<p>BEST WAY TO INCREASE CHANCES- hit the lottery the richer the better and all of a sudden years of being lazy, obnoxious and coddled pays off when the letters of admission to HYP arrive!</p>
<p>Don't just do volunteer work - everyone has that.. It won't set you apart.</p>
<p>Start your own community service project. Do something out of the ordinary, something that not everyone else has done. Just doing community service won't do much for you at top universities whatsoever.</p>
<p>do all you can, and prayt o the almighty that the lottery system works! nah not lottery, but it's SUCH a crapshoot that you could be more talented than someone else and still not get in. don't have high expectations in general fro ivies. for other schools yes but ivies are weird.</p>
<p>I've a question, how ab't doing state funded summer program sorta things besides volunteering and pursuing passion during summer? Don't the Ivies and top Colleges give any attention to such programs at all?</p>
<p>if you're looking for an internship, try calling your local chamber of commerce or congressman to see if you could help out around the office. that's pretty much what I did, and now I'm going to intern at both places.
I have a friend who really needed to save his resume, so he called a law office--they were desperate for summer help, so they took him on. he worked 15 hours a week, and i'm sure the internship was an impressive boost on his resume. in addition, he really enjoyed the job...much better than putting in 250 hours at the library or hospital.</p>
<p>Your volunteer work should be related to your passions. If medicine, then a hospital. If acting, then community theater. If foreign language, the local shelter that deals with people in the target language. If ministry, then the church, etc., etc. D did a summer program and it didn't help her in the admissions process. I don't think it hurt her, but neither of us thought it helped, either.</p>
<p>Props to jhsu2</p>
<p>jhsu2: It doesnt matter if anyone asks or not! You are going to spen your next 4 years at a place which is going to decide the rest of your life!</p>
<p>Genealogical research</p>
<p>I have a hard, hard grudge AGAINST volunteering. I find it a morally reprehensible way in which societal systems with inadequate social safety nets "outsource" all responsibility for such care out to, you guessed who, students. Damnit -- I should've written about this in my essays -- </p>
<p>I've done no extracurriculars whatsoever, but I've been politically active in my past and held lectures etc professors invited me to hold on topics I'm extremely passionate about. I've no idea if that makes me a desirable student or not, but it keeps me feeling good about myself not having given in to the EC game.</p>
<p>I never did summer volunteering. The only summer activity I ever did was attending a course at Brown University right before my senior year for a subject that I was very interested in pursuing (and wound up wroting one of my essays about). I'm going to an Ivy League school next year... So you shouldn't just get involved with what other people tell you, and if you pass up an opportunity that you really want (such as the Penn summer thing), you might end up regretting it later on. Honestly, do the stuff that you want, you'll have more fun in the process. Hours and hours of community service that you hate, and that would help you very little with college admissions (remember that grades and SATs are the bulk of it, and if those aren't stellar you probably aren't getting in anyway), isn't worth it.</p>
<p>ok wait just out of curiosity, do u have to win like a bunch of competititons to even think of an ivy league...i mean i have harvard on my mind but im just a soph. so im not sure yet....any suggestions? oo and what are like the grades u need to get into an ivy league..preferably harvard</p>
<p>I would say you need some decent awards to get into an Ivy League school, but nothing amazing. I'm going to an Ivy League school next year, and aside from some school awards and prizes, I have one or two county and state awards for math competitions, National Merit, and I've had an essay and a poem published in compilations. Nothing stellar, but pretty good I'd say. So you don't need to be an Intel finalist or anything, but you should have some awards that showcase your talents.</p>
<p>And in terms of grades... Certainly you need just about all As, but I'm sure an occasional B wouldn't kill you. I had an A/A+ average in high school, and I'm sure most of my Ivy League peers had the same. In terms of Harvard, it's even worse, and I'd say you pretty much need all As/A+s in very challenging classes... Being valedictorian wouldn't hurt either.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, this is barring other factors, such as being a recruited athlete, legacy, underrepresented minority, etc., where your stats may not need to be as hardcore... But I'd say what I wrote above is a pretty general rule.</p>
<p>haha thanks for the info...the thing is i im going to try to take the most challenging courses in my school next year...and for my case its impossible for me to be valedictorian..i was one in middle school but at my school everyone is at a different level...i go to a specialized high school in nyc so the fact tat its really hard is driving me crazy...i should have just went to a reg high school</p>
<p>first off. DONT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU NOT TO VOLUNTEER OR DO ANY EC'S!!!!! that's gotta be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Showing that you're a good citizen who will give back is CRUCIAL for college admissions, especially if you aren't a super-genius valedictorian. But do things that show that you take initiative and are a leader, such a organizing community service projects. As for your summer, though it's kind of late to start, do try to go to that summer program AND organize a community service project. But if you have to choose one....hmmm, i'd go with the program.</p>
<p>Ok so here's my summer schedule. Working as an intern in a medical lab for the bulk of the summer, setting up the link crew program for my high school, and setting up a community service program that will begin at the start of the school year. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>haha easier said than done. what kind of community service program? you need to recruit other link leaders for link crew, yes? that's better done when people aren't on vacation. intern in a medical lab.. this can be done, but not through formal channels usually because deadlines have passed. do you have connections?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Above all else, do something that you enjoy. Adcoms can see right through those volunteer jobs you do just to make yourself look more appealing, and you don't want to spend your summer being unhappy and bored.</p></li>
<li><p>What I've learned after going through the college admissions process is that you really need something to make you stand out. Not necessarily extremely competitive awards and programs, but a clear and strong passion for some area of interest, or a project or activity that isn't being done by every other applicant. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is nothing wrong with community service, but make sure you do it because you want to help others, not because it would look good on a resume.</p>
<p>I have conncections for my medical internship. For Link Crew, I will attempt to find about 4 other leaders by the end of the school year. And we will start a community service program (me and my Indian friend) regarding cultural integration and interaction. How does it sound?</p>
<p>Write an AWESOME essay. With EC's that are very similar to everyone else, an original essay will put you ahead.</p>