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Okay, so I'm pretty much finished with my UMich application EXCEPT for my essays... meaning I'm far from finished. Why are the essays so hard? Is it just me? I've tried writing them numerous times, but none of them seem to fit.. or "click"... they're boring and don't stand out. i've been trying since August..

But back to the point of my post- I'm a borderline candidate, (3.885 Weighted GPA, 3.75 recalculated by UMich standards, 4 AP's conclusion of senior year, 1380 SAT, 28 ACT.. on top of that i'm out of state) so I'm trying hard to stand out in any way possible. I think my EC list is pretty much what everyone else would have though.. here's exactly what's on my application right now:

The order is
the activity---grades participated in---grades/years of participation---position held or honors won

1. Violin lessons since age 5---9,10,11,12---8 hrs a week/50 weeks a year

2. church youth group---9,10,11,12---5 hrs a week/52 weeks a year---treasurer grade 9, secretary grade 12

3. church praise band electric guitarist and vocalist---9,10,11,12---5 hrs a week/52 weeks a year---band leader grade 12

4. devotee of beach, sappy romance novels---9,10,11,12,after h.s.---5 hrs a week/45 weeks a year

5. hospital volunteer---11,12---3 hrs a week/40 weeks a year

6. tutored 2nd and 3rd graders from japan in english---9---2 hrs a week/36 weeks a year

7. tutored elementary school kids---11,12---1 hr a week/30 weeks a year

8. missionary trip where we coordinated a vacation bible school for young kids, repaired homes, shared our religious beliefs---11---1 hr a week/6 weeks a year for the planning, 84 hrs a week/1 week for the actual trip

^those are the activities that i put on my application... they said to tell them about any hobbies i might have? so i just included the "devotee of sappy romance, beach novels" part... is it kind of... eh? should i take it out? because some of the other activities i had was.. being on theater costumes crew in sophomore year... was a counselor for a camp junior year...

oh, and the reason my activities aren't very very consistent is because i moved after my freshman year to wisconsin... from california =( i miss california...

i had a lot of awards, or so i think... here's my list, i'm going to be very vague

1. competition open to all ages, all instruments, where i won 1st place as a violinist
2. violin competition, 1st place
3. violin competition, honorable mention
4. chosen by a member of the violin music teachers association to perform in an honors recital
5. a weird award my school gives out... recipients need 3.8+ gpa, nomination and selected by teachers
6. national honor society cabinet member
7. 2nd year award- given to students who've achieved 3.5 cumulative gpa after 3 semesters
8. 3rd year award- given to students who've achieved 3.5 cumulative gpa after 5 semesters
9. spanish honor society
10. band award- many students quit band before high school ends (i play trumpet), so they give out awards when students reach junior year, and give an even bigger award for seniors.. i received the one they give out junior year
11. scholar athlete award

i'm just wondering if my ec's and awards are good enough for me to be accepted... since i have mediocre stats... very mediocre/borderline stats =/

oh! and one more thing. do colleges check my activites to validate them? i'm not sure of my hospital volunteering thing's going to last my entire senior year... from the looks of it, i'm very confident it won't.... will they find out? if they do, could they reject me/revoke my acceptance (if i were to?)

thanks for taking the time to read this looong post.