<p>I'm an Asian female and am currently a sophomore in high school at a pretty competitive high school notorious for its high achievers. Out of a class of 1022, I am rank 20. I am attending the Texas Academy of Math and Science (TAMS) next fall. I scored a 2180 (only 630 in critical reading though) on the SAT (required for applying to TAMS), but will probably retake it next year. </p>
<p>The main thing that I'm concerned about is a lack of leadership positions. They're basically popularity contests and I'm not exactly a social butterfly at this point. But here are all of my ECs:</p>
<p>orchestra (the top group at my school), including all-region and and all area.
French Club, including FNHS
NHS
JSA (Junior State of America)
Habitat for Humanity</p>
<p>Community Service:</p>
<p>volunteer at a senior home every week for an hour and a half
Teen Court
I recently applied to volunteer at a hospital but it's pretty competitive so I don't know. </p>
<p>I feel like I don't have enough activities, but I don't know what else to do. Suggestions? And how important are leadership positions because I don't have any of those...</p>
<p>Do you think what what I have right now, I could get into an ivy league? My dream school is Columbia. </p>
<p>I'm sure things will be different once I get to TAMS, though, since it's basically a college atmosphere. I'm planning on taking on research and getting involved on many clubs on campus (I already signed up to be an Academy Ambassador).</p>
<p>For ivy’s you got to be at least top 1% …have some talent or some awards that set you apart. And yes…close to perfect SAT and write that great essay. Honestly, dont over obsess over an ivy league. I would start visiting the COlumbia thread and see the results thread…Everyone has the perfect gpa/sat…what will set you apart?</p>
<p>Personality, that’s what you need to have. With that, you’ll set yourself apart from other candidates.</p>
<p>The high scores, etc. is overrated in my opinion. As long as you’re in the middle 50%, you have as much chance as anyone. As long as you have passionate ECs and write a good essay you should be fine. Just do something you’re passionate about and make sure you put a lot of time and effort into it. </p>
<p>The chances of most people getting into an Ivy is slim, so don’t stress over it.</p>
<p>At least top 5% in the class, especially for a school like Columbia. For test scores, as long as you have a solid score above 2200, you’re fine. </p>
<p>Don’t go into activities and clubs with Columbia and the Ivy league on your mind. Those are the wrong reasons for doing EC activities and the vast majority of ivy league admits weren’t planning on getting in this early.</p>
<p>Once you have the class rank, course rigor, and SAT scores, it’s hard to give input beyond that because that alone gives you a decent chance and there is no formula to getting in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! How important is leadership? (I don’t have any positions right now.) How do I show leadership without having a leadership position (president, VP, etc) in a club?</p>
<p>Also, someone talked about developing a passion for something. How does that come across on your resume?</p>
<p>@burningroses: If there aren’t any obvious leadership roles in the groups you’re a part of, you can show your leadership through your personal statement. You can talk about how you took charge of one thing and took it to its fullest.</p>
<p>Developing a passion is a bit harder, and often takes a bit of planning. Basically, you focus on one specific area or talent, and it shows up in all the groups you join. For example, a musician might be in their school’s orchestra, take outside lessons, coach young children about music, and be a part of a band. For a scientist, he might do science research in a lab, take a wide variety of science courses in class, and join science clubs at school. Honing your energy into a certain talent shows your passion for that talent.</p>
<p>A lot of luck. Once you’ve gotten pretty solid stuff, you’re going to need luck and great essays. It’s all of us can hope for. The Ivies are a crapshoot, but being genuinely interested in education (like TAMS proves) as well as some competitions like Intel can help.</p>
<p>It’s not that you don’t have enough activities. I suspect that you don’t have enough depth in some activities. Judging from your list of ECs, it’s hard to tell if you have a serious commitment to or passion in something. Leadership doesn’t mean you have to be president or VP or anything. It means you show your commitment, passion and/or talent. My local HS is ranked very high on USNWR (top 50, I don’t care about that, but just a reference point). There is this kid who ranked #3, which is like top 0.5%, with about the same number of activities as yours but she was president of three clubs/orgs, NMF, National AP Scholar etc. etc. She got rejected outright at Penn. And then there is this kid who didn’t hold any offices. He’s a strong student academically but not in the top 1%. He played music. He talked music. He taught music. He performed on NPR… music got him right into Harvard.</p>
<p>The main problem, though, is that I don’t feel like I’m extraordinarily talented in anything in particular (I mean, I might have been outstanding in a couple of areas but I failed to develop these hobbies at a young age), which is why I’m putting such a large percentage of my focus on academics because I figure that’s the easiest thing to bring up.</p>
<p>THe question is, what do you want to do? In the example that jvtDad brought up, it was clear that the kid wanted to be a musician, and what he did during his high school years reflected that.</p>
<p>What do you love? What do you want to explore? You seem to like music. Have you tried composing or writing songs? Is there another instrument you want to try? You are in the ball park with your grades and scores. Work on the CR score. And take some initiative towards personal growth. Explore! I like Harry Bauld’s book “on writing the college essay”. It’s great and will give you some ideas. The point is to standout. There will be lots who apply who are like you, so what makes you unique or special? Can you organize a concert for a charity or something that fuels your passion?</p>
<p>This idea was recently explained to me by an MIT article that those who are accepted (if viewed without test scores) automatically have higher test scores.</p>
<p>High scores are only the start. You have to realize there will be thousands of high scores in the pool- kids with prez of this or that titles. So how do you set yourself apart and catch their attention; how you are deserving? </p>
<p>Leadership isn’t just having a title- it’s taking charge of something, seeing it through, maybe seeing a need and pursuing it, recruiting others, managing, being able to show some results. You do this and then describe it properly on the CA. You show you are more than just someone who can follow others’ suggestions, get to the club meeting on time. It’s not about being “extraordinarily talented in anything in particular.” It’s about being energized, aware of needs/opportunities, and interesting, able to take on challenges, make commitments- and try new things. In other words, empowered. </p>
<p>TAMS will help you- get friendly with the GC, ask for advice.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I’ll try to come up with something. I will check out Bauld’s book, TKsmom. </p>
<p>Are there any other suggested reading or even any movies I could watch that you think could help inspire me to come up with a way to stand out? Because I honestly can’t really think of a way. </p>
<p>I’m not super talented in anything, really. Even in music, I’m above average but there are plenty of people better than me.</p>
<p>Very least, find a need in your community, some organization, volunteer and take on some addl responsibilties. Aim for something that really serves people who need help. What are you doing with teen court? Could you also then vol with local teen counseling, be a teen rep to the city or plan some activities? Lots of kids vol to just go talk with hosp patients- not only is that a good thing to do, it often makes for a very heartwarming personal statement or an answer for the first, short CA essay where you describe a meaningful activity. Can you call Habitat and go again, this time offering to somehow mentor new teen vols?</p>