Starting ECs in senior year?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm applying to colleges this fall as a math/CS major, depending on how hard it is to transfer to the CS major at a particular school, and so far, my ECs are a bit mediocre:</p>

<ul>
<li>piano for at least 8 years</li>
<li>admin of our school's unofficial web portal since 9th grade</li>
<li>member of math and anime clubs, but no leadership positions</li>
<li>minor awards in math/science competitions; varsity captain in an engineering competition, but we didn't do very well</li>
<li>bunch of math/science summer programs and online classes</li>
<li>did physics research at UIowa this summer</li>
<li>if it counts, self-studied a total of 7 AP exams, got 5s on all (notably Calculus BC, Comp Sci A, Physics B, Physics C: Mechanics) except Physics C: E&M. Self-studying both Econs this year.</li>
</ul>

<p>This year, I am preparing for AMC/AIME (aiming for USAMO), and USPhO (aiming for semifinals, probably not the team). I'm also studying an intro CS course using MIT OCW, and possibly an introduction to analysis (what most math majors learn sophomore or junior year) textbook on my own.</p>

<p>How will ECs I start in senior year affect college admissions? I'm looking into joining the robotics team. I didn't join before because I didn't have any sort of experience with engineering or programming and I wasn't confident in my ability to learn on the go. (I regret that now...) Hopefully, I can also volunteer at the local library - the program is somewhat selective, and I got rejected for last fall, so I'm not sure how I'll fare this time. Joining some random interesting clubs may be in the works as well. :P Team science competitions aren't an option for various reasons.</p>

<p>(My list of schools is [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1089752-class-2012-where-you-applying-40.html#post12992198%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1089752-class-2012-where-you-applying-40.html#post12992198]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;], if relevant. I'm applying to top 20ish universities.)</p>

2

<p>What’s up dude, long time no see, still remember you from the mechanics discussion lol, yay for crazy curve ;)</p>

<p>What’s your plan for prepping for USAMO? How have you been doing? I’d recommend AoPS vol 1+2, if you haven’t looked at them yet: should get you to the USAMO pretty easily with sufficient practice and if you gain enough intuition for problems. </p>

<p>The F=ma exam, I thought, was pretty easy. It was just like the mechanics exam, to be honest. I felt as if the physics Olympiad beginning exams are easier compared to bio, chem, math, just my opinion, though.</p>

<p>I’d also recommend using [Lectures</a> - OMC](<a href=“http://onlinemathcircle.com/wiki/index.php?title=Lectures&oldid=640]Lectures”>http://onlinemathcircle.com/wiki/index.php?title=Lectures&oldid=640) for amc/aime/usamo; there are problems ranging from fairly trivial ones to IMO shortlist etc. There are going to be a lot more lectures up in a few weeks since that’s when the summer intern program ends. I’m writing one in the field of Complex Analysis (Linear Operators in Harmonic Analysis), check it out :p. And yeah, I’ve been using MIT OCW extensively, it’s great, makes it very easy to self study subjects. </p>

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<p>They’re not looked greatly upon, since it looks bad for college admissions people, looks as if you are just doing them for college. With your current ECs, I’d integrate in your new ECs to them through your interviews/essays somehow; don’t leave them guessing about your extracurricular, that’s a fatal mistake. </p>

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</p>

<p>No, it’s not worth your time. Look into internships or different math programs of some sort. Don’t try anything new at this point, your time is better spent working on other components of your application. Start a blog maybe? Program stuff? What languages are you learning? </p>

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</p>

<p>This could potentially save you. Capitalize on this somehow, did you happen to write a research paper? If you did, make * sure * you send this to colleges, especially Caltech, they love this kind of stuff. Also, are you thinking of getting a rec from your mentor?</p>

3

<p>What’s up dude, long time no see, still remember you from the mechanics discussion lol, yay for crazy curve </p>

<p>What’s your plan for prepping for USAMO? How have you been doing? I’d recommend AoPS vol 1+2, if you haven’t looked at them yet: should get you to the USAMO pretty easily with sufficient practice and if you gain enough intuition for problems. </p>

<p>The F=ma exam, I thought, was pretty easy. It was just like the mechanics exam, to be honest. I felt as if the physics Olympiad beginning exams are easier compared to bio, chem, math, just my opinion, though.</p>

<p>I’d also recommend using Lectures - OMC for amc/aime/usamo; there are problems ranging from fairly trivial ones to IMO shortlist etc. There are going to be a lot more lectures up in a few weeks since that’s when the summer intern program ends. I’m writing one in the field of Complex Analysis (Linear Operators in Harmonic Analysis), check it out . And yeah, I’ve been using MIT OCW extensively, it’s great, makes it very easy to self study subjects. </p>

<p>

They’re not looked greatly upon, since it looks bad for college admissions people, looks as if you are just doing them for college. With your current ECs, I’d integrate in your new ECs to them through your interviews/essays somehow; don’t leave them guessing about your extracurricular, that’s a fatal mistake. </p>

<p>

No, it’s not worth your time. Look into internships or different math programs of some sort. Don’t try anything new at this point, your time is better spent working on other components of your application. Start a blog maybe? Program stuff? What languages are you learning? </p>

<p>

This could potentially save you. Capitalize on this somehow, did you happen to write a research paper? If you did, make sure you send this to colleges, especially Caltech, they love this kind of stuff. Also, are you thinking of getting a rec from your mentor?</p>

4

<p>Closing old thread.</p>