Top National EC/Awards
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Look at how the extracurricular activities and titles are grouped on collegevine.
You’ll be able to see a lot about what schools value the most. |
Anonymous
| This doesn’t make any sense, honestly? Winning a national competition (a single student in the USA) is just one tier above president of a club? What? |
Anonymous
FWIW I think the original post had USAMO qualification as 8, MOP as 9 and IMO as 10. That sounds about right since about 200 or so juniors/seniors qualify for AMO, 40+ for MOP and 6 for IMO. And yes, even AMO qualification is harder than being a D1 athlete (numbers wise). |
Anonymous
Is this your first rodeo? There's so much info on this all over the internet. Google a little bit. |
Anonymous
| The additional twist is that there are dozens of international students each year winning gold medals at IMO, IphO etc. But many of those students come from small countries where it's much easier to qualify. Not saying they are not brilliant or anything, but it's about 50-100 times harder to qualify for the US team than, say, Austrian. |
Anonymous
|
Which schools other than Harvard have a sixth of the score for Athletics (even if not recruited)?
https://www.collegeadvisor.com/resources/ivy-league-application/ Does anyone know? ______________________________________________________________ Extracurriculars For this category, emphasis is mostly focused on accomplishments in the scope of geographic regions: “1. Unusual strength in one or more areas. Possible national-level achievement or professional experience. A potential major contributor at Harvard. Truly unusual achievement. 2. Strong secondary school contribution in one or more areas such as class president, newspaper editor, etc. Local or regional recognition; major accomplishment(s). 3. Solid participation but without special distinction. (Upgrade 3+ to 2- in some cases if the e/c is particularly extensive and substantive.) 4. Little or no participation. 5. Substantial activity outside of conventional EC participation such as family commitments or term-time work (could be included with other e/c to boost the rating or left as a “5” if it is more representative of the student’s commitment). 6. Special circumstances limit or prevent participation (e.g. a physical condition).” Keep in mind that family commitments and community employment is taken into consideration here. This means that if your family depends on you for an extra source of income, you will not be penalized for spending your time at a job rather than preparing to win your next international competition. Remember, admissions offices evaluate applicants on the basis of their context, and this is one category where context trumps all else. Most importantly, notice how a 1 category can be earned with unusual accomplishment in “one or more categories.” This means that being a world-class pianist vs. being a world-class pianist, tennis player, and chess player will yield no difference in this rating category. Simply having big accomplishments in one deeply developed area is enough! Less is more. And a final note on geographic regions: it doesn’t seem to be the case that winning a competition in a highly competitive state (like California) vs. winning a competition in a less populated state (like Idaho) will be weighted differently in the admissions officer’s eyes. Your rating depends on your accomplishments within a geographic scope. So if you think you’re tops for California–a highly competitive state that holds top performers on an international scale–then it is much more worthwhile for you to compete in international competitions and try to win those than it is for you to win 1st at California state level competitions. Go big or go home. Athletic Again, keep in mind that the admissions office will not weigh your overall score down just because you have a low score in one area. The athletic category can only be a boost for those who are recruited athletes or performing at a similar level. If you receive a 4 or lower, this category will not drag down the rest of your application: “1. Unusually strong prospect for varsity sports at Harvard, desired by Harvard coaches. 2. Strong secondary school contribution in one or more areas; possible leadership role(s). 3. Active participation. 4. Little or no interest. 5. Substantial activity outside of conventional EC participation such as family commitments or term-time work (could be included with other e/c to boost the rating or left as a “5” if it is more representative of the student’s commitment). 6. Physical condition prevents significant activity.” |
Anonymous
Tier 1 - National recognition Name brand competition wins. National championships in sports (individual better than team), Deca, NSDA, USAMO, etc. URM also counts as a free tier 1 EC. Tier 2 - Regional recognition Varsity sport leadership, major club leadership, etc. ABRSM 8, black belt in karate, etc also fall in here although because they have no synergy with major, they are worth far less than major specific EC's. Tier 3 - Everything else, thanks for participating College Vine has an excellent tier list. You can enter your own EC in profile and see how it stacks up. Generally you need tier 2's to crack a t20. Multiple tier 2's or tier 1 to hit t5. EC's that synergize with your major gives double the benefit. I.e. if your goal is CS in MIT, NSDA national champion of debate is not nearly as valuable as USAMO. Even if they are roughly same tier. |
Anonymous
| My kid is in MS and doesn't want to practice violin anymore. Does it still make sense to have them complete ABRSM 8 before they give up? They are at that level, more or less (they used to be very good but just don't want to practice anymore). |
Anonymous
| Presidential scholar doesn’t matter that much anymore. Sure it’s great to get a 1600 but the 1600 kids I know were all rejected by ivies. They are brilliant and will do great in life but it was not a help at all for college admission at Top20 universities. |
Anonymous
Better to get 1580 than 1600 I hear. Stereotypes/tropes etc. |
Anonymous
Is this accurate? |
Anonymous
True. Perfectionist tendencies will crater app season. Not a good thing. |
Anonymous
This is helpful. What types of sports are Tier 1? Other than Olympics? |
Anonymous
Maybe? Both of mine had 2+ level twos and one had a level one, both had maximum course difficulty and excellent scores, both T10. From our school seems as though course difficulty and scores still matter most. And not being a brat. LOR matter a lot |
Anonymous
At our school, anyone can get president of the club if they really want it because not many kids want to do it. The same kid has like 4 president of this and that club because nobody wanted it. Also our clubs barely meet. |