<p>I was hoping for any advice on an EC's I could do now( second semester Junior year) and any awards I could apply for that would improve my chances of getting into Columbia and other top tier schools. I know it's really hard but does any one have any suggestions?</p>
<p>My interests include: international relations, politics, global poverty, languages, economics- is there any research I could do that's economic or international relations related? How could I go about doing this and where do people get things published?</p>
<p>Well, it's sort of late to start something this late into the year, isn't it? If I were you, instead of doing something at school right now, I would just do a program over the summer.</p>
<p>A lot of colleges have summer programs that you might find interesting. If you search around here or even google it, then I bet you could find something. If you do something really unique over the summer, then it can really make you outshine many applicants. Getting an internship would also help a lot. </p>
<p>Does your school have Model UN? That sounds like something you'd be interested in, and even though it's too late to do it this year, you could definitely try starting one up next year.</p>
<p>There are plenty of threads on this and the truth rests: "EC"s are not something that you "do," they should be what you are.
That being said, what matters is your devotion, not simply activities you can list, though being a writer I do understand your plight of seeking some sort of significance. (rather than just saying, "I write" or "I am interested in world affairs")
If you're interested in getting published, look at the options within your school first (nonfiction magazine? newspaper?) and work hard on that. Do you have a writing advisor? My writing center advisor is my mentor and tells me about poetry contests and such, and they have a lot of contests for political writing.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "research," we could all be doing that right now rather than engaging in college catharsis. Just find a teacher with whom you can discuss your findings and maybe start up an independent study. Ever consider community college courses to go more in depth into specific areas?
Regardless, if you are truly invested in your work then you don't need awards to show off; it will become a part of you.
Starting your own club is always great because you can truly exercise leadership skills and it does prove that you are going above and beyond and doing more with what you have.
Keep doing what feels right, and if you feel the need to enter contests and such, talk to whoever is in charge of your social studies department.</p>
<p>How about learning an unusual language? Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Hindi? There are a lot of summer language academies, or check out Concordia Language Villages' many summer offerings.</p>