A stereotypical all A's girl.... with absolutely horrible ECs. Help me?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>So right now, I’m a sophomore and I haven’t taken the SAT or any tests yet. However, (i know this is going to sound extremely cocky, but…) I have been taking a SAT prep course and on each practice exam I’ve made 2300+. My grades are also exceptional (AP classes, all A+s, etc.) , so I’m not too worried about subject tests, sat etc.</p>

<p>I really want to get into a good school, preferably WAY out of texas (east coast!) and ivy league (there’s also a lot of pressure because my sister got into dartmouth and my parents say I’m smarter bookwise than she is so there should be no problem for me -.-) but the truth is… I am seriously lacking in my extracurricular area.</p>

<p>I play the violin and I’m in the top orchestra, participate(d) in an outside of school youth symphony, but I never did anything exceptional in either. I was never first chair or got solos, and last year I only made the bottom orchestra for Region (for those who don’t know, Region orchestra is the first level of competition, Area is the second, and all state is the third). </p>

<p>I am also taking spanish and chinese, so I was sort of thinking about going for the like, language area (i.e "I love culture! languages! diversity!) … but those are actually my worse classes -.- (still A’s, but my lowest ones) and I’ve never done things like travel to mexico/china to speak with native people… </p>

<p>Oh yeah… and like a stereotypical nerdy kid, I have little leadership and social status in my high school. I’m well liked, but I can’t tell the colleges that I have 700 friends on facebook can i? I hate talking in front of large groups (I can’t even audition well - I start shaking and rushing) and even if I muster up the courage to run for secretary or something, I seriously doubt anyone would vote for such a bad speaker. </p>

<p>I know how competitive schools like harvard and yale are, and I don’t think a good sat score will cut it for me ))):</p>

<p>So if anyone has any ideas on ways I could improve or work on my pathetic amount of ECs, please help me!!!</p>

2

<p>Option 1: Go to UT-Austin, it’s a fantastic school. Then go to a prestigious school for graduate level studies and (if you want to) laugh at your sister while she drowns in debt. </p>

<p>Option 2: You’re just a sophmore. You still have time. Get involved in what you enjoy. Don’t try to do things just to try to impress colleges. Don’t limit yourself by trying to “focus” your ec’s. </p>

<p>There’s nothing stopping you (other than your stereotype model of what a college “wants”) from achieving All-State (which, btw, is quite a nice accomplishment in TX) and being President of World Culture Club and also volunteering at your local pet shelter. Just so you know, those activities are merely examples - do what you want to do.</p>

3

<p>I completely agree with the above, if you try to do specific ECs for college admissions, then you’re kind of missing the point, aren’t you? Join clubs that interest you, and be outstanding in them - generally leadership positions in smaller clubs don’t go to the best public speaker, they go to the person who everyone knows is dedicated to the club. Also be sure to try out some volunteer work!</p>

4

<p>Ahh I didn’t really mean like, which ECs could I do to get in, more like… how can I improve on the ones I have and get more involved? And I love to do a lot of things - like weirdly, I love practicing violin and helping out at the memorial hospital, but I’m just not very good at any of the things i do ><;; But thanks a lot anyways, you’ve given me a lot of food for thought (;</p>

5

<p>[Esse</a> quam videri | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/esse-quam-videri]Esse”>Esse quam videri | MIT Admissions)

You can expand on your current activities by pursuing what you enjoy. </p>

<p>You play violin, so you could participate in your local community orchestra and/or an orchestra like the Houston Youth Symphony. You could practice and get into All-State.</p>

<p>You could start a club at your school or join a club where leadership positions are not merely popularity contests.</p>

6

<p>I very much agree that the best thing to do with ECs is to do what you enjoy.
But I’ll be honest: if your goal includes getting into very selective colleges, it also makes sense to do what you are very good at. So even if you love violin, if you’re only a middling player, the most selective colleges will not be impressed with how much you practiced–they will care about the results. The top schools receive many, many applications from absolutely top-notch violin players.
But even with violin, you might find things to do that you will still love, but are a bit different from what others are doing. Could you teach violin to poor kids? Could you learn to fiddle? Could you play with a rock band? Could you form a string quartet with some friends and perform at nursing homes?</p>

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<p>Stick with music, and try a bunch of EC’s. Odds are, you’ll end up liking some of them, and then you can choose to focus on those.</p>

8

<p>There’s a girl at my school that made a 36 on her ACT and has like, a 4.4 weighted GPA, but she has zero extracurrics. Everyone at my school still seems to think she has a chance at getting in wherever she wants to go despite her lack of ECs (I’m not kidding, I think the only clubs she’s in are academic clubs). I can’t say I don’t agree with them. Of course, that girl is applying to our state university because she gets a full ride since her parents teach there but my point is this: if you take almost every AP offered to you and make an A in every one of them, and 5s on all the exams, then your “ECs” are studying and learning. Do you enjoy the classes you take, and do you like to learn? Write about that. You like the violin and volunteering. Even if you don’t spend an unholy amount of time doing it like the average CCer, colleges are still going to see that you’re interested in something.</p>