<p>Since we've had limited transportation, I have never been able to really have a good extracurricular going on. I've WANTED to join clubs, but I'm just not able to, especially now when I have classes at the college going over the designated times for those extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Am I screwed for college? I don't want to ask for rides, either--that'll just annoy other people and make them do more than they should. I'm considered academically successful, but nothing special. 3.4 GPA (UW) and 3.7 (W)</p>
<p>“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” - Francis Bacon</p>
<p>“The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; the question is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young man ceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks his conditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success.” - Hamilton Wright Mabie</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat you are in and, unfortunetly, there are only two things you can do:</p>
<p>1) Write a thrilling twenty part college essay on how every day you have to walk 5 hours to and from school barefoot in the snow with hungry, man eating wolvereens watching you every step of the way. Since the wolvereens will eat anything out past 7 PM, you have to leave school just when it gets out so that you can live. Why the heck should you risk your life for a club? </p>
<p>Unfortunetly, college essays are not the time for such discourses on whatever sob story you may have even though the above story is obviosuly for real and 100% true.</p>
<p>2) Join clubs! As late as it may seem, there is never a “too late” mark until after you’ve graduated high school. Ask to see what clubs you can fit in your schedule and attempt to attend those meetings. Can’t attend meetings? Attend some of the activities the club holds. Friends won’t mind giving you rides unless you crack a whip over their head screaming “DRIVE FASTER!” and force them to feed you grapes every five seconds, so don’t feel intimidated to ask a friend for a lift to and fro. If you still feel guilty about asking, you can pay for gas or whatever may come up. If even then you can’t find a ride, then attempt option one; just make sure you have concrete reason as to why you don’t have a ride (and NO, I can’t affoard a car doesn’t cut it).</p>
<p>There are problems that exist, but they will never go away until you try to get around them. That said, you aren’t screwed for college if you can’t find an activity. ECs should be something YOU want to do, not what a college wants you to do. All colleges want to see in ECs are that you are developing your talents and interests.</p>
<p>For future readers - I got around this by having ECs outside of school, e.g. I self-taught myself Photoshop and basic HTML (website coding), and will probably send a supplemental arts portfolio to colleges even though I might not major in Graphic Design…but I started this in 7th grade, before I even thought of being able to use that for college admissions. So you never know…explore your interests, whatever they are.</p>
<p>It’s not too late to join a club now (and maybe not even too late to start one with friends), but colleges may be able to tell if you’re just joining them to pad your application. If you do follow this route, pick few and meaningful ones and make the most of them before you send in that app (and afterwards as well).</p>
<p>Or just accept the fact that your ECs are empty, and focus your efforts into what you still have control over…ECs are pretty big in the top-top colleges because there are so many overqualified applicants, but for any other colleges, if you can pull off a great essay and recs (especially if you can get your counselor to explain that both of your parents worked or if you took community college classes at night, etc.) along with a decent transcript and test scores, you can pull off acceptances into a lot of solid colleges.</p>
<p>I actually also did a ton of graphic design for the longest time. I actually got pretty good at it and, up until now, I had completly forgotten about listing it as an EC. Thanks for the reminder!</p>
<p>We don’t have a late bus, and I live too far away from the school. No train, no bike.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for your input. I’ll try really hard to find people to ride with, but I’m shy and, honestly, most of my friends don’t drive. Right now we’re so low on money that I’m missing school tomorrow to save on gas (since I go back and forth from the high school and community college)… it’s awful lol.</p>
<p>Start a blog. Get involved with your church (if you’re religious… or even if you’re not). Study stuff on the side. Make cool projects. Participate in stuff in your own way.</p>