Addictive, where do you live and what field of science interests you the most (geology, chemistry, biology, or physics)?
That was really long to read.
Hey does international participation in events like model united nations and ISSF count than doing works n your own community level like I contribute by editing a lot of newsletters and articles for organisations and magazines.. anyone plz do reply Im desperate to have ur view
I wouldn’t worry about it. I think you should just keep doing what you’re doing.
The EC I want to emphasize on my app is Eagle Scout. I want them to know that I actually put effort into it, unlike a lot of people. Does anyone have any suggestions? I guess mentioning that my Eagle Project itself took over 300 hours to complete would be a start, but what else? The respect for Eagle Scouts seems to have decreased recently; I want to make sure I’m not thrown into that “just another Eagle” hole.
Thanks for this advice. It’s definitely influenced my essay topics.
Excellent Post!
I was looking for an EC to impress buisness schools. I’m pretty dedicateed to music (I teach, perform in Jazz band, perform in my own band, and write a LOT) and I have gained over 500+ hours volunteering and my local library and my local hospital. I also have been playing UCTA team tennis for quite some time now. Would ANY of these impress admins from buisness schools.
to : “I want to major in Ocean Science/Oceanography/Geology,” and “Bowdoin, Columbia, and Williams”
I think that the college that you apply to will be much more impressed if they actually offer the program you want to study. Apply your obvious smarts to college research. (by the way, Bowdoin is a drinking disaster - not a good place for serious science students.)
The list of one hundred ECx sound a bit bogus.
Keep in mind, prep school kids, who get into good schools, are in classes from 8AM to the end of Study Hall at 10PM. They don’t have time or access to “volunteer at/organize in community” stuff, but they still get into top schools.
Showing a consistant interest and a couple of EC just might trump frenetic EC gathering, which just sounds like resume building, rather then sincere interest.
“less is more”
is that the general consensus of this thread?
list only a few ec that you played a part in instead of 50 ec which you may have just been a member.
^I would agree. Anyway, admissions officers don’t want some laundry list of activities. When you do that they really start to get suspicious and wonder if you were involving yourself just to add yet another volunteer program to your college app.
I am involved in so much, but really I chose to keep it simple. I really just focused on 4
1.President/founding member of my schools Diversity Club
2.Foreign exchange student to Japan on a scholarship
3.When to Howard U. for a math program over the summer
4.Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (won a scholorship to the University)
Those words are music to my ears…That is pretty much exactly how I feel. Playing piano is truly a passionate interest of mine and I personally don’t feel I need to prove it through a slew of accolades.
REPLY TO POST #20…felt I had to respond
What is the difference between work experience and extracurriculars? I know that sounds weird, but I’m an appointee to a government board. I get compensation of about $60 per meeting and more than $100 per day when I have to stay in a hotel. I am hoping for a gubernatorial appointment that will give me the same amount per meeting. (These are both education positions.)
Assuming I get the 2nd appointment, I’ll be receiving about 3.5k a year. (I’m also hoping for a third appointment, but I’m not sure how likely it is.)
I really enjoy these positions and serving my state, but it seems demeaning to me to consider them “extracurriculars.”
About quality over quantity, I have seen people literally debate which committee in a club to join based on how good it will look to colleges… However I think you can do a lot and be really involved. Government officials are sometimes involved with 20 or so commissions in addition to their usual duties and they have a lot of work to do.
For all of you that are able to do university level research during high school, how do you get started? Do you contact professors that conduct research in your areas of interest for internships or do you begin researching by yourself?
^researching by yourself is kinda hard…though you can try if you think you are capable, Otherwise, most people who do research have connections to professors, through colleges…usually they live close to several colleges, where there are plenty of professors to contact. Most of the time, the people have already taken college courses, in which they met professors. btw, can I list research as an “extracurricular” or is that limited to club/sports etc. ?
^Thanks. I’m pretty sure you can list that as an EC.<br>
I personally know some professors at Stanford, Berkeley, etc, should I waltz right up to them and ask if they have any research openings? (I am dubious that that would actually work)
DataBox, I think that you would have to wait until your Junior/Senior year when you had taken some post-AP classes. It’s pretty difficult to research anything at the intro level, however you probably have a good shot at TASP etc.
I thought I’d read this before. Would I be considered for ivy league schools with a 3.6 gpa and 5% rank though if I did a good essay? I’m asian and international and most CCers don’t post stats like this for the ivy leagues. I’m not legacy or a sports star either.
^ Essays are important because they gauge your personality. But they also want to see that reflected in your ECs.