<p>should you be involvedin that are impressive to high brow ivy schools that pertain to my major (prelaw polysci)? what awards to win? basically how do i make myself a unique and competitive applicant? thought that the parents could help :]</p>
<p>If your searching for ECs for the purpose of impressing “high bow ivy schools” then you will be neither competitive nor unique in the applicant pool.</p>
<p>Jersey13 is right. The top colleges are most impressed by students who pursue with passion and creativity ECs that relate to their interests whatever those interests may be. It’s normal and expected for students at and alum from schools like Ivies to have interests in addition to what they’re majoring in.</p>
<p>If you are the type of student who takes classes, pursues activities only to impress Ivies, you’re not the type of student that places like Ivies are seeking.</p>
<p>Political science is not the sort of highly specialized major for which you definitely need closely related extracurricular activities or work experience. </p>
<p>If you happen to do something that relates directly to your prospective major in political science or your career interest in law – such a working on a local political candidate’s campaign, serving in student government, or having a summer job in a law office, that’s nice. But it isn’t essential. Involvement in other things is fine.</p>
<p>Some people are “well-rounded”: they have a lot of different interests. For example, someone might volunteer at a hospital, be the president of the school chess club, and play the viola in the school orchestra. Other people are more one-sided: for example, someone might be captain of the school soccer team, act as a referee for younger players’ soccer leagues, and work at a kids’ soccer camp during the summer. It’s OK to be either kind of person. What you need is a commitment (really doing stuff, rather than just attending an occasional meeting), and if possible, some sort of leadership position or genuine achievement (such as being president of an organization or earning state-level recognition of some sort).</p>
<p>Also, it’s important to realize that extracurricular activities, no matter how interesting, won’t make up for an inferior academic record. So don’t go overboard on ECs to the point where your grades suffer. That won’t help you in college admissions.</p>
<p>Agreed. Choose what activities most interest you and pursue them with passion. There is no “magic formula” that will open the gates of Ivy League schools to you as far as EC’s go. Keep your grades extremely high and do the things that you love to do on the side. Don’t worry if they’re connected to polysci or not. You will likely change your mind about what you want to major in anyway.</p>
<p>Are you a freshman or sophomore? For someone with a pre-law/poli-sci bent, you should be active in some type of debate organization. Or, does your school offer JSA (Junior State of America?) The JSA-ers at my kids’ school attend conferences where they practice their debating skills as well as a congress of sorts where they learn to “write bills”. </p>
<p>If you have the time and means to look into a summer program, check out the forum on this website for ideas:</p>
<p>[Summer</a> Programs - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/]Summer”>Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>Some of these are low-cost and can display your leadership/other interests that might help you stand out among your peers.</p>
<p>I’ll pile on and say to do the activities you love to do, and not because they will look good to admissions officers.</p>
<p>That said, perhaps with interests in poli sci/pre-law, you might be interested in: mock trial, Model UN, JSA, drama. During the summer, try to volunteer for a political campaign or get an internship at a courthouse, or take a political science class at your local community college. For possible awards, do research for a National History Day project. </p>
<p>It is also worth browsing the accepted students threads for particular universities and see what types of ECs and awards that other students have done.</p>