The Academic and Extracurricular Profile of an NCSSM Student
Summary
TLDRIn this transcript, four students discuss their extracurricular activities and academic interests leading up to their application to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM). Angela and Shashank highlight a balance between STEM and humanities, with a focus on math competitions, science research, writing, and debate. Elena emphasizes her passion for mathematics, participating in math clubs and taking advanced math courses. Anna, lacking STEM opportunities at her school, discusses her involvement in visual arts and her dedication to equestrian activities, which influenced her choice of the online program.
Takeaways
- 🔬 Angela balanced her interests between STEM and humanities, focusing on math competitions, high-level math classes, and environmental science research, as well as writing competitions and speech & debate.
- 📚 Elena's application emphasized her passion for mathematics, participating in math clubs, honor societies, and taking advanced math courses.
- 🏆 Shashank's extracurriculars were split between science and humanities, engaging in science competitions, research, and coaching a middle school science team, along with community volunteering.
- 🎨 Anna, lacking STEM opportunities at her base school, focused on her visual arts achievements and leadership in her school's art club, and discussed her aspirations in math and science.
- 🌐 All students integrated their extracurricular activities and academic interests into their applications, showcasing a well-rounded approach to their passions.
- 📈 The students highlighted the importance of taking advantage of available opportunities and creating new ones to demonstrate commitment and dedication.
- 📝 The application process involved writing essays that reflected their interests and experiences, allowing them to express their unique stories.
- 🏫 The students recognized the value of rigorous coursework and how it can be leveraged to showcase academic strengths.
- 🤝 Involvement in clubs and leadership positions was a common theme, indicating the significance of taking initiative and contributing to school communities.
- 🌱 A focus on community service and volunteer work was mentioned as a way to demonstrate social responsibility and engagement with broader issues.
- 🚀 The students' stories emphasized the importance of aligning their extracurricular activities with their academic and career goals, providing a cohesive narrative for their applications.
Q & A
What was Angela's approach to balancing her extracurriculars and academic interests?
-Angela balanced her extracurriculars and academic interests between humanities and STEM. She participated in math competitions, took high-level math classes, and focused on environmental science research. In humanities, she enjoyed writing, participated in writing competitions, and took elective classes like creative writing. She was also involved in speech and debate, holding leadership positions and competing in various events.
How did Elena demonstrate her passion for mathematics in her application?
-Elena demonstrated her passion for mathematics by listing awards and clubs focused on STEM, particularly math, in her application. She was involved in the math club and math honor society at her school and took advanced math classes. She also wrote an essay about her favorite STEM subject, which was mathematics.
What extracurricular activities did Shashank engage in that were related to science and humanities?
-Shashank engaged in science competitions both individually and as part of a team, including Science Olympiad and Brain B. He also pursued research and wrote research papers, and took rigorous coursework. In terms of humanities, he coached his middle school's science team and volunteered at a community museum.
How did Anna's application reflect her interest in visual arts despite limited STEM opportunities at her base school?
-Anna's application reflected her interest in visual arts by highlighting her involvement in art competitions, leading her school's art club, and discussing her achievements in the field. She also talked about her STEM coursework and how she made the most of the opportunities available to her, and expressed her interest in what she could achieve with the online program's offerings.
What was a significant non-academic activity that Anna was involved in, and how did it influence her application choice?
-Anna was involved in working with horses, training, and preparing for shows. This activity influenced her application choice as it made a residential program impractical for her, leading her to apply for the online program.
How did the students integrate their extracurricular activities into their applications?
-The students integrated their extracurricular activities into their applications by mentioning relevant clubs, competitions, and leadership roles. They also discussed how these activities aligned with their academic interests and how they demonstrated their passions through essays and other application components.
What was the common theme in the students' approach to their extracurriculars and academic interests?
-The common theme was a balance between STEM and humanities, with a focus on pursuing high-level coursework, participating in competitions, and taking on leadership roles. They also emphasized their passions and how they made the most of the opportunities available to them.
How did the students showcase their leadership skills in their extracurricular activities?
-Angela held leadership positions in speech and debate, Elena was involved in math-related clubs, Shashank coached his middle school's science team, and Anna led her school's art club. These roles demonstrated their ability to lead and contribute to their respective fields.
What strategies did the students use to make their applications stand out?
-The students made their applications stand out by emphasizing their passions, taking advanced coursework, participating in relevant competitions, and holding leadership positions. They also wrote essays that highlighted their interests and experiences.
How did the students' extracurricular activities complement their academic interests?
-The students' extracurricular activities complemented their academic interests by providing practical experiences and opportunities to apply their knowledge. For example, Angela's involvement in environmental science research and Shashank's science competitions directly related to their academic pursuits.
What advice did the students give for students who may not have access to extensive STEM opportunities at their base school?
-The students advised making the most of the opportunities available, discussing potential interests and how they could be pursued with the resources at hand, and considering alternative programs or schools that offer more extensive opportunities.
Outlines
📚 Balancing STEM and Humanities in College Applications
Angela discusses her extracurricular activities and academic interests, highlighting a balance between STEM and humanities. In STEM, she participates in math competitions, takes advanced math classes, and focuses on environmental science research, including science fairs and writing research papers. In humanities, she enjoys writing, participating in writing competitions, and taking creative writing classes. She is also involved in speech and debate, holding leadership positions and competing in various competitions. Her application narrative showcases this balance as her unique story.
🏆 Emphasizing a Passion for Mathematics in College Applications
Elena shares her focus on mathematics, which is reflected in her college application. She was involved in STEM clubs, particularly math-related ones, such as the math club and math honor society. She took advanced math classes and emphasized her passion for mathematics in various parts of her application, including an essay about her favorite STEM subject. Her strategy was to highlight her mathematical interests and achievements multiple times throughout her application.
