“I am only a 9th grader, are you sure I should be thinking about college? Seems premature.” It’s not. The college application process starts the moment you start freshman year. Every year of college matters on your application, plus the earlier you start building your niche, the deeper and more involved you can get. Starting to build out your extracurricular profile in your interest area as a freshman could be the thing that pushes you into admission at schools like Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
We’ve covered what not to do your freshman year, but now we want to get a little more specific on what you can do to make yourself stand out, even now. Keep reading for ideas on how to build out your extracurricular profile, discover your interests, and find your niche.
What is a niche?
Okay before we start, we want to tell you exactly what it is that you’re building towards. We keep saying niche, and you might have no idea what we mean. So let’s explain.
Let’s do a little thought experiment. There are two applications in front of the admissions committee at Prestigious University, a totally real college that we didn’t make up. Both applications are geared towards pre-law, and for argument’s sake, they both have perfect grades and a 36 on the ACT.
Student 1 is on the debate team and took AP Government. They attended a mock trial summer program the summer between junior senior year, they’re treasurer of the student council, and captain of the varsity soccer team. Pretty impressive.
Student 2 is also on the debate team and took AP Gov, but they did that mock trial summer program as a freshman. During sophomore year, they began volunteering with an organization that services refugees in their city, began participating in Model UN, and took an online class about immigration law. After that, they took an online class about human rights and during the summer between sophomore and junior year, they did ACLU’s advocacy institute. Junior year saw the continuation of working with the refugee organization and Model UN and they also began interning twice a week with a law firm that does immigration law. The summer between junior and senior year, they helped a law professor research asylum laws in the US and their impact on refugees from the global south and were credited in the published research.
Student 2 is getting in. While Student 1 has what might be considered impressive extracurriculars, they show no focus. Student 2 went from law, to international and human rights law, to specifically immigration law for refugees. They created a funnel, going from broad to narrow. That’s a niche. So how do you start building that?
Read
You can’t start knowing what you want to know until you start knowing it. You may have a vague interest in topics like business or science, but in order to start identifying the niche you might want to develop, you need to start doing some research. The best way to start is by reading books! Almost every field imaginable has approachable, entry-level books to help you start exploring. Once you read a few, identify what in those books was most interesting to you and find books that explore those topics specifically. Funnel!
Online Classes
There are so many online classes available, it’s insane. We recommend searching Coursera, The Great Courses, and Open Yale Courses to get started. Just like the books, you can take big entry-level classes and start narrowing from there. Intro to American History might make you interested specifically in the Civil War. From there, you get interested in Reconstruction, so then you take a Reconstruction class. From there you might be interested specifically in Andrew Jackson and all his nonsense, so you take a class on him. See what we’re doing? That’s right. Funnel!
Summer Programs
Next on your list? Start planning your summer. As a freshman, you might not be doing the hyper-specific stuff like Student 2 was in their later summers, but you can start by taking a summer program that helps you explore your interest a little further. These summer programs will allow you to dive in, experience a taste of college, and meet other students who share in your interest. We love it!
Jobs (and internships and job shadowing)
Meaningful jobs and internships are hard to come by at 14-15, but not impossible. Also, child labor laws are a thing. If you found something, make sure you’re not just making copies or running errands, but actually completing a meaningful project. You can also do job shadowing and get a feel for a day in the life of any potential career path you might be interested in.
You have so much time to explore what you might want to study in college. But, you need to start exploring those interests now. Like we said, it could make the difference in getting into a top 10 college. If you already have your sights set on top-tier colleges as a freshman, then you know you need to put in the work. Start exploring, plan a summer, and get to niche-ing. That’s not a word. Whatever.
And if you don’t like what you initially chose? You still have time to explore and develop.
If you need help navigating high school, developing your extracurriculars, or planning your summer, reach out to us today.