<p>I'm going to be a soph in hs this year and i want to know what kind of extra cirricular activities i should do to increase my chances. And is it good to volunteer into many different programs?</p>
<p>If you are a WASP, then you want to do something remarkable. They are sick of presidents of NHS, Key club, and all that other crap. Go start a program for underpriviliged kids, concentrate on a passion, persue it, and compete in it. Im not gonna give you the same dumb rhetoric others here will say about "ooh do what you like". HYPS likes uniqueness. Answer the fundemental question; Why should they accept you?</p>
<p>do what you like to do. don't do stuff for the sake of being accepted :)</p>
<p>Win the olympics, publish a novel, and win the Nobel Prize.
All while maintaining a 4.0 and a stunning social calendar.</p>
<p>jk.</p>
<p>Find a passion... what do you want to do in life?</p>
<p>One Harvard admissions officer who visited my town last spring raised the question of how much sleep an applicant gets. It's better to have a balanced life doing the things that are meaningful to YOU, allowing you a good night's sleep, than to get run ragged only to fill out a resume.</p>
<p>They look for the ec's that you enjoy, and there's honestly no better answer than that.</p>
<p>wow i never really thought it would be like that. I thought they would look at kids if they had great achievements or national awards. Now i just have to figure out what i'm interested in. Thx a lot for the advice i really appreciate it. Btw, whats WASP?</p>
<p>White Anglo-Saxon Protestant</p>
<p>you have to understand that the people that win awards are doing what they love. if you do what you love and do it well with commitment (blah spelling), harvard'll love you.</p>
<p>greatone, having great achievements or national awards demonstrates a high level of achievement in a particular extracurricular. There's two sides to this story. Yes, you should do what you love and what you're interested in AND AT THE SAME TIME demonstrate a high level of proficiency in that activity (ie awards, competitions, leadership positions). If you started out as a member of a club frosh year, then by senior year become prez or vice prez. If research is your thing, winning prestigious national competitions or attending prestigious research programs certainly helps. You may love an activity all u want and commit hours and hours of ur time to it, but if ur unable to show any proficiency in that activity, u may have a hard time conveying ur talent to colleges.</p>
<p>I also recommend doing what you love. That shines through in an essay, or in an interview especially. An interviewer can tell when you are excited about an extracurricular as opposed to just describing your leadership, fundraising, etc...ie something you clearly did to be impressive. Remember- you're only in HS once! Its a sure thing. Try to have fun! Harvard is nowhere near a sure thing for anyone, so don't try to tailor your activities to a crapshoot and waste your HS years.</p>