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4 years ago
Admissions Advice

How should I improve my extracurriculars for college?

Hi, I’m currently a sophomore and am trying to line up my extracurricular stuff for college. I am interested in prestigious schools, such as NYU or Columbia to major in political science

So far, I have

-founded and president of our schools Young Democrat Club

-secretary of speech and debate

-French club

-science bowl

-Cnk health services community ambassador (organization)

-member of our school’s play

-student director of musical

Within this year, I am planning on becoming involved with a trivia show and join honor society. I know colleges often looked for spikes in intended majors, so I was wondering if anyone would have any suggestions?

extracurriculars
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@Emmrey4 years ago

I just want to say that even though there is always room to improve, you are doing better than the majority of those applying, (maybe not to those specific colleges, but to any university in general) Good Job. :) Don't stress too much.

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2 answers

5
4 years ago[edited]

The weakest area in your resume is examples of community service and activism, especially if you wish to pursue political science. If you want to study that, I suggest you re-balance your list of ECs and drop Science Bowl and possibly the French Club and I'm not so sure about Cnk ( I looked on their website, didn't see you there, and not sure if making masks is all that impressive even though it's important.). And the 2 adds, or trivia show and honor society are "meh~", that doesn't really help you.

So keep Young Dems Club, Speech and Debate which are platforms to use your voice.

And keep your creative eccentricities like drama and musical director because that looks good and you're putting yourself out there.

But you need some real community service. So I suggest that you do some research like going to your city hall and seeing if there are opportunities to serve on the Student Council for your Town (typically there should be about 1/2 dozen spots). Also, find out if there are various advisory boards where you can serve as a board member like the Parks & Recs, etc. There should also be about 1/2 dozen spots. Contact your library and see if there are any board spots for the Friends of the Library or literacy outreach programs. Every HS, and every school district has a DEI Diversity Equity and Inclusion board so you can get involved and serve either within your school's board or your district's board. Also, there are many community groups that do things like "Fight against Racism" or "Promote Love and Giving" etc so get involved with serving your community. Lastly in comm. service, get out there, and volunteer for various movements, causes, educate people about laws that need to be changed, etc. You can do this online as well.

If you have are very ambitious, think of your own non-profit to start to help underserved community members or anyone marginalized. Or you can team up with 1 or 2 best friends and do something together. If you are super technical, maybe you can fix tablets or notebook PC and hand them to kids that don't have the technology or something like delivering groceries to the elderly.

You don't mention anything that has to do with sports or some outdoor activity. I personally think it's important to have a physical spike whether that's running, hiking, rock climbing, rowing...find something you can do and enjoy and get better at that doesn't require you to be part of a Club Team or Varsity Team since everyone is on hiatus. Being a self-starter is a good thing.

You have 2 years to get your ECs upgraded so you can start to think about them this Holiday break.

Then get cranking.

5
-1
4 years ago

interrn with a congressperson

-1
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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
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800

Extracurriculars

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