What extracurriculars should I do if I want to major in Computer Science?Answered
I am a sophomore in high school in the top 5% of my class aiming to go to a top 50 college. Unfortunately my school doesn’t offer any Math or CS clubs. What should I do (summers especially) to really make myself stand out in the admissions process? I have lots of programming experience if that gives you any more insight.
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3 answers
Right off the bat I think there's a great opportunity for you to create your own club if there truly aren't any math or CS clubs at your school. I found this solid article on how to start a club at your school: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-start-a-club-in-high-school/. Starting a club will show initiative and leadership for your college application. Bonus points if the club can also have a positive impact on your community. Something like tutoring elementary/middle school kids with their math work, teaching CS or coding to younger students, maybe even teaching digital literacy classes for older people.
Sounds like you have programming experience already so consider building a portfolio of your work. You could start by building your own website and then add any projects you do to that. Whether that's apps you makes, games you build, or other smaller concept websites, there's a lot of interesting things I bet you could come up with. I found two more articles I think you'll find useful: https://blog.collegevine.com/extracurriculars-for-aspiring-computer-science-majors/ and https://blog.collegevine.com/extracurriculars-to-consider-if-you-plan-to-study-computer-science/. Hopefully some of those you'll find useful.
I would suggest exploring options outside of your school for CS programs/internships. There are several companies who offer internships to HS students looking to break into tech, engineering, or computer science. While many of them may not promote these opportunities, it would be helpful to reach out personally to share your programming experience and interest in learning. I have a friend who connected with a start up and worked with an engineering team on a feature launch for a few months so its def worth a try.
If there aren't any CS offerings at your school, you could also start your own club! This will show admissions your initiative and commitment outside of the classroom and encourage your classmates to join. Regardless of the approach you take just remember to make sure that it aligns closely with your interests. Best of luck!
Hey there! Some Extracurriculars, if they have them at your school, may include:
3D Printing Club
Artificial Intelligence Club
Computer Science Club
Cybersecurity Club
Electronics Club
Ham Radio Club
Information Technology (IT) Club
Makerspace
Programming Club
Robotics Club
Video Game Design Club
Web Design Club
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