Rate my ECs

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm starting to apply to colleges (Mostly Ivies) and my E.C.'s are really worrying me. If you guys could maybe rate my EC's on a scale of 1-10, I'd be eternally grateful. I'll try to be as specific as possible, but I might leave certain things vague in order to protect my identity, hope you guys understand!</p>

<p>Clubs/Sports/General ECs</p>

<ol>
<li>Model U.N. (4 years)
-participated in conference for 3 years</li>
<li>participated in school-led conference for all four years, Volunteer first year, Crisis Staff second year, Chaired third year, and Director fourth year (leadership position)</li>
<li><p>current vice president</p></li>
<li><p>Varsity Tennis (4 years)
-Started a tennis fundraising club that raised money to repave courts and give free tennis lessons to inner city kids wanting to learn</p></li>
<li><p>Robotic Team (3 years)
-team placed in FIRST competition 3 years </p></li>
<li><p>Future Problem Solving Club (3 years)</p></li>
<li><p>Chess Club (2 years)
-President 2 years running
-placed in numerous local chess tournaments</p></li>
<li><p>Investment Club (2 years)</p></li>
<li><p>Started a business that makes ~$1500 annually</p></li>
<li><p>Completed Research Projects for 3 years at a local university
-Won 3rd place sophomore year at Regional Competition, also won an Award from the American Cancer Society and for Applied Chemistry
-Junior year won 1st place at a city competition and 2nd at same Regional Competition
-Currently doing another research project </p></li>
<li><p>National Honors Society, Science National Honors Society, National History Honors Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National Spanish Honors Society (2 years each, only juniors are eligible)</p></li>
<li><p>Spanish Club (2 years) --- Might not put on application</p></li>
<li><p>Won bronze medal at National Spanish Exam freshman year</p></li>
<li><p>Won silver medal (1 pt away from cutoff!) sophomore year</p></li>
<li><p>Won gold medal junior year</p></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>Internships/Leadership Conferences
1. Interned with a research scientist at a local university, learned how to do basic processes such as PCR, etc.
2. Interned with an elected state official this year
3. Applied for and attended a competitive leadership program that lasted 4 weeks, while there I interned and helped translate at a majority-hispanic free clinic (paid $1000 stipend)</p>

<p>200+ hours of Community Service</p>

2

<p>Sorry for any grammar errors, I meant to preview the post so I could identify mistakes, but I accidentally pressed post :P</p>

3

<p>Here’s how I rate EC’s:</p>

<p>Did you enjoy them? Did you learn something? Make friends? If the answers are yes, then they rate a 10. If not, they rate a 1.</p>

<p>You’re already into the college app process so this is a bit late, but for the others reading: Choose ECs that YOU like. Choose things that you are passionate about, or that you want to learn about, or that you enjoy.</p>

<p>The worst reason to pick an EC is because you think it’s what colleges want to see.</p>

<p>You’re applying mostly to Ivies, you know it’s a crapshoot anyway. You cannot predict what ECs they want. If they need tennis players or robotics club members, then sithmaster is in! But if they have had 2 years in a row with a gazillion robotics guys and their tennis team is over-enrolled… sorry, they’re going with the field hockey player who rules the debate team. It’s fickle. It’s unfair. It’s about what the university needs to make their student body into a diverse, interesting group. </p>

<p>Also, at this point it’s too late to change your EC’s. So why do you need us to rank them? Clearly, they’re very impressive. </p>

<p>I don’t mean to sound snarky. I wish you the very best in your admissions process, and I hope that next spring you’re agonizing over which of 2 or 3 or 4 wonderful colleges to attend. </p>

<p>(BTW, starting a business that earns over $1000/year… very cool and probably unique.)</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the response, I don’t think you sound snarky at all. I agree with you, which is why I only participated in EC’s that interested me. I just wanted to get a general idea if my EC’s were Ivy-level, because (I hope) my grades and SATs already are.</p>

5

<p>IMO, it’s high-Ivy. Don’t exclude anything if this is truly what you accomplished. If needed, put it on an extra sheet. IMO, it’s an imressive balance- govt-sports-techie-biz-research-awards-language. Since you’re clearly a driven sort, write a nice essay that somehow shows you’re also a “real” person. Good job.</p>