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Senior year of high school and I can make out faint light at the end of the tunnel. I have taken the SAT I once,
800M
740R
670W 9 essay
and decided to be satisfied because I believe colleges do not prioritize the Writing section as much. I have a 91.4 average at Stuy and hope to have a more impressive Mid year Report (grade average for first half of senior year). I feel besides my SAT score, my academics are mediocre but I still want to have an impact on my application for college. I think one way is through more extracurricular activities.
I am Asian in a predominantly Asian school straining for competitive schools like Uchicago (can someone tell me my chances btw?). When I am up against that type of competition, my Sat score and average are easy to gloss over. I feel the easiest way to shine through is with after school stuff that colleges find impressive and interesting. This is not to say I have never done any notable extracurriculars. During my sophomore year I volunteered about 200 hours in total at two different non profit organizations in chinese neighborhoods where I supervised younger kids and was a teacher's assistant. However, there is a problem because in my opinion these volunteer hours do not seem particularly exciting or very leadershiply. I know colleges love that leadership characteristic and these activities do not show enough of that.
To fix my problem, I want to get off my senior ass and start taking initiative in looking for impressive extracurriculars and will to the best of my ability grind the senior year and work my best to make up for my academic shortcomings. This is where I need your input. If some of you have done exicitng extracurriculars then I would be very happy if you just said where you did anything and how the experience was. general stuff like that. I just relaly know how to start looking for these extracurrics. opinions and comments about the other parts of the post are fine as well. Thanks guys.
 
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Do we go to the same school  ?
What do you mean by "no notable extracurrics" Are you involved in any clubs/competitions at school?
I would say I'm in pretty much the same situation right now rofl... it's always nice to see TL bridge the gap between StarCraft and Academics -.-; this place is slowly becoming CC
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On September 29 2010 13:15 Loser777 wrote:Do we go to the same school ? What do you mean by "no notable extracurrics" Are you involved in any clubs/competitions at school? I would say I'm in pretty much the same situation right now rofl... it's always nice to see TL bridge the gap between StarCraft and Academics -.-; this place is slowly becoming CC
we may. the only clubs i am in are joke clubs for fun like the Diplomacy game club.Nothing significant.
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I'm doing college apps right now too.
Like Loser777, do we go to the same school?
I'd say you live in the Bay Area.
Anyway, on to the OP. I thinks its a tad too late to start doing extracurrics. I mean, college apps are due in a few months (October 1 I hafta give my school all my stuff, stupid i know), and, well, there really isnt much you can get into right now. I mean, if you start taking up currics in SENIOR YEAR, you
A. Won't have a club position or anything.
B. Has no indication of continuation
C. Less time to make a good college app (lol)
But yeah. I'm sorta regretting how I have fewer extracurrics, but you really need to exaggerate in your description of your extracurrics to make up for the ones you lack. Hopefully you have one you can exaggerate, at least.
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Looks like my SAT score
Well its your senior year... I dunno if you can do too much honestly
You have to submit your application in like what 2 months?
I'd say work harder on the application?
You can only do so much in 2 months
Try early action at UChicago if you want to go there
No harm trying and no pressure if you get in either
I think you have a good shot
One of my friends went there and had similar SAT scores and extra circulars
He applied Early Action
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I currently live in SoCal but the atmosphere is very similar to that of the Bay Area (I've lived there too)
I'm not really sure about last minute possibilities... maybe you could try getting on some of the Science and Math teams at your school or start a club if it's not too late.
If you feel your academics aren't too weak, focus on schools like UCs that focus more on your numbers and grades than your extracurrics
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i live in New York City. I may start a club but is it only good if its about serious matters? like it would still be a joke club if it was a starcraft club right? regardless of wheher i was president or not.
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If you're a senior looking for extracurriculars to make you stand out... lol :<
It's waaaaaaaaaay too late to accomplish anything significant with the few months you have left before apps are due. Try to spin/exaggerate your non-profit work.
gl
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
NOT ADVOCATING ANYTHING!!
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There was a senior last year who did that at my school, and got into an Ivy League... then he was stupid enough to tell someone and got owned pretty hard for it
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In canada you really dont have to take all these tests and do so much extra work. I just got A's and applied, was that simple.
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Psssssh, UChicago... Northwestern's where it's at!
No, but seriously, your scores are fine, and your volunteer hours look fine as well. It's too late to do more meaningful extracurriculars, but the ones you have now should be just fine.
If you really want to boost your application, though, refine your essay. It's pretty much all you can really do to add more to your application at this point in the game. Other than that, feel free to coast through your senior year.
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I'd probably advise you and everyone else applying to focus on your essay at this point, based on your target schools. Aside from the fact that there's not much you can change about the rest of your app now, grades, test scores, and extracurriculars are all generally about the same for most of the applicants who have a reasonable chance of being admitted.
