Advice on my extracurricular activities write up (for UBC)
Background:
I’m a g12 to-be. I started high school in Canada as a g10. As I was a newcomer, I barely took part in any activities at school during that year. Last year in g11 I started joining some clubs and took up some roles. EXACTLY is my main concern but theres also some problems with my academics. My average marks are fine right now, but my extracurricular activities are insufficient. What I’m worrying about is the personal profile for UBC, as other universities only look at my grades so they should be fine. I am aiming for ubc science, but i'll also apply for ubc arts. Below I have a few questions for you guys…if you could give me some feedback i'll greatly appreciate!!
First, academics subjects:
G11
English 11 - 83
Pre-cal 11 - 100
physics 11 - 98
chemistry 11 - 99
Computer programming 11 - 95
G12
english 12 - 88 (online)
Pre-cal 12 - 100
physics 12 - 98
psychology 12 - 96
chemistry 12 - (next year)
ap cal - (next year)
bc first peoples 12 - (next year)
As you can see, I’m quite strong in science subjects but my English grades are not really good. 1) Will it affect my application even if I have a high average?
Second, extracurricular activities:
- Participation in math olympiad competitions (20+ competitions in the past ten years)
- Participating and managing the school crochet club (including holding activities& teaching, for the past three years, also have a crochet instagram account showing my works with nearly 2k followers)
- My interest in photography (including digital, analog, landscape, portrait, animal, street…registered for some competitions and an exhibition, have an active instagram account with nearly 1K followers with daily/semi-daily posts showcasing my works)
- My interest in music (10 years in choir, 6 years in orchestra, know piano and trumpet)
- Passion for mental health (involve in school mh club, online platform)
- Started volunteering at a rabbit sanctuary and a therapeutic riding society this summer…
You can probably tell they are listed from strongest to weakest. The first three are still okay but the others can’t really show anything about me. I know I don’t have much time to do much more, so at this point I’m just thinking about how to polish my experience. My friends and I are planning to open a club next year too (tbh in my opinion it's too late but whateve). 2)What do you think about my profile with the activities listed above? 3) Will it be too art focused if i'm aiming for ubc science?
Lastly, as I mentioned, I am an immigrant. In my home country, I participated in quite a lot of ECAs but I’m not sure if they are appropriate to write. Fyi, I studied till g10 in hong kong. In hk, seniors have to take public exams so g11 is the oldest grade to be in charge of clubs. Here are some eca I did while I was there:
- Managed the STEAM society for three years (including holding activities, doing announcements)
- contributed as a student ambassador (leading school tours for juniors for three years)
- my music experience as mentioned in the eca part happened in hk
- leading a subgroup in library team (organising books, holding activities...also was librarian helper in elementary school) [i'm planning to be a library ambassador in my school here next year]
- being class association chairperson& other roles (serving the class, leading the class in different school activities)
- participated in the debate team (did some friendly matches and a public match)
- nominated by school and won a district wide award (it was a big award in hk but idk if people here care)
4) Should i write about these activities to strengthen my overall profile, or will it only make people think that i don't have enough activities here to write about?
Big thanks to anyone who provides me any help! If you're here to question my lack of engagements or to criticise whatever, save your time. i bet you can work on a lot other productive things instead of leaving negative comments on a random student's post.
and if you care, the contrast between my engagement in hk vs canada is because i was severely burnt out from all the achievements i strived for in hk (ngl it nearly took my life for a few times lol), and in canada i no longer dare to work hard for that.