What kind of EC’s stand outAnswered
I am raising junior, I have 4.0 GPA and I will be taking ACT this fall, targeting score of 34 or 35.
Including senior year I should have 12+ AP.
My question is about EC’s, am I am doing only few activities like band (have leadership in it) and BPA, qualified for state once and have 100+ hours of Volunteer for community service.
what else should I be doing for EC’s to stand out for Ivy Leagues.
3 answers
So ivies are looking for recognition Involvement and meaningful ECs.
Recognition is have you earned any awards such as state runner up 2nd place in a regional competition. It can also be you have been commended for your work ethics.
Involvement is you have joined a club where you actually do stuff not a 1x a month meeting for 30 minutes and that’s it you have actually done something. Pair this with recognition.
Meaningful if you are going into math don’t join a history club but not participate in a math related EC. Essentially make sure your ECs are impactful and not just done for admissions but that you enjoy them too.
Now very broadly try being in 9-10 ECs they can be anything from working at fast food to caring for your family (babysitting a younger sibling etc) to leading your band to state awards. Your ECs should be meaningful and try to have leadership positions in 3-5 of them. Others ECs can be a blog a passion such as coding a community group such as a youth group anything which you spend time on that you like to do is able to be considered an EC.
Also community service is not that impactful unless you stick with the same organization. (For the most part.)
Hope this helps and commment if you need clarification
You might find this useful: https://www.collegevine.com/livestreams/details/how_to_build_your_extracurricular_resume__2422156
There's some good tips about how admissions officers view ECs and how to enhance your profile.
Try out sports. That is one way to potentially stand out.
Totally agree @crsgo0422
FYI this is a common misconception, actually! Sports are not standout unless you are 1) being recruited for them, in which these types of students usually start when they’re 10 years old for practice, so OP is too late to do this, and 2) nationally ranked, which is impossible to do in just one year