<p>I’ve decided I want to apply at the academy a little later than most. I’m a junior right now and so far I have 5 years of band, 4 years with leadership positions, honor band member, one year in engineering club, 3 years of baseball, all-american sport award, and one year of cross country. I’m also going to be on the indoor and outdoor track teams this year and if it would help, baseball again. As you can see I’m not well prepared with the EC’s for even a shot at an appointment, so what do you think would be the best clubs/teams/volunteer programs to get involved with? Would giving private music lessons help? What about volunteering to help a local middle school band program? Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>Umm...your ECs are fine. You have leadership, sports, and long-term commitment. Grades would be good...</p>
<p>If you have time and WANT to do it, do the extra stuff. So far you are fine like raimius said. Why would you think you don't have enough EC's unless you are making an attempt at modesty?</p>
<p>I've beat this drum before. SAT, SAT, SAT, SAT. Over a third of your admissions rank is determined by the SAT/ACT scores. Prep for them, take them multiple times, and get those scores up. Of course, your grades need to match. Your EC's are fine. Make sure your academics are competitive.</p>
<p>Well I need to have an above average amount of EC's to make up for my grades. I'm taking the ACT in feb. But my gpa right now is only a 3.5 overall. It will definately get up after this year though to probably a 3.8-4.0 and even higher if my senior year grades count for anything but I'm leaning more on the athletic, EC side of getting in rather than outrageous scores.</p>
<p>I thought the same thing last year when I started to think about applying to USAFA, but my ALO told me that its more important to be very involved in a few things than to just dabble in a lot of things merely for the sake of pumping up your resume. Strive for excellence and leadership in the activities you already are involved in; that shows true commitment. If you want, you could try out a more academic EC, like National Honor Society or Math Team or something like that, but don't go overboard with it. Oh, and EC's are only about 20% of your overall score, while academics is 60%... so your grades and test scores are really important. If I were you, I would focus on that more than worrying about an area youre clearly already very strong in. Just passing on the advice that was given to me. :)</p>
<p>Academics are definately the key but i would not recommend just taking fluff classes to pad your GPA. A 3.7 is more than enough if you have it with a lot of AP classes or IB classes. But definitely get your grades as high as you can while taking the advanced courses.</p>