🔬 Combining Science Competitions with Community Involvement
Shashank talks about his extracurriculars being split between science and humanities. He was involved in individual and team science competitions, such as Science Olympiad and Brain B. He also pursued scientific interests through research and internships. In terms of humanities, he coached a middle school science team and volunteered at a community museum. His approach to applying and writing essays was to make his time valuable by constantly engaging in meaningful activities.
🎨 Leveraging Visual Arts and Equestrian Experiences in Applications
Anna, from a school with limited STEM opportunities, focused on her visual arts achievements and her role as a club leader in her school. She discussed her potential in math and science, given the opportunities. A significant part of her application was her work with horses, which included training and preparing for shows. This aspect made a residential program impractical for her, and she discussed how she would utilize the online program to pursue her interests.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Extracurriculars
💡STEM
💡Humanities
💡Science Research
💡Academic Interests
💡Application
💡Leadership Positions
💡Writing Competitions
💡Science Olympiad
💡Community Involvement
💡Visual Arts
Highlights
Angela balances extracurriculars between humanities and STEM.
Angela participates in math competitions and high-level math classes.
Angela's focus in STEM is environmental science research.
Angela has written research papers in environmental science.
Angela is involved in writing competitions and creative writing classes.
Angela holds leadership positions in speech and debate clubs.
Elena's extracurriculars are heavily focused on math and STEM.
Elena participates in math clubs and honor societies.
Elena emphasizes her advanced math coursework on her transcript.
Elena's application showcases her passion for mathematics.
Shashank's extracurriculars are split between science and humanities.
Shashank is involved in science competitions and research.
Shashank coaches a middle school science team.
Shashank volunteers at a community museum.
Anna's school did not offer many STEM opportunities.
Anna has a strong influence from visual arts and has won competitions.
Anna led a club at her school focused on visual arts.
Anna discusses her approach to STEM through available coursework.
Anna's application highlights her work with horses and training for shows.
Anna chose the online program due to her commitments with horses.
Transcripts
what is your story i'd like you guys to
talk about kind of the extra curriculars
and interests that you guys had leading
up to um your ncsm application i'd like
you guys to talk about you know the
classes you guys took
um and how you guys weave those
extracurriculars those academic
interests into your your
application uh let's go to angela first
okay so uh as for me my extracurriculars
and my academic interests are kind of
balanced between humanities and stem
so uh in the aspect of stem i do math
competitions and i do take pretty high
level math classes at
my base school and a big focus of my
stem interest is in science research
especially in environmental science so
i've done a lot of science fairs and
science competitions and i've wrote
research papers and stuff in that aspect
and then in humanities i really like to
write so i've done writing competitions
and i've also tried to take elective
classes like creative writing and such
when i have the chance uh and i do
speech in debate which is one of my main
extracurriculars so uh i've joined
clubs both at enlo and now in system and
javier leadership positions in
speech and debate and i've done a lot of
speech and debate competitions as well
so
for my story it's mainly like a balance
between stem and humanities
great thank you so much let's go to
elena
um so for me uh green hope my like
biggest thing was math and this is
reflected in my application where they'd
have you like list awards and what clubs
you did and mine were mostly focused
around like stem clubs um and like
specifically a lot of math things like i
would participate in
um like the math club and the math honor
society at my school um
and also you could see this kind of in
my transcript because i tried to take
like a lot of advanced math classes at
my old school
um
so i just tried to like emphasize this
multiple times throughout and i
definitely touched on it um because
there was like this one essay that was
like
what's
the stem subject you liked the most so i
wrote about that too so it's just like
um there's a lot of different places in
the application where i kind of tried to
emphasize like my passion for
mathematics
great awesome thank you so much let's go
to shashank
cool so after talking about my uh
extracurriculars from when i was
applying to
a year ago um i actually kind of have a
similar story to uh angela um
where my extracurriculars were kind of
split between uh science and stem and
humanities
um i i was involved in a lot of
science competitions uh both um
individual ones as well as team ones
um some of them like everybody's heard
of like science olympiad and
like the brain b and things like that
and
i i was part of the science pro team as
well
so
science science competitions were kind
of how i pursued my scientific interests
in my early high school years
um
and
after that i've uh pursued it more in
like a research and
trying to do research papers through ssm
and through
summer internships that type of thing
that's that's how i brush my academic
side of it
um along with taking
uh
uh hard coursework for it as well like a
rigorous like coursework
then humanities wise um
i coach my middle school science full
team
uh which i guess not really humanities
but it's more like
it's like a stem related and like
coaching that type of thing
um
and i i volunteered uh
in the community
museum
so i i essentially just tried to find
different opportunities for me to
involve myself in the community and i
was
trying to just not waste my time uh so
that's kind of like how i approached uh
applying test ssm and how i wrote my
essays like i was trying to use my time
value
make my time valuable and do something
constantly
great last but not least let's go to
anna
[Music]
hi so um my base school did not offer a
lot of stem
opportunities or extracurriculars so
this wasn't something that i went heavy
on in my application i kind of went
talked about some other extracurriculars
i had a heavy um visual arts influence
and i've
won a couple competitions and um i was
headed my club at my school
and i showed my stem through the
coursework even though it wasn't
entirely rigorous i
um did what was offered and as good as i
can with what i was offered and i talked
about what i might like to do with what
was offered at math and science so if
you don't have those opportunities at
your home school you can kind of look at
what you might get through math and
science and talk about what you could do
with those opportunities
um one of my main reasons for applying
for the online program was
that i did a lot of work with horses and
i trained and i got ready for shows so
it wouldn't have been possible for me to
do residential
so i enjoyed kind of
what i could do with that opportunity
and talked about how i would approach
that and how i would utilize it
[Music]
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