<p>So this is my tentative list of plans for this year. I am a sophomore and did nothing freshman year so I am now starting to try figuring things out. Still I'm quite unsure of myself. Please tell me what you think. </p>
<p>-Mock Trial or Debate (yet to choose)
-Model UN
-Environmental Club
-Teenage Democrats
-Community Service Club
-Magazine club (we help create a non-school-sponsored, creative magazine)
-organize fundraiser to raise money for people in natural disasters
-tutor elementary school kids all year
-work at homeless shelter or work at senior center in the summer
-member of elections committee
-do political campaigning work
-help out on election day</p>
<p>Possibilities:
-no chance of this... but possibly a student member of some Board Of Education committee/council if I get in
-possible chance of this: SGA representative
-very little chance of this: win essay contests? I'm gonna enter a ton because I love to write.
-possible chance: do track in the winter and spring if i try out & get in
-try to increase voter awareness, get more young voters to register.</p>
<p>Invoyable, I didn't know you were a sophomore! Holy moly! I thought you were a senior!</p>
<p>Anyway, OP, depth, not breadth is the key. Participate in a few activities that you will make a big difference in. Cal Newport's Study Hacks blog has some good posts about why fewer activities is better.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Invoyable, I didn't know you were a sophomore! Holy moly! I thought you were a senior!
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Why / how / what? ;) </p>
<p>I'm flattered, but nah..I have a long way to go. </p>
<p>But I agree with the advice above, it seems like you're jumping from 0 EC's to hordes of them for...college? </p>
<p>I'm not one of those "omg you must have passion in one area and do what you love in one area or no passion" people, but still it seems a bit random.</p>
<p>Can you go from 0 to like 15 Ec's at once? Assuming you'll be busy, eh, you'll want to hang out with your friends, relax, and have fun a couple times a week.</p>
<p>We're sophomores. Let's take it a little easy. ;)</p>
<p>See, that's my problem. There are so many activities I am really interested in that I'm having trouble narrowing it down to a few worthwhile ones. I'm not actually doing all those things just to look good for colleges as it may seem. You don't have to list all the activities you do on college applications anyways, right? Could I choose senior year which activities I want to include/which I don't if I DO decide to do all/most of the activities I am contemplating joining?</p>
<p>But for real, college is only partly why I want to do those activities. I am just interested in growing into a productive person and hey, if I don't start in high school, when do I start?</p>
<p>That's a good idea (doing a variety and then mentioning the most important on your applications); it's more or less what I plan to do (though I have fewer overall activities). But the thing is, it's harder to make an impact when your attention is split a million ways. If you think you can give it your all in almost everything (without letting your grades slip or going insane), then go ahead. I wouldn't be able to manage it, but maybe you can. :)</p>
<p>But if, for example, you find that you love politics but can't find time to go all out in your political activities because of other things, then you should start dropping non-political things.</p>
<p>Also, I understand where you're coming from and that you want to be productive, but you should also heed Invoyable's advice. High school comprises the last years of our life before we're adults. Don't try to accomplish everything before you're even 18! Productivity is good; sanity is better.</p>
<p>You could, but unless it's significant it probably won't be helpful. TeenInk is like really easy to get published (my friends randomly submitted stuff and got published), and a blog won't help unless there are like many subscribers and a really active, dedicated one.</p>
<p>
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I see. Thanks. You know a lot about what colleges want for just having entered sophomore year!
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definitely not; LMFAO. I'm the least informed about colleges/EC's/etc on this website. It's just a balance between common sense and personal experience/knowledge, really.</p>
<p>Hahaha I don't mean serious actual campaigning. :) I mean door-to-door stuff for your local Congressman to get re-elected, that kind of stuff. If I did it, I would do it through Teenage Democrats at my school. Someone I know did that sort of work when she was my age, so I'm sure I could also do it..</p>
<p>Wow that is way too many EC's, especially since they aren't very focused or special (except for a few of them).</p>
<p>I'm not an expert on admissions, but i'm pretty sure if you have focused EC's that colleges will see more of a personality in your application rather than just a number. It's only your sophomore year, I think you should focus on 1-2 things you like whether it is debate or writing. If you're not very interested in humanitarian efforts (it appears you're more interested in other things), then don't do them.</p>
<p>^ Let's not get into this whole "Omg you must be interested in one or two areas like science/math or it's auto-non-passion! zomg!!! and you must have either all writing/humanities stuff or all math/sciences!!!" bs, especially because it's not completely true.</p>
<p>Your EC's are fine but I think it's too much.</p>
<p>I don't know how girl scouts work anymore, but try to get in that and get your gold award.</p>
<p>I think a good set of extracurriculars is:</p>
<p>-Eagle Scout/Gold Award
-1 Sport
-1 Service Club (Key Club > NHS fwiw)
-Something old fashioned (aka, something like Altar Serving for your church).
-1 club related to your major, with leadership role in. (Ex. work on the school newspaper and become an editor if you're going into journalism, cure cancer if you are going into biology, etc. etc.).</p>
<p>To sum it up. The Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts thing is good, because it displays you as a leader. People know a lot goes into an Eagle Award. The sport shows that you're not a loser. (Sports like basketball, volleyball, football, wrestling will help you more at top universities than preppy sports like swimming, lacrosse, and a no-cut sport like track/cross country). Service Club to show that you're making the world a better place. Old Fashioned stuff is good for the older members in the admissions office. And the major related club (not something dumb like science club, etc either) can be used to show your talent in that field. (As a lot of the tops will admit a certain number of students for each major program.)</p>
<p>Plus you won't be killing yourself. Your major related would probably be all year, multiple times a week. The sport would only be for one season. Scouting stuff would only be like 3-4 times a month. The old fashioned type thing could be like once a month, and the service club, is probably all year, once a week meetings, but you can go in and out of being active, even in a leadership role.</p>