I have practically no awards or extracurriculars. What do I do?

tsbna44
Sun, 29 Jun 2025 17:35:22 +0000

But again - nothing will be more important than your:

1. Schoolwork - grades

2. Test scores

3. Ability to pay - and for international, in many (not all) schools pay a lot

ECs are another layer but far from the most important - and you should get involved in a couple things, establish tenure and make an impact. You need quality, not quantity.

There are many schools out there and many place in many jobs. Yes, some do better than others - but in the end, the schools choose who to accept.

Your job is to be the best you that you can be - in and out of the classroom. That’s what you can control.

You cannot control whether #1 Princeton or #30 Florida, NYU, Texas will accept you - and then you have LACs and mid size colleges, etc.

You can start now - getting involved, making sure your grades and rigor are as good as you can, do well on a test, find a school that’s affordable (you made it seem like money is no issue - but UF and NYU, as examples, are a six figure differential in cost.). And then you will see what happens.

If you lay it all out there, that’s all you can do.

Jobs are a funny thing - they require persistence, ability, and luck. Sometimes luck is just that - connections, right place, right time. Other times - people get lucky often…because they’re not really lucky - they’re really good in all facets.

One can’t make a statement like - someone with a communication degree from a Southern school can’t get hired because… One has no idea of that student’s capabilities, how they interview, their persistence, and if they’re even applying for a set of realistic jobs.

There are successess and non-successes from schools of all levels - so be your best. Getting in is just step one. There’s lots of hard work required afterward.

But make no mistake - you don’t control what a school will decide admission wise.

But you can work hard to make it hard for them to say no to you!!

But ECs are just the surface - what will get you in goes much deeper.