<p>I think the OP’s EC’s are solid…</p>
<p>Here is the link:
[Brain</a> Camp](<a href=“http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/neuroscience/braincamp/]Brain”>http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/neuroscience/braincamp/)</p>
<p>^ Thanks! :)</p>
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<p>[Leo</a> - Welcome to LEO Clubs International](<a href=“http://leo-clubs.org/]Leo”>http://leo-clubs.org/)</p>
<p>1st 3 ECs listed above are very good.
Elementary language…what? If that means that you took a language in elementary school that has nothing at all to do with you or your motivation, that has to do with what one’s parents signed one up for.
Neuroscience Camp…no. Anything your parents pay $$$ to send you to because it looks impressive, even if the acceptance rate was not 100%, not impressive. All it says is you have a family with $$$ that can provide you with lots of opportunities. You know what they say about “Those to whom much has been given…” right?</p>
<p>Umm…</p>
<p>First, he was teaching in the elementary language program, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Second, the Neuroscience Camp was free.</p>
<p>I really don’t think you know what you are talking about, ilmkmom.</p>
<p>ilmkmom: your statements are entirely preposterous and based on no factual evidence, just straight conjecture. You are very rude and should not be posting any more if you are going to be obnoxious and say untrue things. Many, many programs that cost money will reap good rewards. SSP for example. Also, private school and many other costly things that help a child become more knowledgable and skilled throughout the years. Adcoms and the government are trying to level the playing field using things like AA, but things that cost money can help you get into college, maybe not substantially, but they can help.</p>
<p>hmmm. yes. ok. </p>
<p>you don’t live near me so i won’t be interviewing you for my school (not swat) anyway.</p>
<p>not conjecture. but i’ll bow out. good luck to you all.</p>
<p>but for those of you who are considering shelling out $$$ for those summer programs and other expensive “opportunities” please research them well. and not just the marketing materials, talk to admissions professionals as well. and ask if they weigh those activities more than others.</p>
<p>good luck folks! you will all do well, no doubt. lots of talented people, and lots of great schools from which to choose.</p>
<p>Sorry, I might have sounded a bit rude there. I’m having a lot of financial trouble right now and have been working 20 hours a week to pay for a CTY summer program. I’m aware that pricey leadership programs like NYLC, etc are not helpful. But I just don’t think it’s possible for adcoms to completely eliminate money as a factor. People who have more money and therefore have more opprotunities to become successful students. Maybe they don’t put much weight on pricey summer programs, but certainly they cannot ignore money completely, it is impossible. Club sports cost loads of money, music lessons cost money, in a sense all EC’s cost money.</p>
<p>Raiderade: I don’t think suggesting CTY doesn’t matter that much to adcoms is unreasonable. An enormous number of people are involved in that program—or similar ones—and the admission requirements are certainly less strenuous than those required for Swarthmore or Harvard or any number of schools. </p>
<p>Sure, doing CTY is probably better than doing nothing all summer—but I think summer opportunities help more as a way to develop stories for your essays and interviews than as a resum</p>
<p>I think you are misunderstanding what I’m saying. I am totally aware that CTY probably won’t help get into college at all (even though for 11th grade the min qualifying score for math is 780 which is pretty high). What I was trying to convey is just because any given opprotunity costs money does not mean it is worthless. While it’s nice to think that the playing field can be totally economically leveled, it can’t. For example, you were able to volunteer in Harlem and gain something from it because a) you didn’t have to work every week of the summer to contribute to your family income and b) you are well-off enough so that you do not have to live in a terrible place like Harlem. People who are better off socio-economically have more opprotunities throughout life which therefore makes them more likely to get into college. I participate in CTY for the outstanding social opprotunities and interesting course material, but mainly for the social aspect.</p>
<p>Re: time and working—I understand, which is why I mentioned opportunity costs, but if you can afford 3-6 weeks at CTY without working, you could afford one week in Harlem not working. I also don’t see how living in Harlem would stop you from volunteering at a school there, though perhaps it wouldn’t give quite the same kind of story potential … but you might have those same stories from your own life.</p>
