I have really good numbers: 4.0 UW GPA, all honors, APs, and college courses, top of my class, I’m shooting for very high ACT and SAT scores. Academically, I’m at the Ivy League elite level, but my ECs are abysmal. I have no sports whatsoever, no band or instrument, no volunteer work, 1 or 2 clubs where I’ve been to a few meetings, and that’s about it. There’s just nothing that appeals to me, and “find your passion” is just really stupid advice in my opinion; it’s so vague and where I live there aren’t really that many opportunities to. I know that a “real” Ivy League student would “create those opportunities, blah blah blah” but I’m not really interested in doing something I don’t want to do just to get into a certain school. And that’s fine with me by the way, in the long run your school really doesn’t matter, but I still don’t want to be stuck going to a community college. So what are some good schools that will accept me just for academics? And if those schools don’t exist, then what would you say are the best schools that would accept me just for academics?
How about your LOR and SOP? I think you should take a gap year to discover what is important and do some ECs to find out which major appeals to you most. Based on my opinion, I don’t think a student who lacks ECs can get in any decent school because they will think you as a person studying for good grades and doesn’t care about what happen in life.
There is a huge difference between elite schools and community college. Hyperbole doesnt help your search. Even if you score well on standardized testing, you will need to be interesting and bring something to these schools. That is a huge gap in your application.
Does your school have a newspaper or yearbook? Join the staff. Do you have s hobby you can make more of? One of my kids collected insects. Took 'em to the county fair to earn ribbons thru 4H (which wasn’t really her thing otherwise, she pretty much just exhibited and didn’t like/go to meetings). She also did wildlife biology projects that she win ribbons for. There are a lot of categories, and you can follow your own interests.
Any forensics opportunities through your school (speech, debate)? Try those. See what other volunteer opportunities you can try (library?). It doesn’t honestly sound like you are going to get to an EC level for top schools, but many tier 2 and even 3 schools want to see at least a few things. State universities sometimes don’t care as much, but they tend to be pretty unaffordable for students from other states.
It’s not all about some mythical “passion.” It’s about engaging, being willing to extend yourself, making commitments.
In high school, college, or life, it wont help to to accept “I’m not really interested in doing something I don’t want to do.”
Your state colleges may care less about you as a whole person and just focus on grades and stats.
The single best source of advice will be the people you already know: your favorite teachers and your HS guid counselor. If you’re truly the tops in your HS class, they have your best interests at heart. I’m sure there are tons of good regional colleges near you who would love to have you.
What grade are you in? If you are early in HS you can look into activities where you can get involved and make a difference. If you are a junior or senior, it may just look like resume padding.
Do you know what you want to study? If so, how strong / deep / longstanding is your interest in that subject?
You’ll be surprised you may have some ECs that you might not have considered. What do you do in your spare time?
I was catching up on Gilmore Girls on Netflix the other day. One of the main characters of the show has had Harvard aspirations since age 4, was fretting about having no ECs and only focusing on her school work, and ended up getting into HYP. I guess that sort of stuff only happens in movies or TV shows. 8-|
In real life, I think if you do aspire to go to these schools, you should just apply anyway. Talk about whatever interest you have outside of school as if it were the most important thing since sliced bread, even if it’s just playing frisbee with your dog. If you don’t have any, make one up. Who is to know? Selecting candidates based on “interestingness” which admission officers can supposedly glean from essays is the stupidest concept. Only fools take it seriously.
But it does need to be relevant to their review of you as a candidate for their college. And hs kids don’t have the same level of skills adults do, when making things up. Ha. best bet is for OP to re-examine what else she does that’s productive in some way, as Dr G mentioned.
It’s not pure “interstingness.” That’s a CC idea. It’s what your choices show. Choices while in hs, choices how to use your time/commitments, and choices in what to put in the app. No one gets far saying, I’m a top student but nothing else appeals to me and I think it’s bs to go seek opportunities.
So, OP, just to confirm:
You currently have and plan to continue to have perfect grades with a rigorous course load?
You do not have nor plan to engage in any ECs?
You plan to have high standardized test scores?
You do not want to go to an Ivy League college?
You do not want to go to a community college?
If the above are true, you will have a very wide berth of colleges to choose from. It is difficult to give specific suggestions because we don’t know what you want to study or can afford, but your local state university would be a good place to start or maybe look at colleges with automatic scholarships for stats: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
You keep doing you because this is a non-problem problem.
If you test well, consider McGill in Montreal. It is a world-class university, but more stats-driven than similarly elite US institutions. It is also less expensive than private colleges and out-of-state publics for US students. I would also say that most elite public universities are less concerned with extracurricular activities, and many do not even want to see letters of recommendation.
I have warned students here about allowing their contempt for non-academic pursuits to shine through too much. It will probably harm you among teachers and counselors when it comes to letters of recommendation. How enthusiastic do you expect a Math teacher to be if you completely blew him off when he suggested joining a club he sponsors? How much excitement will your guidance counselor express if s/he has only met you a handful of times, and you are nothing more than a GPA? The school letter will include any contributions you have made to the community. You probably will be competing against other accomplished students from your class for those coveted places at elite colleges, and letters of recommendation can make a difference.
Outside of huge universities, the absence of any extracurricular activities can set off some red flags. It is one thing if you have family responsibilities that require you to go home to look after siblings or a grandparent every day. If you come from an advantaged background, however, it can hint to admissions officers that you are being heavily coached and tutored after school, or that you might just have an antisocial temperament. Neither circumstance is a good indicator of an ability to adapt to the demands of college life and make positive contributions to the campus community.
The top handful of colleges reject thousands of highly-qualified students every year. That does not mean that you cannot get into a first-rate college or university. You can probably get into all but a handful, based on scores and grades, and can certainly get into the vast majority. You will undoubtedly qualify for some handsome merit scholarships if you meet your own academic expectations. You probably cannot get into Harvard, Stanford, Penn/Wharton (big on “leadership”), MIT or CalTech (seeking innovators). You might think that is unfair, but they can cherry-pick among so many talented applicants that your choice not to round your own application out will speak for itself.
I totally get not wanting to do ECs. I’m into my own stuff–creative writing, video games, all that stuff. I spend time with people at school–when I go home I wanna be home. I’d suggest getting a job. I started tutoring at my local university and it’s been AMAZING! It helps you review previous info, so you won’t forget, and it pays. I just do 8 hours a week for minimum wage, but its still fun. I have no idea if this is something you’d like, but I’d try it out. Earning money can be a very rewarding experience, and it counts as an extra curricular. I also understand not having any options around. I live in a small town and we literally have 2 places where you can volunteer. One is a dog shelter and depressing as fuck. I say do what you want. Life isn’t just about making yourself look good for schools. You may not get into a top tier ivy league, but you’ll get somewhere, and you’ll learn what you need to if you use the resources around you. Good luck!
ECs include things you do outside of school. A job, a hobby, whatever. What do you do when not studying?
That aside, there are a lot of schools that will want a student with your GPA especially if test scores match, that don’t care about ECs or even take teacher recs. Many good state schools are like that.
McGill is an excellent suggestion; I’ll add U of Toronto. Both universities are very stats-driven with excellent international reputations. As a bonus, a culture-rich environment like Toronto or Montreal could be a great place to discover your interests.