what does cornell really want?

<p>im a junior and i want to apply to cornell (ED). and im going to take Pre-med.</p>

<p>my weakness is my ECs.im still a junior but i know i dont have so much time left.so i want </p>

<p>to improve my ECs. so,what does cornell really want? is leadership necessary?school-</p>

<p>teams? (i know it is not really ''necessary'',but what i actually mean is what kind of ECs is </p>

<p>impressive?)actually i always devote myself to music,but music isnt really related to </p>

<p>medcine.......should i focus on more different kinds of ECs</p>

<p>I think cornell likes sports a lot, but anything will help you. </p>

<p>If you havn't started EC's yet, however, I'm sorry to say you might be SOL in admissions in that department.</p>

<p>I speak from absolutely no authority here, but if I were an admissions committee officer who'd seen "NHS officer" and "Amnesty international" and "Raised XXX$ for dolphins afflicted with facial acne" and "Went to Mexico to build houses for orphans dying of Crohn's Disease on odd days of the month blah bah blah blah," I should be rather interested to see something that stood out beyond the norm.</p>

<p>That doesn't necessarily mean you have to go be Rugby captain or whatever. Take up something you really enjoy that few other people do -- in my case it was a little easier, since being a "tech/game design girl" is an uncommon thing, I played water polo, and our school's Latin program is the only one for fifty miles. Try branching out! Go hike! Go learn how to weave! Speak Swahili! Learn to play the electric triangle or the keytar! Chances are one of those things will pique your interest and you'll "stick out."</p>

<p>But just because it's your junior year does not mean it's over! I always enjoyed writing, but my junior year I was awarded a surprise scholarship for it and a national Latin award. I joined the Yearbook staff, worked hard, and became head editor the end of junior year. You never know what is beyond the next corner. Just go for it-- anything that makes you really, truly happy, not something you think is going to look good on your application-- and I'm sure it will shine through in your application.</p>

<p>also you don't exactly "take" premed-- you'll need a major, or you can be undecided in some of the colleges.
either way, just do what makes you enjoy your time.</p>

<p>kate, I feel like being on Yrbook staff or taking Latin is a lot more common than saving dolphins or going to Mexico. People always use stuff like that as example of typical
EC's, but how many people actually do those things? the stuff you listed like hiking and weaving are hobbies, but can they be used as EC's? if EC's = hobbies, everyone would have a list a mile long. Unless you create your own weaving club or something.</p>

<p>im going to take an unpopular opinion here, but EC's are heavily overrated. i was in the same boat as you- didn't really do too much school-related or outside activities besides personal ones (for some reason joining a club is an EC while jogging or sketching in your room aren't- i consider your hiking and weaving to be great ECs, but some honcho in an admissions office may not). i was trying to fit in little ticky tack things to add to the resume last minute- things i didn't even enjoy really- but it turned out all that really mattered were my grades and sats. unless you're delving into something HUGE, don't overly worry about it. </p>

<p>it's the same thing as when you will eventually apply to med school. if you take a large sample, i'm willing to bet 9 times out of 10 the student with better mcat and gpa was accepted over the one with a slightly lower gpa/mcat/or both with volunteer work or clinical experience. same with undergrad- make grades/sats 90+% of your concern.</p>

<p>in sum, if you find something you truly enjoy, do it! but make sure nothing hinders your academic acheivment</p>

<p>bluedevil - yeah I agree with most of your post that EC's don't make a huge difference, but most of the people applying to schools like cornell have really great SAT's/GPA's, so sometimes EC's make you stand out more.</p>

<p>Like I'm applying to HumEc and I know it's very much about "fit", like a lot of Cornell schools are, and sometimes EC's reveal your passion for a subject. But I don't know what EC's reveal a passion for Policy Analysis & Management :) ....although I do enjoy hiking, reading, sketching, painting, growing pumpkins, going veggie/fruit picking, whale watching, and sleeping. None of those seem to convey my passion for PAM so I had to join clubs and stuff.</p>

<p>fair enough- i'm not really saying EC's carry ZERO importance, but they do carry little especially if they are merely for resume boosting (whichi am guilty of). and for such a specialized EC like you mentioned youre interested in (PAM).. this EC is very important, and if you find an activity that accentuates this, that looks great. someone who has little ECs already into junior year (like the OP and myself), little clubs and activities wont hold much weight and will just end up wasting time. </p>

<p>surely most applicants already have good sats/gpa's. but when i was in HS, i decided to spend the time i had 'slacking' by not doing ECs into attempting a second SAT with more thorough preparation, and it paid off. if you score high enough, youre scores can change your status from competitive to shoe-in (not that this was the case for me, i'm just saying...)</p>

<p>Er, the whole 'saving dolphins' part was sarcasm. I have yet to hear of an activism group seeking to cure dolphin acne. As far as the Mexico thing goes, maybe that's a regional thing - I live in Southern California about 40 minutes from the border, so everyone and their extended family has been down to Mexico to build houses for orphans or whatever. ("Houses" is a loose term, since they end up looking like roughshod shacks unfit to weather even the slightest storm.)</p>

<p>No, "little" clubs and activities won't change your standing. But who's to say you won't discover a life passion? That's worth more than the whole damn admissions process altogether, and that vigour will carry through your application.</p>

<p>yep Mexico and dolphins must be one of your fun in the sun SoCal things. And saving Mexican dolphins - that must be particularly impressive. I wish I could find a good EC for PAM but I can't think of what.</p>