And the fact that you went to Stuy means that there are probably also a ton of other kids with similar test scores and grades. So that's where your essay(s) can really differentiate you from the other students (at least that's been my experience). Your chances of getting into any college would probably vary a lot based on how strong your personal statement is.
If you think about it, that's probably what the admissions people look at the longest (and also ironically what you usually spend the least time working on). You don't want to waste 3+ years of work in high school by having a bad essay.
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If you know which college you would really like to go to, I strongly suggest applying early decision because your chances are significantly higher.
As for extracurricular activities, I'm Asian but I didn't go to a predominantly Asian school so I cofounded the Ping Pong Club (lol) and became president for 2 years. My high school was relatively small so the club policies and stuff were all pretty loose so I just did whatever I wanted and put a ping pong table in the school to play during breaks. I was also vice president of the Asian-Awareness club and math club which were largely ceremonial roles. I advise you to pretty much do something you enjoy and try to get some leadership role from them even if its just for show.
By the way, I'm a freshman in college now. I got a really high score on the SAT and I wanted to go to an Ivy League college but I didn't know which one so I applied to a couple ignoring early decision and I didn't get into any of the ones I had hoped, probably because I didn't put much effort into my essays (You should take your essays seriously). That's why I advise applying early decision.
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I would say, don't worry about your extracurriculars as it's a bit too late to get too involved in anything. Just concentrate on writing your essays, you can do some more volunteer work, or get a job, to show that you're doing things outside of school still during your senior year, but starting an extracurricular now means that you won't have a leadership position, and you aren't showing commitment to anything, which is really what many colleges are looking for.
Keep your grades up, take SAT II's if you haven't already, and continue doing community service, and concentrate a lot on your essays.
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I have doubts that it will worth that much.
Because UChicago (or anywhere) accepts so many new perspective undergraduate students every year, I imagine it's very hard for them to go over every single application by the letters. Most likely, there will be some automatic process (via SAT score?) which will accept most of the desirable students - then for the ones on the boundary they may check a bit more carefully.
So yea, it feels to me that if your SAT is good enough they probably won't even look at anything else. Then again, I am only guessing.
Also, without those extracurricular activities it might be hard to apply for scholarships. I kind of had that kind of problem throughout my undergraduate years.
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United States10774 Posts
just so you know, college admission officers aren't going to give a shit about some extracurricular arctivity you pick up for half a year merely to pad your resume. they can usually see right through it.
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Austin10833 Posts
Your only shot at this point is to start your own clubs so you can immediately position yourself in a seat of power. As people have said, most colleges will see through this ruse, so the trick will be to set up a club so emotionally charged and hot-button that the admissions officer will be either a) too amazed to deny you admission or b) feel to guilty saying no to such a noble club starter.
The best part is that your high school administration will be backed into a corner by these powderkeg clubs, with no option of denying your petition to start them. Some possible clubs you can start and become instant president of:
The 9/11 Remembrance Club
The Supporting Our Troops Club
The Women's Right to Choose Being Pro-Life Club
The Local Association for the Advancement of Asian People
The Club to Support Palestine and Israel
Students Against Rape
Students Against Knife Crime
Society for Understanding Obesity and Supporting Obese People
People for the Ethical Treatment of Kittens and Puppies
The Student Association Against Dog and Cock Fighting
Students Supporting an Additional Black History Month
Another option is to stride into an already existing club and alpha-dog or intimidate your way into a leadership position. Let's say, for example, you want to be the president of the debate team. Just walk into a meeting and act extra cocky (you can achieve this effect by wearing your sunglasses indoors, using copious amounts of Axe Body Spray and calling every other male "chief"). The current alpha dog will attempt to let you know this is his turf, which is when you should initiate the following conversation:
You say: Are we gonna have a problem here?
Debate King: No, no, no, no! There's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War, the economic modalities, especially in the southern colonies, could be most aptly described as agrarian precapitalist.
You: Of course that's your contention. You're a noob; you just got finished reading some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that 'till next month when you get to James Lemon. Then you're going to be talking about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year; you're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin' about, you know, the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.
Debate Noob: Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social -
You: "Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth"? You got that from Vickers' "Work in Essex County," page 98, right? Yeah, I read that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter? Or do you, is that your thing, you come into school, read some obscure passage and then pretend - you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girls, embarrass me?
Former Alpha Dog: [looks down in shame]
You: See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a fuckin' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!
Nerd trying to save face: Yeah, but I will have extra-curriculars on my applications. And you'll be servin' my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.
You (New Alpha Dog): That may be, but at least I won't be unoriginal. But I mean, if you have a problem with that, I mean, we could just step outside - we could figure it out.
Wimp: No, man, there's no problem. It's cool.
STUD: It's cool?
mouse: Yeah.
GOD: Cool.
In fact, if you can pull this off, you probably won't even have to apply to UChicago, they'll come and find you.
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EPT
