So I just finished my sophomore year and I basically have no extracurriculars. The only thing I really have is my sport, which I’m fairly good at and might be able to play at a D3 level but almost certainly not D1. I want to major in biology, it’s something that I’ve really loved and have been passionate about since I was young, but I don’t really have any extracurriculars that show that. I was rejected from an internship freshman year and haven’t really tried anything more since. I know this was a huge mistake, but to what extent can I rectify it? I plan to apply for multiple summer programs/internships next year, but what are some things I can do starting in the fall or even summer that can help strengthen my extracurriculars? I’m in California and would love to be able to go to UCLA or UCB, but I doubt it’s possible with my current EC status, no matter what my GPA and test scores are.
Take a look at UCLA’s and UCB’s common dataset: Very important are GPA, test scores, HS course rigor and essays. Important are EC’s. If you have all the very important areas covered, your EC’s could make you stand out from the rest of qualified applicants, but playing a sports well is still a good EC. If you want something more science related: volunteer your time at as a tutor to Middle school or Elementary kids, help with Environmental cleanup of your local parks or wildlife areas, start a recycling club, volunteer at your local zoo/aquarium etc…
First of all, your sport is an EC. If you love it, are good at it, and stay with it over time, this shows a side of you which is very valuable (including the ability to stick with something that requires effort and teamwork – a necessary skill to graduate university).
The very top University of California schools (UCLA and UCB) are allegedly not as hung up on ECs as other tippy top schools.
You don’t have to go to UCLA or UCB or Stanford to do very well in biology. Also, biology is a field that as far as I know can lead to many different master’s or doctorate degrees, but does require some graduate work to lead to a good career. There are many very good schools in the UC system, and many other good schools in the US and elsewhere. If you do sufficiently well at a “top 200” university then you will have a good chance to get into a “top 20” school for graduate school, and you don’t need to go to a “top 20” university for graduate school to do well in as far as I know any of the many fields that can result from a biology undergrad degree.
If you GPA is good, and if you are able to get good tests scores, then I think that you are doing very well. IMHO you have not ruined anything and have nothing to recover from (although I will admit that I am saying this without knowing your GPA).
When you say ruin, do you mean you do not have very many ECs? If so, you didn’t ruin anything.
First of all, you are reading CC which is where savvy people go. You may hear of people talking about research and internships in HS…but that is not the norm.
You didn’t get an internship as a freshman? This is not surprising, because not many people want to hire 14/15 year olds. So you didn’t ruin anything.
You should do something productive over summer break…be that working, babysitting, taking a course, and even interning but that is not something expected.
Figure out what you are interested in…or what problem you would like to solve and find ECs related.
Medical? Volunteer at the hospital
Underpriviliged? Join your HS service club
Environment? Join your HS service club
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
http://www.examiner.com/review/be-a-relaxed-high-school-superstar