andyman344

basically, all the great schools expect you to have cured cancer. your already 17 years old, seriously now, you should have started a business or have become the top US something or other. clearly sarcasm intended.
it really is not fair especially since some parents have been grooming their kids for the ivies even before high school.
I have just done what I have wanted during high school and that is it. i havent done anything amazing, but i should commitment, and that should be worth a lot

DDonskoy

hey guys...im currently studying in the UK...ive been browsing these boards for quite a while and hope to apply
to US unis next year (provided i get AAAAAa in A-levels)..
in the UK we dont place a huge emphasis on ECs (in our application to UK unis we have 1 page to write about everything and most people mention only couple of sentances )...anyway...from what i have read i have gathered that i would be judged from the European applicant pool (or even UK one?)...my question is..what constitutes as "Leadership ECs"? im not the president of any major society (i am a memember of ones that interest me though) but i do participate in various schemes where i help children from local schools to read and write etc. I was wondering whether helping to volunteer in things such as Cubs + Scouts would count? (ive seen some adverts being placed my area where they are asking for people to help them to run these "clubs")..

thanks.

ps does it matter what school you went to? In the UK many Universities discriminate against you if you went to a public school (which in USA i believe = private school ) rather than a state school (USA equiv of a public school teehee)..

oh and what are generally the SATs they expect from international students? im thinking of applying to Penn, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth College, Brown, Chicago and Duke...im aiming to atleast get 2100 plus (will have lots of time to prepare since ill be applying post gap year).

thanks.

Matthew M.

I am curious if anyone could help me...

I am currently in a community college (with about a 3.5 GPA) and plan to transfer to USC (as well as their Thornton School Of Music as a Music Industry Major with an emphasis on technology/recording) in 2008. But there are some questions I have regarding EC's, as my situation is sort of unique...

From about 6th grade through my high school graduation, I was severely ill with one health problem after another. Suffice to say, I was home schooled throughout that entire time (there was a couple of times I tried returning to school, but only to get sick again). Finally, this year has been the first year I have been able to successfully return to school, (first year of college) with a clean slate of health. However, as you can guess, because of all the time I was home, I wasn't able to join any clubs or have anything on the EC side of things.

Some of the things I did while I was home during those years was teach myself musical instruments, teach myself how to produce albums and record songs on the computer (which I still do. although my mixing does leave a lot to be desired, but I know what the buttons do), worked with a lot of top recording softwares, and have perfect pitch (if that means anything to Thornton) etc., etc. So basically, my question is this: because my only EC's up to this point have been this, is this going to hurt me when I apply? I mean, I know there's the great debate about very few passionate EC's might mean more than a ton of trivial one's, but your help and advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Snake13

I know that on the commom app there's a spot for work experience so my question is: is it very detrimental to my chances if I've never held a job?

kevster1001

Is there something that says that we all need to have job experiences in order to gain admissions to colleges? NO! People, relax. Do what you like and pursue your passionate activities. There's nothing better you can do but to follow your passions. Don't do activities because you think they will get you into college. Please, don't.

fhimas88888888

^^ No. If your family has the resources to support you in other interests, then you are really lucky and you should by all means take advantage of those resources: attend summer programs, learn how to play an instrement, take up an unpaid internship. If you don't have the money, then work at a job.

The point is to stay busy. If you just moped around all summer and you had resources to stay busy, then not having a job will hurt you.

Cvjn

... ^

dangit, I forgot to include something on my app then, cause i'll seem incredibly lazy...

ugh, 4 years of music camp down the drain... :'(

Carpe Aeternum

There is a difference between an English public school and an American private school, and it is very much more easy to go from UK to US than the other way around. Going to a public school in England has different implications than a private school here, generally speaking. There are private schools in England, and public schools are private but not the same thing. *everyone not familiar with England's education system goes, Uhhhhhh....?*

Going from an English public school to a top American uni should be rather easy compared to any other way of doing it. A-levels carry a lot of weight, as we don't have something comparable nor anything as difficult. If you got AAA on A-levels you would be VERY much set to study at a top uni here, *providing* other things match up. English schools tend to be more focused on non-academics in addition to stellar academics than an average US school nation-wide.

It does matter what school you went to here. People go to Ivys from all different types of schools, but they do know what kind of academics your school has.

DDonskoy

bah..everyone gets confused...i think mine is listed as an
independent, public school...dont really care what its considered, its huge, its old and its amazing

anyway..nice to know that A-levels carry someweight overseas (especially seeing as ill be doing 5 A levels + 1 AS).

as i said the thing im most worried about it what is
considered "Leadership" (ive seen people put going to karate class for X years under this section ...?!?! etc)..

CynicalBliss

i might be a bit self-biased here, but i really don't think that any academic EC - contests, internships, debates, etc - can compare to enduring athletic participation. I mean, competitive athletes practice everyday for at least 2 hours, do physical fitness, and attend numerous matches and whatnot. Even if it doesn't sound as awe-inspiring as some collaborative research project with a Harvard professor, the amount of devotion and time spent on sports is not tantamount to some academic interest that people decided to pursue at a later age. Example: being fifth in state for some extremely prestigious and well-known-to-ivies contest would probably be worth more in the application process than being ranked 5th in state for some sport, yet the amount of work needed to attain these goals are definitely incongruent.

fhimas88888888

Naw - the thing is - ANYONE can just show up to practice. Sure, it's a great time committment, but you're in high school, and you should know by know how to manage your time. Just because an activity consumes a lot of time doesn't mean it's a good use of your time.

And no - the amount of work is not incongruent. Do you really think Siemens/Intel/National Forensics League (NFL)/robotics national champs (even state champs) did ANY less work than you did for your sport? I don't think so.

Sheed30

Dude, If you are a top 5 player in your state you might work more than some science nerd, however if you aren't a ranked sports player, then you definitely have to work harder to become a science nerd.

wmalum2006

There is no such thing as a good EC, unless you love it, put a lot of time into it and are good at it.

prettydandy

As a mother of a child who is a college admission's officer at a very selective college, I can tell you he is tired of reading about students going to Central American countries to build homes, while of course admirable, he is leery of applicants trying to pad their resumes, versus real passion and interest in a activity or pursuit. Be genuine in pursuing your EC's.

athenegoddess

even though i can see where you're coming from, it's ridiculous to say that sports are more important than academic "sports" like debate, science olympiad, public speaking etc. Do you know how competitive and hard-working the competition is for speech and debate? I have seen people work day and night over congress bills and shed tears over perfecting their speech. i myself have spent countless hours working on my speeches and practising them. to win an international speech contest, i basically had no social life for the three weeks leading up to the contest. it's tough to shine in ANY kind of EC if you want to be nationally/state ranked.