<p>hi. i want to apply to yale scea and princeton rd both as a tie for my top choice of a university. i was hoping some students could tell me how my ec’s look.</p>
<p>Sports
-Tae Kwon Do. 2nd Gup black belt.(2nd degree) working towards this for 3 years and am working toward the 3 Gup. Learning some Korean as it is a requirement to receive each belt.</p>
<p>Volunteer
-Every spring break a service trip to Ecuador with a school club. Since sophomore year.
-1,000+ hours volunteering at my local hospital.(i want to be a doctor)
-Bistro (school dinner to raise money for people who can’t afford to attend the school. I waitress every year)</p>
<p>Clubs
-Timmy Foundation(club i go to ecuador with) Treasurer
-BSU (black student union)
-Students Taking Responsibility Against Poverty</p>
<p>what would make it more excellent and less average? r u basically saying it is above average? if so do u mean above average for yale and princeton or above average for h.s. kids in general? sry about all the questions.</p>
<p>wowerz–I’m a long time alumni interviewer, so that’s where my perspective comes from. Your extracurriculars are great for high school kids in general, but are average or slightly weaker than the most candidates I interview and are certainly weaker than any admitted student I have interviewed.</p>
<p>Your two strong points are your volunteer work at the hospital and your three years of employment. Tae Kwon Do also shows good discipline and determination. Your profile may be stronger than what you wrote suggests–perhaps Black Student Union and other activities require more effort and involvement than it appears from your list, perhaps the Chemistry Team you lead has won awards, etc. </p>
<p>You need to really sell your ECs. They may be much stronger than I understand from your post. Rock your essays.</p>
<p>I also received a summer medical internship that they pay you to attend in my state. I just haven’t decided if i should go or not. Yes the chem. team has won awards various times. I was just giving general overviews of what i do. The black student union is a year long time commitment with weekly meetings and various fundraisor i am involved in. What about my volunteer work in ecuador. Its not one that i pay for. It’s one that i qualify for and the school pays for it. I believe that is strong. I really enjoy this. It is one of my favorite ec’s. Especially since i’ve spent my spring breaks doing it when most of my friends fly off to Cabo. I hate throwing out the URM card, but how do you believe i compare to other admitted URM’s. I may also have the chance to go to african on a medical excursion with my school for free. I want to go but an a little hesitant. Do you think this would help? I know many times these just make you look like a spoiled brat that you can even afford to go. I will ephasize that it is FREE. Since i want to be a doctor a medical excursion sounds like it would be amazing. I just don’t want it to hurt my chances at my top two university choices.</p>
<p>In my neck of the woods, tons of kids spend spring break doing volunteer work in Latin America, so I guess that’s why it doesn’t stand out much for me. It’s like your BSU involvement, it’s nice, certainly better to have it than not, but from my vantage point, without the whole story, it’s not a big deal.</p>
<p>Agree that the Africa trip, if paid for, would be great. Definitely looks different than a program you pay for yourself. However, if everyone going on the trip goes for free or if you’re only going free b/c your school is giving you financial aid, then it isn’t much different than a trip you pay b/c the price tag is not an honor based on merit. If you want to get really technical, trips that your school pays for are less impressive than trips paid for by outside groups. Recognition outside your school is VERY helpful in admissions. In any event, the trip to Africa can’t hurt your chances unless there is something better you would have done instead.</p>
<p>I’ve seen URMs with insane ECs get rejected, so I can’t really offer a comparison. Interviewers aren’t supposed to know GPA and SAT/ACT, so I have an incomplete picture of who is accepted and who is rejected and it’s hard to comment. Based the new info you provided, I’d say your ECs are average for a Yale applicant, not slightly below.</p>
<p>ok well i feel better if they are average because my gpa is really good especially since by the time i graduate i’ll have taken 10 AP classes mostly math and science related.</p>
<p>It may be good enough. You’ll only know for sure after you’ve applied. Who knows if you’ll wind up at Yale, but I suspect you’re going to get into some very good colleges.</p>
<p>Check out the threads on this board from previous admissions seasons where people list full profiles and whether they were admitted, rejected, or waitlisted. I think you’ll find them helpful. Depressing, but helpful.</p>
<p>that is why I am going to say weak for yale. working for 3 years is impressive to adcoms. But karate, mission trip, hospital volunteer, chemistry team. That’s unbelievably common</p>
<ol>
<li>karate and taekwondo aren’t the same. Its not common for someone to go as far as 2 gup, almost 3rd. Reccommended is 1 and that is where most people stop.</li>
<li>did you not read my other post saying i’ve also received a medical internship in my state for 8 weeks of research with a 2,600 stipend, but don’t know if im going to take it or not yet because doing so means working less at quizno’s. I do really want to attend though, and since I want to be a doctor it would be an amazing experience. So I might take it. </li>
<li>I know hospital volunteering is common but 1,000 hours is not common so I believe the hrs I’ve put in truly show my passion.</li>
</ol>