goverment (9th 10th) Vice President (11th)
SIHC (students for improving health care) (9th 10th) (possible copresident or vice president in 11th)
writer for my high school newspaper (9th 10th)
Amnesty International Member (10th) Secretary (11th)
Founded a club that does volunteer work for elders</p>

<p>For a club position though, if it was a co-position, would I put like "Covicepresident" on the resume, which looks extremely bulky, or just "Vice President"? </p>

<p>Do you also think my current Extracurricular involvement (not including community service/sports, didnt list em) is good enough for being a competitive candidate for some good engineering schools?</p>

<p>I don't think schools would care either way whether you were a co-Vice President or a Vice President. Unless there were like 15 co-s I don't think it would seem wrong to anyone to just go with VP.</p>

<p>You might want to look for some ECs related to engineering. At the moment, I would say your ECs are OK, but nothing exceptional, and don't show you have an interest in anything in particular, and certainly not in engineering.</p>

<p>What type of EC related to engineering would you suggest? My school has a real lack in extracurricular activities because everyone is just hoping to go to the local state college about a mile away and become office employees, so to them its just "classes, then go home and chill"</p>

<p>You'll probably get some good info by checking the CC boards of good engineering schools and seeing the stats and ECs of those students who were admitted.</p>

<p>If there is nothing in your school, then you will just have to find things to do outside school or found a club or team in school. Not only will you have the activity, but you will have demonstrated initiative.</p>

<p>Some things you could do outside school:
- Take classes at JC/CC - mechanics, auto repair, welding, geology, astronomy, depending what kind of engineering you are interested in
- Take part in science fairs, olympiads, FIRST, BotBall, or any of the many other engineering and science competitions that you can enter either as a team or an individual. Feel free to PM me the state you live in and I'll send you a list of the competitions I know of
- Take a summer course. If you have the money, there are lots of these, if you look early enough, you may find scholarships
- Get an internship. Look for the official ones, but also just ask at any firms in your area
- Get a job
- Volunteer at an engineering/gaming summer camp
- Volunteer at a university (or a hospital lab if you are interested in bioeng)
- Do a research project
- Volunteer to install/maintain/upgrade a computer network at a school, community center, etc. Make a website for them
- Teach computing, or volunteer to teach basic engineering/physics/rocketry at an elementary school
- Learn to code
- Build a car, computer, robot, radio, set of speakers, build anything
- Join a robotics club. If you live in a city, there will probably be one
- Join a drama club and run the lights
- Become technology editor for your school newspaper. Submit articles to engineering magazines
- Repair appliances, cars, bikes, anything you can, of people you know</p>

<p>What impresses the very top colleges isn't the length of your list, but the impact of your ECs: projects you've created and organized, contests that you've won, money that you've raised for a good cause. Simply holding an office isn't impressive, but using that office to start a program, expand your club, inspire your club to win national or state awards -- that's the kind of thing that impresses admissions committees, especially when your actions aer supported by what you write in your personal essay, say in your interview or what the advisor says about you in the recommendation from the advisor.</p>

<p>I see - well for the medical club I co-organized a fundraiser that raised a good amount of money for uninsured people in the city a few miles away, but otherwise not really much else that is that significant...my school just isn't really focused on extracurricular activities or technology at all, since most people just plan to go to the local state university which has really low expectations</p>

<p>"well for the medical club I co-organized a fundraiser that raised a good amount of money for uninsured people in the city a few miles away,"</p>

<p>That's an excellent example of impact, and could make a good subject for an essay, too, that described why you cared about this subject and what you learned as a result of doing this.</p>

<p>Even though your school isn't focused on ECs, you still can do ECs with impact as you've already demonstrated that you have that interest and ability. How about doing some other projects with your medical club? Shadowing physicians? Connecting with March of Dimes to help students learn about what they can do to avoid having premature babies (consuming folic acid years before one has a child can make a difference). Giving gifts to babies in neonatal intensive care units. Hosting a health fair.</p>

<p>I think your community service EC's are great, but since you plan to go to an engineering school, you should definately try more EC's in the science department. However, that's not to say that math league and medical work are not noteworthy!</p>

<p>Olympiads and research are good suggestions for EC's but neither is particularly easy. Good luck!</p>

<p>Engineering EC: JETS</p>

<p>My mom is trying to get me a research internship for the summer, so hopefully that will work out, thank you all for the advice</p>

<p>WOW. you actually do have very very very good ECs for a sophomore. I am assuming you are going to expand upon them the way most people do through out highschool, but if you continue to you are really on the path to be a competitive candidate. </p>

<p>There is alot of emphasis here that your EC's need to be prestigeous and extremely focused which IS true, but if you show dedication to your extracurriculars through out all four years of high school I think you will be set. I think you might want to use your ECs to show that you do have a passion for engineering (which can be kind of difficult)/</p>