What should I write for my college essay and what extracurriculars would help me stand out more?Answered
I am a Junior in high school and I'm just not sure how to even begin my college essay. I want it to be something that stands out and I'm just unsure how to come up with an idea that isn't bland or boring. I also am very aware that my extracurriculars are boring and not up to par with what they need to be to get into a good college/university but I'm not sure what else I can participate in to make me seem like a more appealing student. I already am in the ceramics club, the art club, and my school's volunteer club, "Interact". I also am part of the fundraising team for my school newspaper, have been a Girl Scout for about 12 years, danced from the ages of 2-15, and participated in my school's musical during my freshman year. It is a lot of activities but they are average, boring activities that don't stand out in any way. I really need some insight on how to improve my extracurriculars and how to start my college personal essay.
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2 answers
Do not force anything to stand out. It is not the activity that will stand out to colleges but a passion. You can talk about something so unappealing and boring all day long and you can talk about this fantastic extracurricular all day long, but neither is appealing without passion. In my college essay, I wrote about how I used to hate reading and now I wanna be an author as a side job because one teacher changed my whole perspective. It isn't awesome, and it has no extravagant meaning, but I was passionate about it and that made it stand out. Look through everything meaningful you have done in your life or something meaningful to you, and make a list of everything that is a part of you. Pick something that you could talk on and on about for hours and just start typing out anything that comes to your mind, then go back and edit it to make it make sense.
I am a sophomore in high school so I don't know how much help this may be, but catching the reader's attention is helpful. If you can't make your extracurriculars stand out, can you make your passions stand out? Can you make yourself and who you are as a person stand out? Tieing that into a well-crafted scene, ideology, quote, or figurative language could really grasp the admissions committee! It's probably going to take a lot of deep diving and thinking, but to make an essay stand out, it needs to be visual, entertaining, and moving.
For my essay, I was thinking of talking about my past experiences and how they shaped me into who I am today and talking about the lessons I've learned, tieing in the clubs I'm in and what I've learned from them. Make yourself seem like a native city, even if it may not be prosperous, it is rich in culture, lessons, and beauty. You could talk about how much you've learned from Girl Scouts (personally I found that to be very impressive) and move you and your personality around being humanitarian, which would bring in the volunteer club! Theater and Dance have such a rich culture, you could talk about what you've learned from there!
Hope this was helpful!
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Thank you so much this was actually incredibly helpful