<p>I collect lady bugs. =))</p>
<p>@Lullies</p>
<p>That ought to help. On my interview, I should just bring in a huge jar of ladybugs and fireflies, and tell the admissions officer about how much I love them.</p>
<p>JK.</p>
<p>Are these strong EC’s?
Piano @ Carnegie Hall, Dicapo Theater, and Kimmel Center
Winning the Scholastic Writing Competition Gold Key
Winning first place in a J.V. debate competition
Being accepted to Drexel’s Summer Economic Institute
Research published, with collaboration from professors and organizations (working on it)</p>
<p>These are not all of them, just my main ones. I am in many more clubs at school.</p>
<p>@Rain -
LOL. I really don’t have any. I can’t stand out.
I have typical specs, and that’s it. Low income, 1st gen, not born in America, etc.
I’m ASIAN, de-fi-nite-ly standing out, oh yes. mhm. oh yeaaaah.</p>
<p>@Rain: Stop worrying about whether or not your ECs are strong enough.
Just do what you love and you’ll be fine!</p>
<p>@Lullies
What colleges are you planning to apply to?</p>
<p>My junior year is almost over, and I am anxious!</p>
<p>But really, are my EC’s strong enough? I am worried because I botched my GPA this year.</p>
<p>Interning at the UN this summer (Im a rising Jr)
And I’m a dedicated Sunday School teacher (In addition to the normal music/debate/ economics related EC)
Hopefully that will be a stand out? who knows.</p>
<p>Your interning at UN is impressive.</p>
<p>@ Rain -
My dream school is USC, but I don’t think I really want to go there… maybe I just love their school colors and their football games. <em>_</em>;;
I’m going to apply to UCD, CSU Chico, and SJSU. I don’t really know; I’m just going where ever life takes me!</p>
<p>@Lullies: Apply to CSU Long Beeeeeach</p>
<p>@Lullies
What if life drags you to a stranded island infested with ladybugs? Are you going there?
JK. :)</p>
<p>Best of luck! You will do well!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not … that important.</p>
<p>What makes you stand out is you. Not just your ECs or test scores. But how you shine. Your passions, interests, hobbies, personal achievements, goals, etc. are all important. And, how that reflects on you–can we say “references” or “recommendations”?</p>
<p>
[url=<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2011-06-06-usc-bcs_N.htm]ouch[/url”>http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2011-06-06-usc-bcs_N.htm]ouch[/url</a>]</p>
<p>@chaseholl</p>
<p>But don’t your extracurricular activities reflect who you are, to some extent? Doesn’t your SAT scores and GPA reflect your intelligence and work ethic?</p>
<p>I do see your point, however. Does an interview help with their decisions?</p>
<p>@Rain - LOL! Let them pee on me, of course. I really don’t collect ladybugs. I only did for one summer, ■■■■■ I obviously had lots of friends at that time…~
@Marine - I am!! 
@Chase - I did not even read that article lol okaaaaaay boy.</p>
<p>
To some extent, yes, although I think it’s just hard to distinguish between “ECs” as in volunteering at a hospital for your enjoyment, versus being president of the Spanish club when it’s just to suck up to the teacher. I think the more important part of ECs is when you’re asked to write an essay about some passion or interest, some EC you’ve participated in is a good thing to focus on.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t go as far to say that GPA and standardized testing scores reflect on intelligence, because “intelligence” is very difficult to measure. Even IQ tests are often worthless for anything more than a general range of “intelligence”. (Personally, I would consider intelligence more as potential, but one could also factor in things like common sense/decision making abilities, not just logic or book-smarts.) An SAT score is exactly that–a score to see how well you did on the SAT. It shows how good you are at … taking that test. The same goes for most tests, I think–there was a kid in my math class last year, who got Cs on every test except one, and he’s a brilliant computer programmer (he finished every assignment in AP Computer Science on the day it was assigned, and has been writing his own games for a couple years now). So while his GPA might not be the best, I think it’s his interest/passion/expertise in this particular field that would make him stand out to colleges when he wants to major in computer science.</p>
<p>And GPA is messy. At my school, the honors grade in English is given out at a teacher’s discretion, so basically it is the brown-nosers who get the better grade. Also, letter grades are only ordinal–in my district, a 100 in a non-honors class is weighted the same as a 90 in the same class. So you can arrange grades from A, B, C, D, F, but you can’t actually distinguish from the GPA what that actually means. I get As but I don’t work hard at all–because I figure it’s not worth my effort to get a 98 or 99 when a 91 or 92 is worth the same on paper.</p>
<p>I like interviews because they let the interviewer see you and your character more. If you can ace an interview, you’ve got a massive shot at getting accepted at the college in question.</p>
<p>internships; doctor shadowing hours; job(not so much); the business i am opening over the summer(hopefully it will be a huge success and i will be able to raise a crapload of money for this relief fund~);</p>
<p>@ChickenOnRice</p>
<p>Good luck with your business!</p>
<p>Rain202- you hve some good ECs that will make you stick out. and congrats on the gold key! thats a huge accomplishment</p>
<p>Honestly, no EC’s will make up for bad grades. Maybe bad test scores, but if you aren’t doing well at your school, forget it. End of story.</p>
<p>Obviously there are a few exceptions where a school is exceptionally hard, or there were extenuating circumstances, but that is the general rule.</p>
<p>@daretorun</p>
<p>Will you consider a 3.6/3.7 bad?
Most people on here have perfect 4.0’s.</p>