When a high school student is applying for college, it can be an extremely stressful time. Colleges and universities are always looking for a little more than test scores. Admissions...
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When a high school student is applying for college, it can be an extremely stressful time. Colleges and universities are always looking for a little more than test scores. Admissions board members can be especially concerned with a
student's extracurricular activities. Selecting these activities for a college application is a process that should start much earlier than your senior year, but there's still hope. Here is a list of some extracurricular suggestions that could look pretty good on your college application.
Be a Leader
While it is true that colleges like to see leadership in their applicants, do not despair if you have yet to be elected to any position in the student government or become an officer in any clubs. If you have not been active in any clubs or led any club functions, this does not mean you should not try, even if you are in your senior year. It's better to have 1 year of any activity on your record than none at all. If you are already in a club, try stepping into a leadership role. Not currently in a club? Start one. Think about your personal interests, and move forward from there.
National Honors Society
The National Honors Society (NHS) is an elite group of students that have maintained a high level of academic performance. School policies can vary a bit on qualifications for the NHS, but if you have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, you meet the national requirements. The potential for scholarships is also a great benefit that comes with a NHS membership. Setting up a meeting with your guidance counselor is one way to get further information about the NHS, or you can visit the Society's website
https://easywaypaper.com/write-my-essay/.
All Sports Count
Extracurricular activities for your college application are not just school-sponsored sports. Non-school-sponsored sports are also taken into account when an admissions board looks at an application. Remember, they are looking for diversity and what makes you unique. Not all sports can be found in every high school program. For example, most high schools do not have competitive bowling teams, but there are more than 200 colleges that do. If you are involved in some sports outside of school, document these in
paper writing service application. Newspaper clippings, letters from your coach, teammates, and competitors will help strengthen your position as a student who is unique, special, and competitive. There might even be a partial scholarship available to you for such activities.
Volunteering Helps
Being able to show volunteer work on your application will certainly help, as long as you can show you have made a commitment to it. In other words, running out and working in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving during your senior year does not qualify you for anything, but it would be appreciated. Many students will join as many clubs and organizations as they can in their last couple of years of high school. But this is a mistake. College application boards like to see someone who is deeply involved, invested, and passionate about something.
You Do Not Have to Be a Winner
Scholastic teams like debate teams, one-act play teams, or any type of team that is non-sports-related qualifies as extracurricular activities for college applicants. If you have competed in a scholastic team throughout high school, be sure to include this information in your application, even if you weren't especially good at it. While it is true that winning scholastic teams tend to be recruited more, admissions and applications boards are looking for passion and commitment. If your team never won a debate, you will most likely not be offered a place on the university debate team, but your passion and commitment will show the board that you are an individual who sticks to his or her guns.
The key to getting into a good college is your passion. For some of the upper echelon schools, having a 4.0 GPA is not enough. A 4.0 GPA and being the president of your
senior class is probably still not enough. There are likely to be thousands of people with the same GPA as you. Students stand out by what they do beyond their academics. Find something you are passionate about, and pursuit it.
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