Hi, I’m a sophomore from a pretty competitive high school in MA. Currently, I have a 4.8/5 weighted, 4.0 weighted GPA and just scored a 1600 SAT (I’m still reeling over this). My current extracurriculars include 2 Varsity sports competing on state level, (Rowing in the Fall and Spring, around 20 hours a week, and then Nordic skiing in the winter, around 15 hours. I am most likely going to be captain my senior year in Nordic). I work 10-15 hours as a teacher at the Russian School of Mathematics. I am also on my schools board of Diversity and Inclusion, which creates a platform for my peers to speak out about bullying and problems in the school. This board is in conjunction with a more selective group at my school, where we work with BU on a research study of how learning about implicit bias reduces self harm and bullying at my school. My volunteering is also strong(200 hours plus so far), as I teach math at my summer camp as well as teaching math to underprivileged kids at my local Big Brother big sister club as well. Although I know I have pretty good extra curriculars, I have no national or international awards, non-profit, special admit status, etc. I am looking for things to add to my ECs to help strengthen my applications in the next year. My school usually sends a couple people to Top Tier colleges every year and I want any ideas to help me stand out amongst the others. Does anyone have any ideas of something achievable that I could work on, or create that could really bump up my application to the next level? I want it to be in the same scope of what I already do, so that I have a pretty focused group of ECs.
Can you list your target “top tier” colleges. My suggestion would be:
a) figure out what colleges would be the “best fit” for you academically and financially. Not all of the top colleges are the same, if fact, they have little in common. MIT is totally different than Brown, for example.
b) review the colleges website, articles, programs, faculty, facilities CDS, etc. to start getting a general idea of what the college is looking for in an applicant (it’s not just about how the college fits you but how YOU fit the colleges institutional needs.)
c) think about taking SAT subject tests and prep well for them. Many top colleges like to see these.
d) continue to do what you are doing and challenge yourself.
e) IMO, letters of recommendations can be very important, so start thinking about which teachers should write your LORs, especially as you approach your Junior year.
f) I believe that students do well in subjects and ECs that they are passionate about. Make sure to really enjoy what you are doing and not just because it “looks good” to colleges. Authenticity is very important.
You sound like an excellent and bright student.
I have an 800 Math 2 and 780 Bio E subject test. My top tier choices are like the ivies, U Chicago, etc
Sounds to me like you are doing great and are on the right track.
How strong are you in your sports? Any chance of being recruitable as that would be the biggest boost.
You should focus on is finding the right fits for reach, match, and safety schools. All the Ivies and Chicago is a very diverse group of schools. A good fit for Dartmouth is not going to be a good fit for Columbia.
“figure out what colleges would be the “best fit” for you academically and financially.”
I think that this is very important. If someone from “X University” asks you “Why is X university a good fit for you”, then you should actually have thought of this and have a good understanding of why.
Thank you for the comments! What I really want is an extra commitment or activity that I could use to help stand out. I want it to be something that shows initiative or leadership, but I just dont know if I have the materials for many things right now. I have a strong passion for math and teaching math, so could i do something to do with that?