Are my EC's weak?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I’m a freshman :smiley:

  • Color Guard member
    • I'm talented, so I could become captain if I stick with it
  • track and field athlete
    • I am not good at all, but it's a lot of fun!
  • position on a nonprofit junior board
  • pianist for 10 years
    • I'm talented, but there are seas of kids exactly like me and/or better
  • school newspaper
2

These EC’s will be strong IF:

  1. You become captain of the Color Guard and you guys can compete on the district/county/state level.
  2. Well if you’re not that good at track and field, it’ll just be fun for you which is good. Probably not much potential as an EC there.
  3. Nonprofit Junior Board if you can maybe get a leadership position (which will be hard since you are a freshman) and do some kind of fundraisers.
  4. Pianist: Maybe join the school orchestra? Maybe attend some competitions, do the piano level thing (level 1-10 CM etc.)

But most importantly, figure out what you like doing and just stick to it. You’re a freshman so it’s still early and you have a lot of time to find out what you’re truly interested in.

Good Luck!

3

You’re fine, that is a great start to freshman year. There’s still plenty of time to explore and add other things too if you so desire. Just work your way up and show dedication/passion to the organizations you are already part of. For something like newspaper, for instance, get involved in editing and design, pretty soon you may work your way up to higher leadership position. Congrats on a great start to high school

4

Thank you so much for your replies! :slight_smile: I was really worried about my EC’s.

Do you all know if so far these would look good to an Ivy League school? If not, what would I have to do to take it to that level?

Additional information I accidentally left out:

  • I actually already have a leadership position on the nonprofit junior board. It’s not president, but it’s something.
  • I’m already doing the CM piano levels (I’m on Level 8), although I haven’t played in any competitions yet. thank you for the good idea by the way :slight_smile:
5

Relax, you’re still a freshman, you still have plenty of time to build up your resume. To get into top-tier schools, your job for the next 3 years should be:

  • Get stellar GPAs and test scores.
  • Figure out what your passion is and commit yourself to it.
    Elite colleges nowadays are not necessarily looking for well-rounded applicants anymore (heck, at this level, EVERYBODY is well-rounded). Instead, schools want to build a well-rounded class, so it’s important that you find out something “pointy” about yourself and build upon that.