<p>Hello,</p>
<p>First of all - I am from Austria and currently attending eleventh grade - just equal to the United States. When I found this page, I was glad to see that there are also other people who seem to have the same problem: They have not done any community service or have achieved any major awards.</p>
<p>In Austria, it is generally not very common to do any community service or anything equal - your only chance to be “outstanding” is to have excellent grades. We also don’t really have any major contests concerning maths, physics etc. - there are just the “Maths Olympiad” as well as a national history contest.</p>
<p>For two years, I’ve won the latter contest - in terms of maths, I’ve never been the best, but I think, being the second best in state is at least some kind of award.</p>
<p>In your opinion, do I have to participate in more contests to achieve any international awards? Regarding community work, I do a lot of work with younger students at my school and with some others from my class, I also founded some kind of a club to help students with learning disabilities etc.</p>
<p>I think, the major problem is that there are no other relevant contests or possibilities to serve the community. Here, you try to gain work experience during the summer holidays - this year, I served at a local bank and next year I will participate in a internship concerning “life sciences” in Vienna.</p>
<p>Now, do you think I could have any chance to be admitted? If not, what else could I do to improve my chances?</p>
<p>Thank you very much in advance!</p>
<p>MrSmith123</p>