i go to a really small american school outside the us (less than 300 students). it doesnt offer all these clubs u guys participate in… when i apply to college i’ll have these ECs:
<li>student government (3 years) - president (1), class president (2)</li>
<li>two summer internships related to law</li>
<li>volleyball (2 years)</li>
<li>tennis (1 year)</li>
<li>scientific research</li>
<li>model united nations (4 years) - but i have this as a class not a club</li>
<li>german classes (2 years)</li>
<li>started a group for kids studying for the SAT and interested in applying
to college in the US (two years)</li>
<li>yearbook editor (2 years)
-community service (3 years)</li>
i think thats it… r these ECs gonna harm my chances of accepted to competitive US universities and LACs??
<p>Harm your chances? No way</p>
<p>If you have an excellent GPA, essays, and SAT's, you can still get into top universities and LACs. However, the schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford might believe that you do not show sufficient dedication to a particular EC. They look for quality of involvement in one or two areas rather than a lengthy laundry-list of ECs.
Also, it is hard to use the excuse that your school does not have clubs- Some of the ECs to which many students (myself included) are most dedicated to take place outside of school.</p>
<p>thanx for answering!!!</p>
<p>anyway, i've already thought about my interest in some of these ECs seeming kind of superficial (eg. im not serious about sports - i only do them for fun)</p>
<p>oh, and my only out of school ECs are the internships, research, some volunteering and german (which im just taking coz i enjoy learning new languages)</p>
<p>do u think i should include all of these on my app, or only the ones im involved in the most?? or should i include everything and but emphasize the ones that are important??</p>
<p>WesternMass is right that you need to identify one or two things to make you stand out. Extremely and very selective colleges want to see "passion" and long-term committment to one or two EC's. They don't want a laundry list of activities. When I say EC's, it doesn't have to mean a club or activity. It just just be an interest that you have such as science or movies.</p>
<p>Being President of the student council and Editor of the yearbook are both big items because they show leadership. If you are a US citizen, living outside the country will be a hook. Colleges want to build freshman classes that have a lot of diversity and different points of view.</p>