<p>Hi, I am a senior in high school who is currently searching for colleges. I am also a male from a middle income family in Minnesota. My story is that I have great grades- 4.198 gpa weighted (3.99 unweighted), ranked 3 out of 428 students- and good test scores- 31 act, 5’s on AP Lang, Calc, US Hist., World Hist. tests- but below average ec’s (atleast for top colleges). My only notable ec’s are football, National Honors Society, and working as an umpire. I also played rec league baseball and basketball, weightlifted after school 3 days a week (mainly for football), and did some minor volunteer work. I may win all conference honorable mention in football, and possibly academic all state. Also, I retook the act and am hoping for a 32 or 33.</p>
<p>The reason that I am making this thread is that I never realized how poor my ec’s are compared to many top applicants with similar test scores and grades as me. With my high grades, I assumed that I would be able to get into many top schools barring the Ivy League and what not. Now, I realize that may not be the case.</p>
<p>I am looking to major in engineering or go into pharmacy, and I would like to get recommendations for colleges that would be matches or low reaches for me to apply to based on my grades, test scores, ec’s, and prefered majors. Preferably, I want to go to a school in or near the midwest, but it doesn’t have to be. Thanks in advance for any replies!</p>
<p>You know, I don’t think your EC’s are bad at all. It depends on what types of schools you are aiming for. For UWM or UM, you are great on paper. Sometimes the real passion gets lost in an overly-fluffed [check all the boxes] resume. So use what you have and don’t worry or lose your confidence. CC can cause a lot of confidence issues, lol! You will have plenty of good offers, no worries. Keep doing what you are doing and think of other ways to get more involved in your school. They love to see how you will contribute to their school by watching what you’ve done at your HS. It’s not too late, even in senior year to add something new. It should be something you are interested in however, so don’t just add for adding sake.</p>
<p>Also, NHS is worth 30 hrs. of community service per year, so make sure you note the sponsored and unsponsored NHS hours in addition to your other community service. You probably have more hours than you believe you do (that’s 60 hrs. by end of senior year if you joined Junior year). I would suggest Purdue, U of W Madison</p>
<p>How long have you worked as an umpire and when? Every summer 3 days a week? Football - play in fall, train the other 3 seasons? If yes, then your ec’s are just as valuable as someone whose list is a mile long. What may keep you away from the very top is your ACT score.</p>
<p>@mhmm, I’ve umpired since 7th grade. It lasts for about 2.5 months and I do it about 3 days a week. As for football, I trained very hard during the offseason. I weight lifted 3 days a week the whole offseason in 10th and 11th grade.</p>
<p>Umping for 5-6 years plus playing a varsity sport? I’d say that is pretty good! I think it shows a commitment to your interest plus it shows leadership. Frankly, I think colleges are tired of applicants who did 10,000 things during high school in order to pad their resumes. If I were you, I’d find out about umping opportunities at the schools you want to apply to and talk about how you hope to continue working while you are in college.</p>