<p>So I, like many of you here, started freaking out about my extracurriculars, oh say, somewhere in the middle of sophomore year. I tried to join about 10 billion clubs, hoping that they would somehow make my app look better, and ended up not really participating in 9.99999 billion of those. So even though now, I could technically write them all on my app, it won't help. Here's why:</p>
<p>The Common Application is formatted to ONLY let you list 7 ECs in the Activities section (granted you can list more in the Additional Info section, but let's be serious here, a laundry list isn't going to really be impressive anyways). In those 7 magical little boxes that you get to write your ECs in, it asks you for things like hours/week, honors, leadership positions, and even the specific title of your activity.</p>
<p>So basically, DON'T join 10000000 clubs in the hope of impressing adcoms. It won't work. Try and hone in your interests on a couple (I'd say four is a good number) of activities you genuinely enjoy, and rack up a list of awards/honors in those activities. That will be muuuch more impressive than a laundry list of the billion clubs you joined.</p>
<p>In general, never do stuff just for your college application… join the clubs you’re interested in and do what you love. It’ll all work out in the end.</p>
<p>I agree with this 100%. But if you are going to join 4240091 clubs, make sure they’re ones where everyone else is nonparticipative (is that a word?) as well so that you’re not inconveniencing anyone else by not participating. For example, from my experience, it aggravates me to see people on the school newspaper that I have a passion for just joining so they can get their name in print and not do jack. That’s SO annoying, and it just means more work for the others.</p>
<p>Marmar16, my daughters have seen a lot of that, but what really gets their ire up, is they not only don’t do anything, junior/senior year they want titles to put down on their apps!
This is why my twins have such disinterest in the whole process, they feel it’s so manipulitive, so many students are doing what parents/books/magazines tell them to do, etc. They have never seen so many co-presidents and uneven amount of work.
There is no firm outcome with applications or number of EC’s. One very smart young man at their school, had 1 sport EC (capt.) and got into Brown and Columbia but not Yale. (going to Brown) Another had 9 AP’s (all 5’s) high SAT, president of everything, and didn’t get into any Ivy. No book, no counselor, will ever figure it all out, sometimes it is just luck or the whim of admissions that day. (that student is going to a top 25 LAC though)
One AO told me they hope when they look at certain EC’s the student will continue them in college, sometime they even ask on the application, but they realize many only did them to get into the school and an apathy takes over later.</p>
<p>My friends are just like what we’re complaining about, to be honest. They simply decide to show up at random club meetings that are holding elections that day to try and submit their name to become co-president! And these are clubs they NEVER attend! Plus, they get angry when they’re not elected…it’s aggravating and it seems like I’m being cheated out of work I’ve done just because I LOVE the ECs I participate in. </p>
<p>Hopefully the universities I’m applying to will see my passion in what I write. All I know is that people like this will have a difficult time explaining their laundry list of BS when it comes time to fill out apps.</p>
<p>Is it bad if I did join 10,0000 clubs in sophomore year if I did it for fun? I have legit ECs, but I was really into some of those sophomore year ECs, and at least for culinary club, I spent many nights up baking. I had lunch with juniors and seniors because of my math class and it was better to join clubs that met at lunch.</p>
<p>@debruns, you may not be privy to the essays and LORs of the two students you
are talking about. I would guess the LOR/essay or both gave the admissions officers
room to have doubts about the sincerity of the student and the passion for their
ECs. A rejection is final and I doubt it is done lightly to students with excellent
credentials- certainly not on a whim.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb if you average less than 5 hrs/wk on an activity do not bother
to list it for top 5 schools. Also it is helpful to have national level recognition for your
EC activity to convey your level of passion in a clear way.</p>
<p>Synth, they didn’t read the essays, but knew them well. I think sometimes schools get tired of the same thing, how many different things can you come up with? I think when certain students, don’t play the game, have an ignorance to the elaborate process some use, it comes through. Apathy is something else though. Many of these bright students at their high school have no clue what some students/parents do and movies like “Acceptance” would be surreal. There will always be students that don’t fit the mold.
For example, my co-worker at a pharmacy I used to work for was a tech there and was married to a police officer, solidly middle-class. Their daughter went to an average public school and was bright and involved in track. Her GC told her to “go for it” when it came to her reach and apply to Yale…she got in to the shock of her parents. I’m sure her LOR and essay were excellent, but she had no interest in applying initially, thinking she would be out of her league. Similar students were rejected. Why her, that is between the Admissions and the student but she thrived there. Another friends (URM) with an 1800 got in and did well her first year, she was a hardship case, but still found the environment welcoming and found a niche with her classmates.Another nice young woman, not a URM, got in with a 2100 and only 3 years of math and 2 strong EC’s and charities.
The students you read about on CC are like many at the Ivies, but there are always exceptions and I never discourage anyone from applying, the only thing you risk is getting a rejection letter like many other students. In my limited circle, I’ve seen so many surprises, both ways to pretend I understand the process.</p>
<p>One school to which my son applied had its own application form that was actually “check the box”…so you’d just check the “theatre” box whether you’d taken tickets at one show your freshman year, or had the lead or stage managed every show for your whole high school career. One season of a JV sport would look identical to being in the starting lineup all four years. Community service? You could have passed out water at one event, or started your lown non-profit - it all came out the same on the form. </p>
<p>That kind of application really reinforces the idea of doing what you love because you love it, not for an application form.</p>
<p>Colleges expect you to have ECs. If you only spend one or two months at a time on any EC, then yes, you probably are pretty much expected to fill out all seven boxes. If you do one EC year-round, and devote many hours/week on it, then it would make up for not filling in the rest of the boxes. I filled them up because I did many things for shorter periods of time (like math competitions, sports seasons, etc.) but was very intense about while I was doing them, then I had my typical church youthgroup and such that only happened for a few hours once or twice a week, but that I was dedicated to and would forgo schoolwork to make it to.</p>
<p>If you’ve got 2-3 ECs that you devote your life outside of school to, then you’re good. If you still feel a need to fill up the other boxes, think abotu clubs or things you did for short periods of time. But the stuff at the bottom of your list probably won’t make any difference, even if it’s left blank.</p>
<p>Does it matter if the ECs are not in the particular major to be studied? I see many here on CC with laundry lists of ECs which seem to be focused on their major: Poly Sci major = Model UN + Congressional Page + Student Council + Summer Leadership Camp + </p>
<p>My D will be studying engr but has not gone to robotics summer camp or interned at local consulting firm. Shes a 3 sport athlete so her focus has been there. Shes also done plenty of school related activities (NHS, theater, class officer) and volunteers at the local food bank. But notice that none of these are engr related. </p>
<p>So I cant help but feel that, while having so many ECs in one area shows focus, they sound either forced or contrived. I guess Im asking; are kids really like that or is it a product of the application/acceptance culture that exists? (And DD is just the exception?)</p>