Class of 2026 Hopeful Looking For EC feedback and Advice

Applying to College
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Hi! I’m a rising senior looking for advice on how to make myself a more competitive applicant with my ECs. A few reaches I’m planning on applying to are Duke, Penn, Notre Dame, Yale, and Brown.
Background: Public HS, URM-black and female, child of African immigrants
Rank: 2/609
Fields of Interest: Spanish and Pyschology, hope to study abroad. Pre-law
Spanish Honor Society:10-12
Treasurer(10), Co-Pres(11), President(12)
It’s been difficult getting members active especially this year but it got better in the 2nd semester. I initiated a drive for Jandrucko Academy, the Pre-K school in my school district and we were able to collect over 100 items. I read 86 books in Spanish virtually to Jandrucko’s bilingual classes. We had a Cinco De Mayo social this year and sent cards to terminally ill kids.
Last year we volunteered at Mission Arlington’s Christmas Toy shop.

Drill Team(9-12)
Secretary-12
If you aren’t already familiar with this activity, it’s my high school’s dance team. We dance at all varsity football games and pep rallies. We also do competitions and dance at community events like Toys for Tots, Holiday Parades, Craft Fairs, etc.
Secretary role would include: Making spirit exchange gifts for other drill teams, awarding teacher of the week, choosing Spirit Girl of the Week, planning banquets, parties, team bonding, and all other social events for the team. As Secretary specifically I’ll take notes during meetings and handle correspondence with other clubs.

Key Club(9-12)
Freshman and Sophomore Representative, Editor(11), Treasurer(12).
I’ve participated in Socks for Schools/Socks for Legs my first two years. I sold socks to people in my community to support the particular cause. Some activities.I’ve made wrist mums for the Special needs kids at our school in 2019 with this organization, have packaged canned food for needy students, prepared food for hospitalized children. Our club applied to host a HerDrive this summer(women’s hygiene and personal care drive) and I’ll be an administrator

Academic Decathlon(10,12)
Junior year I was virtual and not in the class and wasn’t chosen for the competition team.
However I won regional and district awards(1st overall) my sophomore year and it was a lot of fun so I plan to do it again next year.
Student leader of Church Youth Group(9-12)

Notes:
Right now I will be applying to schools as a Spanish minor. Spanish Honor Society is my favorite and most important EC. We don’t have many members but we’ve improved over this past semester. The other officers and I plan to reach out to other Spanish Honor Societies and clubs in our district and neighboring ones to plan conjoint socials and service events to maximize engagement and impact on our community. I may help teach a Spanish 101 class at my local library if they manage to get more volunteers. I’m reaching out to linguistic psychology professors to see if I can do research with them because psych is my other field of interest.

Achievements related to Spanish
Gold Medalist on National Spanish Exam(top 5% of test takers) grades 9&10, first ever to achieve this at school
Silver Medalist in Grade 11 even though I wasn’t in Spanish class.
Spanish 2 award freshman year.
*self studied for AP Spanish 4 exam, if I get a 4 or 5 I’ll report it

My goal is just to submit the strongest app possible with what I’ve already done! No hate pls just want to do my best:)

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Your ECs look pretty good, and there’s not a lot you can change before you submit your apps. Look up the foolproof way to order your extracurriculars and follow that formula for listing them. When listing on the common app, only list your most prestigious leadership role, even if it’s not from senior year. Focus on specific things you’ve done in your descriptions–it’s more impactful than a general description. Good luck!

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Thank you!

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You are very accomplished (#2, wow!) and have done interesting things (86 books!). I can’t quite tell from your EC list what you care most about (like a recurring theme in your community outreach) so that would be something I might think about. If you know now what you want Admissions readers to know about you (in addition to your intelligence), then you might be able to go even a little deeper on that theme this summer before apps.

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Thank you, hoping to do more with Spanish Honor Society and other Spanish related activities this summer. My involvement with that is what I care most about.

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also I should clarify that I recorded 86 books virtually to be read for virtual classes, lol

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Your love of Spanish and how you experience it and share this love will make for a great essay topic, whether Common App or otherwise.

Make sure you explain on the resume part what you do in Spanish Honor Society because most Honor Societies are seen as fluff, resume fillers.

Anything you can quantify will be helpful.

You’ve chosen wonderful schools but they are all reaches. Make sure you add targets and safeties. Also make sure to run the net price calculators to ensure your family can afford them.

While you are no doubt a strong and accomplished student, all students like you apply to similar schools so they are rejecting many accomplished people. Just ensure you also apply to programs that you can likely and definitely get into as well.

Btw I’ve looked at several rankings in the past. U of Wisconsin always is at or near the top for Spanish. Even though it’s a minor maybe it won’t be as it’s clearly your passion. So don’t assume you need to go Ivy or similar. And pre-law is an advisement, not major. Get good grades abd a good LSAT later. It’s good you have unique interests and majors for law school. That will help you stand out.

Good luck.

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Thank you, and that was nowhere near my full college list. I listed only reaches but I’m applying to a lot of matches and a few safties as well.

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Don’t over do it - it takes time. But get on everyone’s email list - you’ll be amazed at how many free apps you’ll get - even elite schools like Chicago and WUSTL. And with common it’s easy. You really just need a couple safeties unless money is an issue - then a few more so you can chase $$ - and we could recommend those schools.