<p>I'll be a freshman this year at Carnegie Mellon. I ended up here by accident after having been rejected by other schools I wanted to go to (UPenn, Columbia, Duke, etc.). Now I'm looking to transfer out for sophomore year to a liberal arts school (Wesleyan, Amherst, etc.).</p>
<p>I understand the academic implications of that. I know what I have to achieve grade-wise in order to make a transfer to those schools viable. I do not, however, have any idea how to approach my resume. </p>
<p>In high school, I was in a few clubs. I paid my dues, and ended up president of three by my senior year. I also swam competitively, volunteered, and had received some awards. But these were all things I had gradually gotten more and more involved in throughout my four years ultimately culminating in leadership positions, academic honors, etc. </p>
<p>How do I get involved as a freshman? How do I distinguish myself (outside of academics) in one semester? Freshman year is, for most, a time to experiment, to find oneself and to discover one's interests. I feel like I won't have time to do any of that; I'll need to dive right in and get as involved as possible. I'm not sure how or if I can do that.</p>
<p>sweetcatastrophe, i cannot believe how similar we are.
i’m going to my fall school with the intention of transferring as well
and i was president of 3 clubs. i also did a sport (rock climbing, not swim) and volunteered.</p>
<p>i just keep telling myself to get involved.
A. join something you’re PASSIONATE in
but then again if you did that in college, and your hs app showed that, it wouldn’t hurt to go OUT of your comfort zone to try new things.
i know someone who did a lot of eco friendly activities in hs then in college started a drama troupe or something, transferred, and admitted bc it was so out of his comfort zone. i think colleges like seeing branching out, or like you said, “experimenting.”</p>
<p>if i got into my top choice, honestly i would have tried every little thing i wanted to.
but since i didn’t, i’m only doing 1 thing i would love to be president of if i decided not to transfer (which is highly unlikely) AKA my passion and something just completely out there for me.</p>
<p>B. still volunteer though. one thing i noticed about college admissions is the fact that volunteer hours rack up major points if you show passion in it.</p>
<p>C. but most of all, focus on your grades. obviously you’re quite intelligent since you’re going to CMU, but i wouldn’t stress the EC’s/resume building unless you’re gpa is where you think you’re strong enough to transfer. </p>
<p>in a nutshell:
try things you are passionate about, or maybe not. either way get involved.
volunteer
but none of this matters unless your comfortable with your GPA. so study study study!</p>