<p>CTY doesn’t matter much because SAT scores are such a crap shoot once you get to 780. From what I’ve read, an 800 and a 750 are statistically indistinguishable. Schools know this, and small ones generally weight other factors much more. They also know your scores—you don’t need CTY to prove them to the school. </p>
<p>In general, I’d argue that any program you are paying to go to does NOT help you much just because you attended. That line on your resum</p>
<p>Well, I believe you misread that I work 20 hours a week to pay for CTY…</p>
<p>And I agree with you for the most part but I think the level of integrity goes</p>
<p>Leadership conferences<CTY, EPGY, TIP, ETC<TASP, RSI, SSP</p>
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<p>Right … and so you can ‘afford’ to spend 3-6 weeks at CTY. I’m pretty sure you aren’t working 20hrs/week at CTY. Considering that CTY costs quite a hefty penny, I’m sure you could work a <em>lot</em> less and still be able to spend a week volunteering at a school (or another similar activity) instead of CTY.</p>
<p>I didn’t do TASP/RSI/SSP, so I can’t really speak to the value of them. I still think that any one activity has minimal impact on the admissions process. Probably in a value chart for Swarthmore, applications components would be rated something like: overall feel > Grades > Essays > Other Factors (athletics/speciality (theatre/music/etc.), gender/minority status/etc.) > Standardized Test Scores > Activity List > Recommendations</p>
<p>While I’m completely making this list up, I think it is reasonable to say that activity lists are near the bottom of the importance ranking, most of the time. So doing some activity which gives fodder for an essay has a FAR greater impact that something that adds 2-3 lines to an activity list … even if it is an awesome activity.</p>
<p>That said, I’m going to stop posting since I think we both generally agree on the broad points.</p>
<p>hey folks, i know i said i was out, and some of you might trust or believe me on this advice (and that is fine and absolutely your prerogative) but i really just want to give you an encouraging piece of information. i have done alum interviews for a very selective school for almost 20 years now, and you know what is also a really great, interesting, noteworthy summer activity? i am not kidding: it’s a simple job. really. you would be surprised how few applicants actually hold down a PT (or summer FT) job.</p>
<p>it’s resourceful, it’s hard to do when everyone else is off doing flashier things, and truly, truly it almost does not matter WHAT the job is. all that matters is…WHAT YOU GOT OUT OF IT. how if affected your perceptions. increased your depth of understanding. did you look a level deeper and think about what you were doing, how hard it was, what it would be like to do this 52 weeks a year, what it’s like to work with a broad spectrum of people, who might or might not have had the opportunity you have to quit that darn job after 10 weeks.</p>
<p>i don’t know if thisis making sense, but i want you all to really understand that it what you do with what you have, it’s how well you take advantage of your available/reasonable resources, it’s how deep your thinking goes about not just big lofty ideas but whether you are able/willing to stretch and find the depth and lesson in the mundane. THAT"S what sets an applicant apart. at least for me.</p>
<p>to the person who was nobly working very hard to earn money to attend a program, i completely understand. when i was in my junior year i spent 15 hours a week waitressing all school year so i could attend (what was then) the “Summer Academy” of an Ivy. but these programs have changed so much and there are SO MANY that they have become an industry unto themselves. and they’re not taken as seriously as many folks would think.</p>
<p>now the program someone mentioned that had an average 780 Math SAT…yikes, that sounds serious. but no self-respecting admissions officer is going to consider you LESS of an applicant if instead of doing that program you had another meaningful (and possibly less flashy) experience that you could speak/write about from a position of depth and maturity. <<<assuming your=“” grades=“” and=“” scores=“” are=“” strong,=“” too!!!=“”>>></assuming></p>
<p>as for scores…please stop beating yourselves up over scores. once you hit or pass the magic number 700 on each, just go ahead and spend the time you WOULD have spent trying to up your score a little more, and instead spend that time doing something that you enjoy and has some meaning to you, something to get a little sparkle in your eye. when it comes to your interviews, everyone really loves talking with the applicants who have a little sparkle in their eyes, who genuinely love what they do. :-)</p>
<p>good luck guys, and don’t worry and plot so much that you lose what is special and fun about yourself.</p>