How can I make up for lack of extracurriculars? I want to stand out on college apps.Answered
I have been doing school virtually from 9th grade, 11th grade, and probably 12th grade. I did more than half of 10th grade in-person but it didn't work out for me. I feel like because I am online, my college application will be very weak. Here are things I have done, and will do in the future.
HAVE DONE:
- Chess club (when I was in person. i was almost chess club president but i had to switch schools)
- Girls who Code (when I was in person)
- Latinx Club (when I was in person)
- A leadership program all throughout middle school and 9th grade (stopped doing it bc of transportation difficulties. should I mention this leadership program in my college application since most of it was done in middle school?)
WILL DO (summer and senior year):
- Using computer programming to classify real life cancer and tumor patient data
- In my senior year I am volunteering 30+ hours towards researching a specific disease (unsure of disease right now), guided by Harvard and Oxford graduates
- Dual enrollment at my local college to learn computer science in the summer as well as continuing to take computer science classes throughout my senior year.
- I had an amazing opportunity to create a business this summer (BETA Camp) but due to financial constraints, I had to drop out of it before it even started. This was supposed to be my college applications' strong point but I am lacking it now.
THINGS I HOPE TO DO THIS SUMMER (probably not all but I applied for all of these programs after dropping BETA Camp):
- Rice University's pre-college summer program (Biology/Computer Science)
- BlueStamp engineering
- a program that guides you through writing a research paper (I was invited to do this, so I think I will PROBABLY do this, and I want to write about Biology or Computer Science)
- AND a science camp which teaches you how to create real life models to demonstrate DNA and stuff like that.
The reason I have been doing virtual school is very personal and out of my control. What could I do to make up for my weak extracurriculars? I am a junior and have all summer to do stuff. I am interested in technology, biology, and business.
How can I demonstrate my true potential to colleges? What would be impressive? Are homeschooled students held to a higher standard when applying to college?
So sorry for the overwhelming amount of questions. I don't have much guidance and I am first gen so my parents have no idea how to help me😭 If you could answer just one question, I would really appreciate you. Thank you so much for reading.
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1 answer
I was homeschooling for my middle school time, and within that time I was a part of clubs, activities, etc. If your school offers that, then I would recommend that. If not, don't panic. Talking to a lot of seniors at my school, they said they prioritized volunteering more than just straight extracurriculars and that it actually helped them more. If you go into school in person for your senior year, try some kind of fine art. I have found them enjoyable and in some cases they offer scholarships. If you feel up to it, sports can help too and you may even find that you enjoy them. For the longest time I only played football and since exploring in high school, I have participated in powerlifting, tennis, and track. I have also joined choir this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, depending on the school, they may have CTSOs. I joined one of these in middle school online and I loved it, so much so I'm going to try and open a new one at my current school. There are several CTSOs, such as FFA, BPA, TSA, etc. I will leave a link for more about those in this answer. All in all, you have quite a bit, but don't have online schooling try and limit you. Try your best and find stuff online to be apart of, there's always something. I hope this helps, and good luck on your journey!
CTSOs: icevonline.com/blog/career-technical-student-organization-ctso
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