<p>I have a friend who's a star student (2380 SAT 1st try, valedictorian, 16 AP classes and 5 extra classes in Princeton). Unfortunately, he's obsessed with getting into the ivies and does EVERYTHING just for college. He joined fencing last year, and managed to get a varsity letter this year. However, he always tells me that he hates fencing and that it's a poor excuse for a sport. He also created a bunch of clubs "to rack up some ECs" (in his own words). Do you think admissions officers will see through his plan, or will they be impressed? Because I might start expanding on my list of ECs, because his plan seems to be working fine, but I want to be sure if it'll be helpful at all.</p>
<p>It looks better to focus on one passion than joining stuff just to be able to say you did. If his ECs are inconsistent (which is what I’m assuming) admissions will probably detect that he has only participated in ECs to look good for college. And that is bad.</p>
<p>I began to join many more clubs this year as well because my EC list was pretty poor. If you do this, make sure you have consistency and dedication in whatever you do. For me, I was already a member of the marching band for 5 years, so I began to get involved in more band-related stuff (e.g. wind ensemble) and I started to volunteer at a local arts and music plaza. I also got involved in political clubs and student government, but I actually enjoy these things.</p>
<p>Does he want to go to one of the Ivies or something?</p>
<p>Well, he seems to be torturing himself in the process. And he’s probably going to end up being tortured at the Ivies as well.</p>
<p>Or maybe I’m just extremely biased against people who do things just for colleges because I kind of do that (…not really, and definitely not to that extreme) and I’m quite disgusted with myself and my insincerity.</p>
<p>They might see through it, they might not. If he’s dedicated enough to seem truly dedicated to all the things he’s doing, good for him. Maybe they’ll believe that he’s being genuine.</p>
<p>By the way, if you’re an upcoming junior who’s suddenly joining a bunch of things, that will most likely be seen through. Commitment is a pretty important factor here. And quantity still trumps quality.</p>
<p>What if I joined a bunch of stuff my junior because I actually wanted to? Will colleges seriously view that as a bad thing?</p>
<p>Yes, admissions can see through that. I had an admissions counselor at kenyon college tell me they would rather see someone who has an obvious dedication and passion for one activity before someone that has 10 extracurriculars because it becomes obvious it was done to create a false image. That being said,your friend has great test scores and grades so he probably won’t have trouble getting in an elite school. But sorry, he sounds obnoxious and a little shallow to make up clubs for completely self serving reasons. Kind of icky. Imo.</p>
<p>If you actually wanted to, that’s fine. But college admissions officers would probably be suspicious about it. It won’t be viewed as a bad thing; rather, it wouldn’t be viewed as an extremely good thing. In other words, it probably wouldn’t affect you that much.</p>
<p>That friend of HerroThere is actually kind of smart for doing that early on (I’m assuming), and since he’s in varsity, colleges wouldn’t know any better. If he stays in fencing, it’d probably be viewed as a good thing. I don’t really think that it’s worth staying in something he doesn’t like though. If he wanted to do something to impress colleges, he might as well do something that he actually likes.</p>
<p>Do you think it would look like “resume-padding” if I started a club my senior year for dance? I started dance my junior year and I’m planning on including it in my essay. </p>
<p>And about my friend, he has pretty much been preparing for the Ivies since elementary school, no joke. Back in 6th grade, when I first met him, he was doing SAT practice problems and he told me that he had bought the book in 5th grade >_></p>
<p>Smart kid your friends with there.</p>
<p>Your friend’s strategy is not good at all. Admissions counselors will easily see through his ploy. They don’t want a laundry list of EC’s just to show that you are “active”. Rather they want to see that you are in a few select clubs, for your entire high-school career, have leadership positions, won awards, etc. Also, academic clubs tend to look more impressive than say a community-service club.</p>