<p>Which one do you think will look better to the admission officers? </p>
<p>I'm thinking about presenting myself as a strong math/science person and not really go into detail about my other stuff. Would this be a good idea? and what would my chances be compared to a similar but well-rounded guy?</p>
<p>Depends on the college/major you are applying to, for example for MIT be the strong math/science guy. For Harvard, the well rounded guy. Why can’t you be both well rounded with a strong interest in math/science?</p>
<p>Actually, many of my friends had tons of EC’s in all fields ranging from internships at banks to shadowing doctors to fundraising for African children. However, the friends who had diverse activities in those fields were all rejected from Harvard, while my other friend whose EC’s focused on her piano skills (she’s placed in some national competitions) got in. Just saying, passion means a lot.</p>
<p>But then again, who knows what Harvard wants, right?</p>
<p>For top colleges where ECs play a big role (applicants’ stats are extremely high already), I’d put situation in these terms: if you want to focus, then you better take it to really distinguished levels (like your friend’s piano skills); if you want to be well-rounded, focus (!) on ECs that somehow show underlying developed personal competences.</p>
<p>Machine-gun approaches (Amnesty Intl., debate club, tree-hugging, food bank, cheerleading, spelling bee, Rotary Club, middle-school tutoring, Church volunteer, fencing and 5 other sports) tend to be not effective, indeed they reveal a shallow individual with no direction in his life.</p>
<p>There is, however, a big deal in each university policy, as HomeMadeWaffels said.</p>
<p>“Actually, many of my friends had tons of EC’s in all fields ranging from internships at banks to shadowing doctors to fundraising for African children. However, the friends who had diverse activities in those fields were all rejected from Harvard, while my other friend whose EC’s focused on her piano skills (she’s placed in some national competitions) got in”</p>
<p>Those ECs sound like things that parents lined up for them . or that students did to look good.</p>
<p>Most corporations aren’t hiring high school students as interns because very few high school students have the skills or experience that people doing real internships need. Most such “internships” were favors arranged by parents with family friends or with relatives.</p>
<p>In many cases students will do something to help people abroad because students want to dress up their resumes when meanwhile there are poor people in their own area that the students could be helping, but aren’t.</p>
<p>If you are deeply involved in ECs then put them on your app. You don’t need to look focused. The genuinely well rounded (not fake well rounded) as well as the lopsided students get selected for admissions by the very top colleges, which are virtually the only colleges that factor ECs into admission.</p>
<p>do the strong math/sceince thing
but dont make it seem as thats all youve got </p>
<p>lots of ppl are strong in math/science
its “well rounded” students that stand oiut</p>
<p>“well rounded” is a trap a lot of people fall into. They have the mistaken notion that colleges are looking for people with lots of interests that they dabble in. Not true. Top colleges build well rounded classes out of a collection of focused students; the standout athlete, the accomplished artist, the champion debater, and so on. Here’s what Stanford says on their admission website
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