What ExtraCurriculars should I do to look more attractive to Unis of the world?

Hello guys, first I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but this is my first post on TSR :smile:

My situation is that I am a student from a different country who moved to the UK about 4 years ago from south america. I'm studying my final year of GCSEs and I'm starting to look into my future career path. I would like to study Mechanical Engineering at university so I'm thinking of choosing related subjects for A-levels. I am planning to stay here (Belfast) and go to QUB. However I would like to keep my options open just in case I decide to go to a different country (USA etc) although it's very unlikely due to economical reasons.

So an important thing about this is that most international universities look for an all rounded student, which means great academics (which I'm sure will not be a problem for me) and great extra curriculars (here's the problem).

I don't do any extra curricular activities per se, apart from the occasional math's challenge, different STEM events at universities or companies, and little clubs at school like Chess club or Games club. It is obvious that my extracurriculars are very weak, so, since I'm still at GCSE, I would like to do something that will put me in a better position at the end of school.

Is there anything you would recommend for me to do? Something that I could take as a "hobby" that will look good on an application?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

Reply 1

German123

I think you are over thinking this which is not necessarily a bad thing as it shows that you care. Anyway doing any sports in school and outside of school will do i supose.

Reply 2

Xin Xang

You should definitely strive to read outside of the curriculum.

More specifically look into doing Science Olympiads as these are internationally recognised as being very difficult.

This, however, should not jeopardise your A Level/GCSE grades but instead should enhance them.

By this I mean, do your school work before Olympiad stuff. :wink:

But if you can do well in at least one of the following, your chances will be improved considerably:

http://www.bmoc.maths.org/
http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/olympiad/

The following two are not as important as the two mentioned above, for engineering, but will still help greatly I guess:

http://www.rsc.org/competitions/uk-chemistry-olympiad/
http://www.ukbiologycompetitions.org/british-biology-olympiad/

Reply 3

username1772667

Original post by Xin Xang

Thanks very much for your reply. The links are very useful! Although I have another question: Will I need to come first at one of these competitions to be regarded as an "outstanding" applicant? Because I've always had the feeling that if you don't come first then whatever you got is kind of ignored.

EDIT: I also do badminton at school every Friday after school. Of course I just do it for fun and do not take part in any competition so I don't know if this helps or not?

Also by the time I leave school I should have done a couple of work experiences related to Engineering. This in my opinion is a good thing, what do you think? Is there a minimum age before one could ask a company to do work experience with them?

Thanks by the way!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 4

username1773117

Generally speaking, if you're applying to a decent uni, they'll only be interested in activities related to the course you want to study, if that helps