I was accepted early this year...while I’m no college admissions expert at all, I do agree with some things you said.

I think you definitely do have to be interesting. I pursued some very strange extracurriculars, not exactly for college but because I actually cared about them. I pursued these to the highest level and even dropped two other ECs my senior year so that I could focus on my real passions. I originally worried that this would hurt me, but it definitely helped in the end. I even got to speak with the admissions officers themselves, and it was clear that the ECs I cared about were a huge part of my app.

But even more than being interesting, I believe that what also made me ECs stand out were: 1) international awards and 2) a purpose, or a connection to the big picture. I am definitely NOT saying that you need big awards to get into Stanford, but in my case, they did give me some kind of credentials. In my supplements, I also connected my ECs to how they’ve shaped me as a person and helped me understand what I want to pursue in adulthood; that being said, your EC can be interesting but it also can’t be meaningless–I think it has to have some kind of significant real world connection.

That being said, I think my ECs did make up for my not-so-fantastic grades. I wasn’t even in the top 10% of my grade and I did poorly freshmen year; I was always very insecure about my academics and even my standardized testing wasn’t exactly amazing compared to other applicants. You don’t need to be the best at everything to get in.

Again, I’m no expert so take my advice with a grain of salt everyone! If anyone has questions, you guys can message me!