I would like to apply to top schools come this fall but my school seems so un-involved compared to others that I so often read about on these threads. Don’t get me wrong, I know I am privileged to receive a free k-12 education that will get me much further than many other individuals will be able to go, but I don’t know how well received my applications will be among others which include things like:
Olympiads of any kind - never heard of this until reading about it on CC
Seemingly limitless curriculum full of AP’s, IB’s, and genuinely interesting classes
Key Club - I still have no idea what this is
Language clubs
Okay, really pretty much any clubs… we have FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, a service club, and a history club
Academic competition teams
DECA
Mock trial
Model UN
Quiz Bowl
…
A bunch of other stuff I don’t care to write out.
I’ve tried to overcome this, but as many others so often do, I feel vastly under qualified when I read posts boasting all that and an Intel prize. I thought about starting a science club this year, but will adcoms see that as a last ditch effort to look good on paper? I don’t know if I’m looking for validation or anything, I just feel like there has to be more people like me out there, and I would like to know how they jumped this hurdle in the application process. Thanks for reading.
Colleges consider you in the context of your school- you would NEVER be penalized for not being in Key Club (haha I don’t know what that is either) if your school doesn’t have a Key Club. However, schools also want to see you make the most of it. One way to do this would have been to start your own clubs (since you’re now a senior I guess that might be too little too late).
Or, if you’re not interested in founding a bunch of clubs in your school, you can take advantage of what your community has to offer- I think that every community, no matter how small, has tons of opportunities for high schoolers. There are animal shelters, club sports, local governments, etc. that you can get involved with. Since you’re now a senior hopefully you have been taking advantage of all this for years!
You wrote that you have tried to overcome a lack of opportunity- that’s great and exactly what colleges want. Colleges don’t want 2,000 Key Club members, they want a community with diverse students interested in a wide variety of things. As long as you are involved with SOMETHING that you are interested in, don’t worry. An intel prize is an amazing achievement, but you can be an amazing applicant without prestigious awards.
In regards to the lack of APs, that’s also okay. If your school doesn’t have APs and there is no local college to take classes at, don’t worry- the admissions office makes sure that they have a good understanding of the background of all their applicants. In the letter of recommendation that your counselor writes, he/she will explain your school’s curriculum. As long as you have challenged yourself and taken the most difficult courses available to you, don’t worry about APs.
I hope this helped, good luck with everything!
Thanks @CDOESenior2k16 that was very helpful. However, my community does not have club sports or local government or anything like that, although I skipped my third year of varsity soccer to play for a club team an 40 minute drive away (I will be back for my senior season though), and I drive 50 miles one way to volunteer at a science museum. The population of my town is 2568. All neighboring towns are between 500 and 4500, hence I export myself. Anyway, thanks again for the reassuring advice!
Oh, also, my club soccer team will be in the state championship game this weekend. Does state champ or runner up count for anything? And will it look suspicious being for the state next to the one I actually live in?
I was just listing examples, at the very least I’m sure your town has places with job opportunities (grocery stores, etc.)
If you’re not a recruited athlete it’s probably not a huge deal, but I’m sure it would still be impressive! At the very least it shows that you’re passionate about soccer. I know very little about soccer, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be suspicious if you play for a team in a neighboring state… I would think colleges are familiar enough with the idea that kids have to travel and don’t always have a team nearby. If the schools you’re applying to have interviews, I’m sure you could bring up soccer at some point and explain that you have to travel to compete for a team in another state. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Good luck!
If you’re legitimately involved with the group, there is no issue. Having gone to HS in New England, I’ve run across many kids living in border towns that were involved in activities across state lines.
Alright, thanks again CDOE. I’ve applied to a few jobs and have heard nothing, but I’m sending my resume to our local newspaper for a sports coverage position. I am really hoping that one works out so I don’t have to work at Subway - the one fast food restaurant within 10 miles… where everyone works for a couple months until they hate it and quit haha. I guess that makes a lot of sense, as well @skieurope!
So what do you do with all that free time that you’re not spending in clubs or working at Subway? An EC is any activity that you are engaged in outside of school, preferably one in which you have invested your time, energy and creativity and have something to show for your effort. It can involve a hobby that you and your family do together, something you’ve achieved some level of competence at through practice, some activity in which you connect with others and/or help organize in some way. Are you an expert gardener? Can you cook? Write poetry? Hunt? Repair old cars? There are lots of things that people do with their free time that are worthwhile - and don’t involve a single school club, organization, title, or certification. Don’t undersell yourself if you have a hobby already - and if you don’t, find something you enjoy and get busy.
