SAT 2400, GPA (unweighted) 4.0 but no extracurricular activities

Thank you for advice guys. Now I can see some ways to find out what I can do.

MYO S1634 I do not have score 2400 on SAT :slight_smile: (I am studying to reach there…! ) however thank you for advice.

@needinfo98‌ I’m an indian and about 2 years ago there was a student in our capital whose stats were :
SAT l - 2400
SAT ll - 2400
AP physics - 5
AP calculus BC - 5
AP chemistry - 5
TOEFL - 120
Got accepted to harvard,Princeton,Yale,Cornell and one more ivy. (All with 90-100% scholarships)
Also accepted to numerous other schools.
I think if your stats are that rock solid, they might turn their backs on that blank EC’s section. But not having anything might hurt you. Even the student whose stats I have given had developed some kind of a software (something that doesn’t need you to be social). The students school stats were also good enough.

@Heisenberg98, the Ivies don’t give merit scholarships.

Okay, so AS OF NOW, you don’t have 2400, right? Well, then, it doesn’t matter. 2400 is actually a silly goal. For most schools, if you’ve got 2100 (top2%), you’re fine. For Top10 or Top25 universities, 2200 is not different from 2250 which is not different from 2300. All three scores prove you can apply yourself and can do the work. Once they know you can do the work, the most selective universities move to the “subjective” parts of your application. Your scores will simply be rattled off in Meeting but what’ll be discussed is who you are, ie., what they learned about you through your essays, your accomplishments, your recommendations. Do they want you on campus? Do you fill an institutional need? Having no EC’s, no sustained interest, nothing you care about, won’t fly.

What year are you, sophomore or junior?

As for the above student: in all likelihood, “the software thing” s/he invented is more likely to explain admission into the Ivy League, than a string of perfect scores. HYP turn down literally hundreds of kids with perfect scores. And, by the way, the TOEFL is even less important: it’s just a threshold, a cut off. If you don’t have the required score, you’re out, if you have it they move on to the other parts of your application.

@PurpleTitan‌ yes…idk,it came in the newspaper that she had 100% scholarship…maybe it was financial aid…
Also…just got to know,she didn’t only have perfect scores,she was head girl at her school and had many of her articles published in our countries top newspapers…also,the software she made was for the differently abled…she had a great app overall…
Sorry for implying otherwise :expressionless:

@Heisenberg98, at the Ivies, it would have to be all fin aid. Considering that even American newspapers frequently talk about some kid or another getting scholarships to an Ivy/Ivies, I doubt a foreign newspaper would make the distinction. And it’s even probable that she/her family told people that she got scholarships to those Ivies. After all, “scholarship” sounds more impressive than “financial aid”.

It’s not easy to compare an Intl residing in another country where the sorts of ECs are often limited.

Note that the international above DID find EC’s to do, and excelled in them.
So, a student even enrolled in a small, rural school on an F1 visa (or who’s become undocumented through visa expiration, which also happens) should be able to find things to do.

I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. Top public schools like Michigan and Berkeley are NOT easy to get into, even with spectacular grades (I live near Berkeley and so many fantastic applicants that I know have gotten rejected). Especially with such intelligent and attractive students nowadays, standardized test scores mean less than ever before. After all, it’s a one-shot thing. Anyone could have had a lucky day.
You have a 4.0 GPA, which is great. However, I would advise you to get active in your school/the community as soon as possible. You need good, substantial experiences for your college essays. More importantly, you need real-world involvement in order to be a positive contribution to the university of your choice. You have to be able to give something back to the student community.
Universities do not want human test-taking machines, which is unfortunately what you appear to me at the moment. I’m sure you are so much more than that, but you have to show the world that you are not just a smart brain.

Thank you for advice medicaldreamer99.

I am finding programs that are about thing I have enjoyed.
:slight_smile:

What year are you in high school? If you’re a foreigner born in 1998, then you are probably a sophomore.

Just join activities and stay committed to them. Seems like you have done math/science competitions in the past, so you could join clubs/teams in your school that compete in them. If you have other interests, then join those other things too. Volunteering can also help you gain experiences and enhance your communication skills.

I can use myself as an example. I had high grades and high scores, but didn’t join extracurricular activities until my junior year. However, I was really committed to those activities and I poured a few hundred hours into one of them. In the end, it worked out. I also had a lot of fun doing those activities and I wish I joined them earlier.

Don’t expect to get into any highly regarded college without extracurricular activities.

Thank you guys. I heard community service, tutoring are also EC. Thank you~

The answer is: Depends.

If you are a URM - the world is your oyster. Every school wants you.

If you are not…that’s what state schools are for.

@cmsjmt Oh please, while elements of that might be true for some people and some colleges, that is one hellava sweeping generalization.

and chess club, too! thank you I realize i have some ECs. :slight_smile:

@albert69 find me such an unhooked candidate who got into a top 10, in the last 5 years.

If that’s the case, you’re pretty much shouting how generic of a person you are.

@cmsjmt, my white, unhooked son got into Penn this year somehow. He had a lot of “dings”-fairly weak rigor, no AP classes or tests, 3.84 u/w gpa midyear, and good, but not top SAT/SAT II (2230; 730, 710). He had 14.5 units of community college at the time he applied, and 27.5 midyear, with Bs in his trig, pre-calculus and Italian college classes, so definitely not a super star!

He faced a lot of challenges growing up (diabetes, vision and math disability, unilateral hearing loss) and he did submit a decent (but not over the top by any stretch of the imagination) cello supplement. Those might be possible “hooks”, but I can’t be sure. His health and learning challenges/disabilities could have been seen as a negative, to be honest. Do schools want a kid who’s had “problems” in the past, was certainly a valid concern.

I was told by someone who teaches at Penn that he was a “breath of fresh air” as compared to their typical applicants.
I am convinced that fit is exceedingly important-fit meaning matching the school and potential major with the applicant. He applied as a Fine Arts major and also submitted a fairly average art supplement, too (a few animation samples and one sketch). He only applied to two Ivies (did not get into Dartmouth). Though he applied to a lot of safeties and about 7-8 reach schools, he was very much targeting schools that would allow his creativity to be developed.

So there’s at least one example for you.

@sbjdorlo

I’m just wondering but aren’t those challenges easily fixable? Hearing aids for the hearing loss and prescription glasses for the vision disability? If they are so bad that they aren’t treatable then I could understand it being a “hook”.

Yes, my son has had two ear surgeries (just had his second one yesterday) and eye surgery (to help his eyes converge; glasses did not help). He has a hearing aid, but chooses not to wear it right now.

As I said, I didn’t view these as hooks. Rather, they were mentioned because of weaknesses in his transcripts-no foreign language until after surgery to help him hear better. No AP or heavy reading classes until after the eye surgery.

His transcripts showed a upward trend in terms of rigor after each surgery.