EC Spikes
Hello! I'm a sophomore and my dream school is Harvard University. I want to study philosophy and possibly languages. Right now my my extra curriculars are as follows:
-Public forum debate
-Starting a philosophy club
-Helping to start a bee keeping club
-Learning Latin
-Trying to get back into volunteer work with the dog fostering organization I've worked with in the past
-I'm pretty sure I'm going to start a lit magazine next year
And that's what I have so far. I'm really not sure what I should be doing for a spike, if any of you have any thoughts they'd be much appreciated!
My school also doesn't do grades or AP classes that I'm eligible for.
:) Thank you all so much and I hope your Ivy Day was what you hoped for! Good luck with the rest of the process!
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1 answer
Your school doesn't give students grades? Pretty cool if I'm understanding that correctly. In regards to APs, I'm assume you mean you'll be able to take some during your next two years? It's fine if your school doesn't let you take APs before junior year, but it may be a good idea for your guidance counselor to mention this in your school report.
In regards to your extracurriculars, they seem great so far! You're clearly a go-getter - it's very impressive that you're taking the initiative to start or help start multiple clubs. To continue to building your extracurricular strength, I'd suggest you work to grow the clubs you've started and also try to win some awards in your various activities. For Latin, you might consider taking National Latin Exam. With your lit magazine, you might consider sending in a couple of your original pieces to competitions. Winning awards in debate would be great as well. You don't have to do all of these things, of course, but quantifying your achievements is always a good way to show admissions officers how talented you are.
It's definitely fine to have a spike that focuses on writing and thinking. It shouldn't be difficult to tie together your interests in philosophy, debate, writing, and languages. I'm almost more interested in how you might create a theme that includes beekeeping! I imagine there are some interesting parallels you could draw between the kinds of philosophy that most intrigue you and the behaviors you notice among bees. Possibly an interesting topic for a future college essay.
Seems like you're doing all the right things. Good luck!
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