Steps to take starting from high school

Applying to College
1

I am a ninth grader who recently moved from the US and am studying in the CBSE board in India. I will probably be finishing my high school years here.I had some questions on steps that I could start with now to get into great colleges in the US, hopefully for medicine or biology.

  1. What extracurricular activities are preferred these days and what level of proficiency should i show?
  2. What are any norms for international students to have a better chance?
  3. What is required and looked for in terms of volunteering, community service, etc.
  4. is weight given to any internships or previous experience
  5. what should I prepare for the SAT, ACT, etc.

Note: This is my first post so please bear with me if this was not in the right area.

Any reply is appreciated. Thanks!

2

It is not a good idea to create an ID with your real name, if that is what it is. These are very, very broad questions. If you are not an American citizen, I’d suggest you spend some time perusing the international students forum out here. Read a lot of posts before asking questions. The answers to these questions vary a lot, as there are thousands of colleges in the US. Also, your family’s financial situation will make a big difference as well.

3

  1. Colleges strongly recommend depth/quality of involvement- they want to see leadership. They don’t want you to have loads and loads of ECs that you didn’t put much time into.

  2. unsure- look at the International students forum

  3. Nothing is “required” but community service can be a good addition to an app

  4. Any work/volunteer experience counts as an EC and would be evaluated

  5. usually you start preparing for standardized testing in junior year. you choose either the SAT or ACT, and then some colleges might require 2 SAT IIs.

4

Some students have posted their stats here on CC and then add" Too many EC’s to list". This is not what colleges want to see.

5

Thank you very much!

6

  1. What extracurricular activities are preferred these days and what level of proficiency should i show?
    You should join activities that are interesting to you. You should try to take some of these to a deeper level and over time, show leadership. So if you like Model UN, then at first just participate, then try to get “best delegate” or whatever, and then be senior year be a leader of the club. Or if you do sports, first be on the Junior Varsity, move up to Varsity and then be Captain.

  2. What are any norms for international students to have a better chance? Be able to speak and write English well. Understand the US School/college system.

  3. What is required and looked for in terms of volunteering, community service, etc.
    Yes, it is good to do some. Find something meaningful to you , be it in a house of worship, with animals, the community, charities.

  4. is weight given to any internships or previous experience
    Mostly colleges want to see that you are productively using your time…so working at McDonald’s is better than playing video games all summer. Something related to you future major is good to but not necesary.

  5. what should I prepare for the SAT, ACT, etc.
    I think Khan Academy has on line prep.

Check out the book “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.