Be well rounded
In my last post I talked about how important the SAT is to your college application, as well as what becoming a volunteer can do for your admission chances as well. Volunteering not only helps you enter college, helps you grow as a person, it also helps those around you. I wanted to talk about other things that college admission boards look at on your admission papers. They’re looking for well rounded students and one of the best ways to become well rounded is to be involved in things.
Find a club at school that interests you and join up. If you like it a lot, become the president of the club and run it. Perhaps you’re interested in basketball or volleyball. If so, try out for the teams and give it your best. Many scholarships are given for athletic reasons and this just might be your chance to get your college education paid for.
Sign up to be on the school newspaper or the school yearbook. This shows your prospective college that you’ve got goals and the desire to work hard. If you become editor of your school paper, even better! This is a leadership position that will bode well for your future.
If you’re interested in politics then you might want to consider running for student office. Becoming your class president means a great deal of work for you and the opportunity to learn leadership skills that will translate to effective qualities on the outside of high school.
All of these things are important, but don’t go after these to the detriment of your SAT scores. Volunteering, being involved in sports, taking on leadership positions and working at a job are all laudable pursuits, however you can do too much and burn yourself out. Work for balance in your life and always remember to take time to prepare for your SAT.
The most successful college applicants are those who have prepared hard for their SAT, have maintained a high grade point average, are involved in sports or other extracurricular activities and are able to show that they have developed leadership qualities that they’ll bring to their life at college. These are students who understand how to balance their time and their activities. So while it’s an excellent idea to be involved in good things, even too much of a good thing can be bad thing.
Your school might weigh different aspects of your application differently. It would be a good idea to start looking at your school’s criterion for admission as a junior to see where you should apply your efforts.
