<p>So school kicked off and now I'm in a little predicament with about 2 months left before all of my early college applications are sent. Extracurriculars are obviously best looked at if you do it for a long time and spend many hours doing it. My situation is this:
- Varsity Cross Country (3 years, 13 hrs week / 12 weeks )
- Varsity Track and Field (4 years , 13 hrs week / 16 weeks)
- School Newspaper (1 year, 5 hours week / 32 weeks)
- CEC = Peer Tutoring at School (1 year , 5 hours week / 32 weeks)
- Spanish Club (2 years , meets once a month)
- Cultural Volunteer Group (2 years, meets occasionaly throughout the year)</p>
<p>...Looking at that, there are about 3 things that usually eat up a lot of time (XC/Track,Newspaper,Tutoring)</p>
<p>At school, there are a good amount of "minor" clubs available that meet 1x or 2x a week, that sort of deal. Will it truly help that I join a few of these clubs that only offer a little time or is it too late to do anything? Thanks</p>
<p>Well, you seem to have a solid group of ECs. What do want to get out of these minor clubs? I mean, it's probably not likeley that you will become a president or anything in 2 months, and it's probably not likely that you will be able to contribute much in 2 months. I don't think it's worth it to do these side activities. Even if you put it on college apps, 2 months is going to seem really bad.</p>
<p>The "minor" clubs are exactly what you say, for college apps....I'm not a person that likes to take advantage of the system or not put my part in , so thats how I would sort of feel if I joined these minor clubs...On the other hand, I'm weak in EC's (list) compared to many others....will doing a few clubs help at all as in that person did 7-8 activities, not 5-6 or will it just look like a list of blah...thanks for the reply</p>
<p>I was thinking of joining the school newspaper this year actually. Before this year I never thought people would be interested in political news but I was thinking of trying out anyways. Now I genuinely want to try, and I shouldn't because it will look bad on college applications? (Hehe, seems kind of contradictory, since the reason that would go against me joining is that joining for 2 months will look bad on my college applications)</p>
<p>Hey, even better maybe is if I omit it, but the teacher who writes my recommendation also runs the club, and might be able to slip in an anecdote. So the colleges will notice that I omitted it, but will also recognize that I do good work nonetheless?</p>
<p>well either omit it and ask your teacher not to mention it, or keep it and ask your teacher to elaborate on it and why you only joined for senior year so that they know it wasn't just a show-off EC</p>
<p>well my point was that it might be better to omit it, and allow the teacher to mention it. It might show that I was actually doing things that weren't for the college app.</p>
<p>If it's something political I don't think it'll look bad. The race has been so heated already it's worthwhile to show some interest in current events.</p>
<p>Why would you join a club you don't like just to impress colleges? It makes no sense. Colleges want to see initiative and passion, not that you joined a few more clubs in order to look better. Join a club if you enjoy it.</p>
<p>doesn't anyone do stuff, join clubs, etc because they want to? </p>
<p>egad, this drives me nuts, that everything someone does is done solely with college applications in mind</p>
<p>find a club that looks goood and join it!!! meet new people, do some good, have some fun and it doesn't matter one iota if you put it down or not-if your other ECs are solid, who cares if you joined the movie club, or the ecology club for one year, do it anyway</p>
<p>do you think colleges sit there and go, wow what a great kid, he did all these things, no wait a minute hold on, oh no, he joined debate as a senior!!! bad bad bad senior</p>
<p>don't think so</p>
<p>explain to me exactly how it will LOOK BAD, it may not bump up your chances, but it won't hurt and if you like it, and it make you smile, isn't that a good thing</p>
<p>I know people that stick with an EC even though they hate and dread it, yeah thats smart</p>
<p>good advice citygirlsmom, I don't see why colleges would look down on people who might decide to try something new even if its in the senior year. I find it hard to comprehend that colleges want people with all their "passions" (how cliche that word has become) figured out before they turn 15 years old.</p>
<p>Dig in where you are (things you really like) and achieve leadership positions or accomplishments. Your time would be better spent that way. Also, again assuming that where you have dedicated your time up to this point is authentic in terms of passion, if you need/want to do something else find an offshoot of a current activity (something that gets you more deeply involved). An example might be starting an after school program for underserved kids in your community, so they can try out track & field or cross country.</p>
<p>why does everyone discourage people from trying new things? I don't understand that at all</p>
<p>this attitude that you just stick with what you started as a freshman and don't take chances to try something new is absurd</p>
<p>At D school, we had a star athlete, really nice guy, who decided to try drama as a SR, got a lead role, totally unexpected, was amazing, and he decided to not pursue sports in college, even as a recruited athlete, because he found something new...he didn't care if he got another lead, he just discovered an EC that made him happier than his sports did at that [hase of his life, and he never regretted the change</p>
<p>I agree, citygirlsmom. I was saying the same thing, really. I just didn't think the OP should join things b/c of how they look (but instead follow his/her passions). </p>
<p>On the other hand, maybe I do think that using the end of college to try new things, if at the expense of significant leadership positions or achievements in ongoing passions, might weaken your file as an applicant. That is of course if you are applying to schools where these things can break a tie among other 2400/4.0 kids. In such a situation, I believe it would be a better strategy to wait until college to try new things. </p>
<p>I understand how much of a contradiction that might seem with what we should be doing in high school, but the reality is that the college admissions game is more competitive than ever and if someone wants to play it best using a strategy is the way to go. My opinion is only applicable to the very specific situations that I described.</p>
<p>BTW - the athlete you described didn't give up much iin terms of attractiveness to adcoms IMO (scholarships aside). Getting a LEAD in a play, after being an accomplished athlete, just makes him seem even more appealing.</p>