What are some things that make you stand out to colleges? I’m a freshman and want to start up some extracurricular activities to make my self stand out? I currently go to the third best high school in Washington State it is a high school that only has history, English, math and science. So what are some extracurriculars I can do to stand out?
PS. I am Hispanic and normally end a school year between and a 3.1 and 3.4
Take a look at this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1797102-elite-admissions-finding-the-and-p1.html
My take on things that can make you stand out:
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Read “How To Be a High School
Superstar” by Cal Newport for ideas/ ways to think about this. (That man really should pay me royalties!)
If your school only focuses on the 4 core subjects, one good idea might be to help your local community on one of those subjects that you feel particularly passionate about.
For example, I’ve always been passionate when it comes to math. Here in Texas, there’s a statewide contest (UIL Mathematics) that I was particularly good at since I was a freshmen. Last summer, I wrote a series of books designed to help people to train for that specific contest. People at my school are already starting to use it, and I plan on eventually publishing it so that schools all around Texas can use it.
You don’t have to be like me in that I wrote a math book, but the idea is that you should do something that is “out of the box” and transcends the normal boundaries of school activities.
Good luck
What do you like to do? What are you passionate about? And do you have any idea what you want to major in/do? (no pressure on that last one–I didn’t know in 9th grade, either, but some people do!) Start from the things you’re into AND good at, and pursue those things. Passion, dedication and then accomplishment in strength areas are what craft a standout application, IMO. For example, for me it was all about writing/the arts. All my ECs related to writing, art, theater, music, volunteering or languages (German, specifically). Those were the things I was genuinely into (I only did ECs I actually enjoyed–didn’t think about my “resume”), so that’s where I started. I figured out by sophomore year that I was actually quite good at writing, and that ended up being my academic focal point–entering competitions, attending an elite summer program, joining the newspaper at school, etc. I kept the other ECs that were most enjoyable, and pursued leadership positions in those clubs. And this is a very unusual thing, but I ended up getting a government scholarship to spend my junior year of high school in Germany. So my application ended up telling a very strong story centered on writing, the humanities and international study, and I was applying to schools as a journalism major/German minor.
If your areas of both interest and strength are, say, math or science–you join those clubs, pursue those competitions, awards, special programs. If it’s international relations or politics, go for Model UN, etc. You can talk to your teachers in your strength subjects to see what opportunities there are. It was through strong relationships with my English teachers that I found out about the writing competitions/competitive programs, etc. that I ended up winning/doing. My German teacher told me about the study abroad scholarship. Cultivating those relationships can go a long way. (and if your school does “best student in X subject” per year, it’s the teachers who nominate for that. I got the English award my senior year.)
Let’s pretend that unicycling is the thing that caught a lot of attention last year. You think, “Great! I’ll be a unicyclist!”
That could backfire.
If you don’t have unicycling in your heart, they’re gonna know.
You gotta be passionate about your thing. Take that thing to new heights.
Find something you are interested in/passionate about and get involved. Don’t try to gear your life towards getting into college, instead when the time comes find a college that fits your life.
I wish this were true, @WasatchWriter, but sadly it’s not–students “game” the system every year, although I would strongly advise against trying.
Thank you all for the help! It helped me a lot I may start participating more in Writing things since I love to write and am pretty good at it. I also plan on starting to learn a language as well.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, if you like writing!
http://www.artandwriting.org/
I got a national award my sophomore year and went to NYC for the ceremony. It was pretty cool.
Awesome thanks! Did it help you get into college or something like that?
“Did it help you get into college or something like that?”
This is not the right attitude to have.
Being really good and something you love doing helps you stand out in a positive way. Doing things to boost your resume is artificial, easily noticeable, and makes you stand out in a bad way. You can choose which one you want to do.
Oh sorry I didn’t realize how bad that sounded I didn’t mean it like that at all.
I only applied to four colleges, so it’s not a big sample size, but no, it didn’t stop me from being waitlisted at two of them. It was still a great experience regardless.
You realize that the needto “stand out” really only occurs for the very competitive colleges, right? If you continue to have that GPA, you won’t be in contention for any of those. Indeed you be scrambling to find decent schools who will have you much less care to even look at your ECs. Focus on improving your GPA first and foremost. Any other advice is premature for you
Oh ok cool. I realize that I sounded rude but I didn’t mean it in anyway bad.