I placed [deleted] at the[deleted] State [deleted] meet and [deleted] at the USA [deleted] national meet in my weight class - [deleted] pound girls - sophomore year, my first year in the sport. [deleted] is one of the most consistent activities in my life with an “addictive personality.” This school year I will be going in an hour early to [deleted] before school every day, but the season starts in November and state/nationals will be too late to add to my app I think. I didn’t qualify last year because I went up a weight class and spent more time trying to cut weight than improve my [deleted] , which I plan on reversing this year and I am already on track to qualify and perform well at state and nationals in the spring. I plan on writing my essay on the values that I have learned in the [deleted] and hardships I’ve encountered and surpassed in the sport. Additionally, I have 150 hours in at the science museum I volunteer at which will continue to grow, and my mom says I should stress the lengthy commute I make to get there. This spring and summer I have been playing soccer between 3 and 5 days per week for my club team. I want to host a soccer camp this fall and donate the profits to the foundation whose camp I went to a couple years ago which provides coaching and gear to kids in Haiti, led by a former mens national team player and [deleted].
I deleted several overly specific references in the post above. It’s never a good idea to be too specific when posting here. Although I didn’t, it would have probably taken me 15 seconds to google your identity.
For which fine university is your mother an admissions officer? 
Personally, and it’s only an opinion, I disagree. You have limited space to make your impression and define what makes you you. I would waste none of it trying to give explanations which will probably only succeed in sounding whiny.
Haha thanks, I tell her that all the time and take everything she tells me with a grain of salt. She likes to read out of date college books. Both of my sisters go to decent schools, but nothing close to top 20s. And thanks for the security concern, maybe the fact that no one around here even locks their doors has something to do with my lack of fear on the internet haha. Which, I suppose that might also be concerning to a moderator. My apologies.
One more thing, @skieurope, having been able to read the undoctored post and being the knowledgeable senior member you are, did that intial EC sound like something that will help me stand out in admissions?
I’m of the belief that any EC that excites you and to which you show dedication is a good EC.
As long as you do the absolute best you can within your parameters, you should do fine. My high school didn’t offer much either in terms of ECs or AP classes. But I took advantage of everything I could, got good grades/test scores, and I ended up alright.
If you want to apply to top schools that care a lot about EC’s, then you’ve already signalled to them important information about whether you’re the kind of kid they’re looking for.
You go on to offer excuse after excuse in the thread, for example dismissing the excellent suggestions from @CDOESenior2k16
You are probably a good student and will end up at a good college. But a top college? You appear to have adopted the attitude that ECs are something provided by your school or someone else, and the measure applied by colleges is simply whether someone chose to take part or not. It’s even in the title of your post, for goodness sake! So if you can “show” how difficult it would have been for you to take part then you get a bye? That’s not explaining, that’s excusing.
Are there as many opportunities in rural areas as there are in LA, NYC, Boston area? No. And this means you threw away a golden opportunity!! Those “spectacular opportunities” that impress you and your friends in HS? Adcoms know that many of these kids (listing Key Club, Olympiads, school newspaper, etc) were simply like logs rolling down a hill, signing up for stuff right around them and probably at their parents insistence. These clubs/teams/activities had kids in them last year, and will next year too. Its much less remarkable than you think. On the other hand a kid from a rural area that did something showing real initiative along the lines of anything CDOESenior2k16 suggested really stands out. You could have done this. And you didn’t. Think about what that tells the adcoms who are looking for the self-starters…
I am certainly not trying to make excuses, because I feel that I have tried hard to overcome what essentially appeared to me as a handicap in my resume. Also, I don’t understand your need to be so standoffish. I did not dismiss CDOE’s advice, in fact I thanked her for it and mentioned that I have been/am trying to pursue some of their suggestions. I don’t think I’m getting out of anything or have it easier than other students because these opportunities are not directly offered to me, I am simply asking for advice as to how my lack of common elements in other applications will be looked upon. This was kindly answered by CDOE, skieruope, and gdlt234, whereas you offered no advice and only berated a teen just looking for a little bit of guidance. Thanks though, and I guess I’ll try to sound less snobbish when posting or replying to threads.