Going into my junior year of high school I have the following extracurriculars:
-President of Chess Club (since Freshman year)
-President (and founder) of our local Math Club (since Sophomore year)
-Member of HOSA (Health Occupational Student Awareness) (since Sophomore year)
-Tutor in Math and Science (like 15 something hours so far)
For junior year, I plan on running for secretary of the treasury, and joining (non-leadership position) Science Olympiad. In addition, I plan on joining NHS, and History Bowl (possible leadership position for Senior Year) .
I plan on applying to MIT, Columbia, and some other top schools (chemistry major). What am I missing? I can’t help but fret that I won’t be competitive enough. I come from a low-income family and from a school that barely funds our clubs each year. I don’t want to volunteer at a hospital, and my options are pretty limited. I would greatly appreciate ANY advice!!
Btw, I am also considering starting a chemistry club.
If there’s any specific activity that you:
a) Love doing
b) Can focus on enough to make it a central part of you application
then you should try to immerse yourself in it. Having a big variety of ECs and leadership activities is definitely helpful, but it’s not on the same level as being extraordinary in one or two specific areas. With all of the clubs you’re planning on joining, you would definitely show that you’re active and you’d still be in a good position for top schools. However, to really stand out in terms of ECs, it’s best to show the admissions officers something they haven’t seen before.
With that being said, I think that they’ll take your school’s funding into account, so I’m sure they’ll know that you’re doing well for yourself with the opportunities you’ve been given.
Your ECs are all similar with clubs whose goals appear to only entertain their members.
Besides the 15 hours of tutoring (are you doing it for free?), there are no community events, nor anything that benefits your outside world. These clubs exist only to serve a few students. It’s always the same students in the same clubs.
IOW, you have not stepped out of your comfort zone. It shouldn’t matter that you are low-income.
No schools fund clubs anymore. The local kids do fundraisers to raise funds for their projects, entry fees, and trips.
The tutoring club, at my kids’ high school, sponsors a free gift wrap every holiday season at the local book store. The vendor provides the wrap, tape, and tags. The kids wraps gifts for anyone who enters the store and needs a gift wrap. They have a jar for donations. The donations fund the tutoring club’s clients: low income middle school and elementary students, who are given math supplies {calculators, compasses, memory sticks, etc.}.
I still take my gifts to that store to have them wrapped every year and leave my donation. It’s a nice tradition that the community looks forward to. Its a win-win for everyone. The vendor has potential clients roaming the aisles while people wait for their gifts. (My last kid in that club graduated in 2014.) The tutoring club gets significant donations.
MIT and the top schools receive thousands of applications that look just like yours and reject those students. They want students who will step outside of their comfort zone to create and generate new ideas.
Thanks for the feedback. I can see that my extracurriculars lack individuality. I will work on that.
Tutoring is something I do for free. I know that I need to come with up with something on my own, and taking advantage of the holiday season sounds great. I AM going to volunteer at a soup kitchen (if i can find one) and starting a mini-organization or a small movement is in the works . Any suggestions (thank you for the holiday season tutoring idea, that sounds very appealing) would be more than welcome!!!
PS The kids tutor year long; the fundraiser is one thing the club does for holidays.