How does a college review an application with little extracurriculars?
How exactly does a college look at your application if you don't have many extracurriculars?
I'm a junior in 11th grade looking to apply to Clemson University (or similar; I want to pursue a M.Arch degree), but it seems that universities - especially Clemson - love extracurriculars like sports or student body but I haven't ever been able to get into sports (just due to life's circumstances, from not liking those playing or not having transportation).
With a google search, it seems they consider serious hobbies as extracurriculars, but does it have to be an esteemed award-winning hobby?
I draw very frequently (I love art, most of my bookshelf is random art supplies y'know) but I haven't ever entered into competitions since I just enjoy making art for myself and not an award
And I do hold leadership in two school clubs (Creative Writing and D&D) but these are also not the prestigious clubs that colleges just love
For context, I'm above average as far as scores go, but not very far ahead of everyone else
PACT: 29
ACT: haven't taken it yet but I take it in like 2 weeks I'll update this trust
SAT/PSAT - haven't taken it, should I? I do FAR better in reading but don't have any way to pay for it
AP/IB classes - I'll be taking 2 or 3 next year, I haven't taken that many because I took Dual Enrollment classes instead. I thought colleges might like it better if I went with actual college classes, but a google search says they like AP classes more. Would've been nice to know...
GPA: 4.45W (will probably go up like .03 points after this semester I dunno)
3.85 Unweighted
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1 answer
Colleges use extracurriculars to see if you work on things outside of school. They don't want a student who just lives at school. Since you're doing an M. Arch degree, I think you'll be mostly okay. The leadership positions are good, make sure you leave an impact/legacy that you can (casually) brag about. I would say start doing art competitions during the summer so you can at least say you competed. It'll show your confidence in your work and if you win it'll add to your legitimacy. If you can't do that, see if you can talk about the shift of your private art to designing buildings that everyone can go through in your essays. Also, use the additional info section to explain the things that prevented you from doing other extracurriculars.
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