<p>I am currently a sophomore going into junior year. I am Asian, and I have straight A's all throughout high school so far, with a current weighted GPA of 4.67. I am taking all Honors available along with 2 AP's this year (our school only offers 6 classes per day). I am section leader in marching band, President of a club I started that members cook at homeless shelters, volunteer and intern at Kaiser Permanente, volunteer at a local community hospital, FBLA, CSF (California Scholarship Federation), NHS, National BETA Club, group leader in LoHi Connection (a school organization that welcomes and introduces the new coming freshmen around the campus and leaders help them until graduation), and President of Junior State of America. I will be attending a Biological Research program during the summer.
My question is, are all these enough for me to get accepted into a top-tier university? (Duke, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, etc.) I always feel as if I need more things. My passion is biology, and that's why I am currently volunteering and researching around environments that involve biology.</p>
<p>Also, my Class Rank is 5 out of 765.</p>
<p>All those are good activites. Im glad you asked this question, few do. In particular, it isnt the number of activites that makes you stand out, its the story you put together. Having one passion that really hooks the adcom is far more usefull than someone who partcipated in 12 different things. </p>
<p>I would say the best activies are the ones that:
- are accomplishment based. That is, you can point to specific evidence of how you excel.
- Provide leadership opportunities. And I dont mean just being “team captian”, you need actual examples of how you influence and lead others.
- Provide a greater good. Do things that give back and grow your school, community, etc. </p>
<p>Your school actually has 765 people in one grade ? Yowza.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your accomplishments to date. If I may, let me say that you look practically indistinguishable from 1000s of others who will be applying to those very schools. </p>
<p>What will catch someone’s attention is not your laundry list of things you’ve done – but who you are. Even your posting your question of “how do I make myself look attractive” shows that you don’t know what it is to BE attractive. Ask yourself: if no one ever knew what you did – or saw your resume, which of those things would you do?</p>
<p>Successful applicants I’ve know to schools you’re targeting have a focus, an innate “I’m going somewhere, getting something done” attitude that transcends the college they eventually attend. They possess a deep hunger for learning or affecting the people around them. They are already on a trajectory to do amazing things – and college is practically an afterthought.</p>
<p>I would like to major in biology, so therefore should I forego some of my current activities and focus on that field?</p>
<p>The question about impressive ECs comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html</a></p>
<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says
</p>
<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>
<p>"I would like to major in biology, so therefore should I forego some of my current activities and focus on that field? " I’m not saying that. I’m saying you should have the ability to follow your intuition about what you want to be involved in because you find them stimulating. If it’s voluntarism or a book club or whatever, even if it’s not biology related, you should do them if you really wish to.</p>