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3
5 years ago
Admissions Advice
[edited]

How can I make my college application look more appealing?

I am a sophomore and I have a very hectic schedule. I have perfect grades and that being said I don't typically have the extra time for many extracurriculars. I run a small business and I am in an Interact club at my school but other than that I don't have anything to add. I don't know how to stand out in a way that doesn't take over an hour per week. What can I do?

college
sophomore
extracurriculars
applications
3
5
🎉 First post
Let’s welcome @Alani to the community! Remember to be kind, helpful, and supportive in your responses.
@rgbcolor5 years ago

Hi there! I think you might have a great start toward an impressive application already – depending on the type of small business you run, it could look great to ACs. If you don't mind specifying, could you add detail about what the business is, and how (if at all) it might overlap with your intended area of study in college?

[🎤 AUTHOR]@Alani5 years ago

Oh I don’t mind! It may sound strange but I create and sell string art. I gained $2000 in sales and I started the business in November. I want to be a surgeon so I know they don’t correlate but it’s a way for me to get money as a 15-year-old.

@DebaterMAX5 years ago

Honesty kinda bs stuff like on colvines profile I wrote a short story and then edited and formatted it and said I write for just those types of things

Don’t go overboard with it try to add around 3 things besides business and interact

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1 answer

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5 years ago

You're off to a good start—running a small business by yourself is one of the strongest things you can put on an application, honestly no matter what the subject you'll be studying is. It would be cool if you could connect it to your future goals, but even if not, the skills and responsibility you need to put into running a business are going to reflect well on your ability to commit to something as time-consuming and difficult as becoming a surgeon. So to start, in your application, I'd focus on those aspects of it.

Otherwise, it's hard to find anything that will give you a great look at a minimal time commitment, because time commitment (along with leadership) are some of the main things colleges will directly consider when assessing your application. Activities at less than an hour per week aren't typically things colleges will view super highly. That said, you'll have 10 spots to fill on your application for extracurriculars, and only being able to fill two of them also tends to reflect negatively. Considering your grades, the easiest one might be honor societies like NHS and the subject ones (English, Spanish, Art, etc.), because those reflect pretty well on students but don't usually require a huge time commitment unless you're in a leadership position. Also, if you're thinking of becoming a surgeon, community service or volunteer work of some kind would fit pretty well into that—you could do that independently when you have time and summarize those efforts in your Activities List.

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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

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