Getting Accepted into Your Dream University: When is Enough, Enough?

Written by Eshal Shakir
Edited by Kristin Cho
Cover Image by Elena Chen

With spring quickly approaching, it's that time of year again when students are scrambling to finish supplementary applications or anxiously awaiting acceptance responses. At Havergal College, the uncertainty and competition is in the air, and university applications need to be at their finest, even if that means being involved in multiple extracurriculars while balancing the nuances of senior subjects. This begs the question: How much school and community involvement will guarantee these driven students a spot at their dream post-secondary institution? How many more tears need to be shed because of a mark shy of 95%, and when is enough, enough? In the next few paragraphs, you’ll hear from various anonymous Havergal students and their exciting but stressful senior year experiences leading up to graduation.

Take Student A, a junior Havergal girl who is striving to get into Stanford University on an early acceptance admission at the end of her high school career. She was asked a few questions relating to her extracurricular involvement at the school, specifically;

Interviewer: “How many clubs or extracurriculars are you involved in at school or outside of school?”

Student A: “Right now, I’m involved in seven total extracurriculars, four of them at school and three outside of school. Sometimes I find it to be quite difficult managing grades alongside extracurriculars.”

Interviewer: “What is your motivation for joining the clubs you're a part of? Does it relate to the future field you’d like to study?”

Student A: “I enjoy most of the clubs I belong to, although I probably wouldn’t have joined so many if it wasn’t relevant experience or if I wasn’t able to list it on future applications and resumes.” 

Speaking of gaining valuable experience for university applications, Student B has been preparing for her Ivy League university applications throughout her whole high school journey. In addition, she purposely became involved with sports at a young age, in the hope that one day this might grant her a scholarship to an American university. However, like Student A, Student B also feels the weight of all her coursework and extracurricular activities, especially as her senior year nears the end. 

Interviewer: “How many hours do you dedicate to sports and extracurriculars inside and outside of school?”

Student B: “I can’t give you an exact number, but it's probably like around 15 hours per week that I spend training and attending to my extracurricular duties. It can be super tiring, but at the end of the day it's definitely worth it and super-rewarding because it’ll pay off once I graduate.”

Interviewer: “How much of your community and school involvement is purely for boosting your university applications?”

Student B:” I enjoy everything I do, but I can’t lie and say that university is always at the back of my mind. But I know that the memories I make and the skills I develop from these activities are really valuable and will definitely help me in other aspects of my life.”

The final student I interviewed is a recent graduate who is currently studying at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Student C decided she would rather enjoy her high school years without being too stressed by joining extracurriculars for her post-secondary entrance. 

Interviewer: “What were the clubs or extracurriculars you were involved in during your time at Havergal?”

Student C: “I was involved in Deca, the badminton team, Behind The Ivy, etc.”

Interviewer: “Do you feel that your chances of getting into the American schools you originally applied for would have been increased if you had more extracurriculars or job experience?”

Student C: “I got into a variety of schools in the U.S and Canada but ultimately felt like my mental health was more important, and I wanted to be closer to home.” 

The opinions collected from the interviews reveal that, although having a lot of extracurriculars and relevant experience may increase the likelihood of getting into your dream school, the lessons and memories you take with you from high school are the most important and will always be there for you to look back on.