what ec 's are considered “strong?” I mean I am a rising junior by sept and I honestly do not think I have done something big other than several clubs&teams. If I were to make clubs, what clubs are there that are considered “impressive?” I am fine with any club, just want some ideas being that our school does not offer many clubs. btw how big of a role does et play in application also
The quality of your involvement matters more than the type of activity. Colleges want to see focus, dedication, accomplishment, and leadership (if possible) in whatever activities you’ve done. Here is a statement from a Yale admissions officer ([source](http://questions.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/qa-college-admissions/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=3)):
“The thing we are looking for outside the classroom is not a series of check boxes on a resume; we’re looking instead for a high level of engagement or leadership in whatever it is that the student cares about most. For some students, community service is at the forefront of their extracurriculars, in which case we pay a lot of attention to what they have accomplished in that area. For other students, some other passion or interest holds primary sway, and we evaluate the engagement in that area. We know that very few students can fully engage more than one or two primary activities at a high level. Though it is fine for a student to have varied interests, a significant number of students make the common mistake of spreading themselves too thinly in a resume-building exercise.”
You should also keep in mind that your ECs don’t have to be school-sponsored activities. If you’re involved in something productive outside of school, that counts too.
Grades, course rigor, and test scores are the most important factors for almost all colleges (you can see this by looking at Common Data Sets). Selective colleges consider extracurriculars and essays because they need a way to differentiate among their applicants with high grades and test scores.
Ok…and I want to make clubs.what are some good clubs that I can make? Our school doesnt have too many so I think I can make em
It’s not about making a club that sounds impressive. Make a club that you would want to make, related to a hobby or interest that you’re passionate about. Something that I did:
Over the last year or so, I’ve been working with my local library to create a video game club. It would basically be a place where anyone between the ages of 10-18 can come together and play games, while library employees walk around and basically poll the attendants on their thoughts on the library. The library is located in a weird part of town, so it doesn’t get many young people, and it has struggled to get attendance in any of the teen programs. The library is also funded by the county government, so we had to jump through a lot of hoops to fund the purchase of the games and the console. We even had to hold a “trial run” where we advertised a “gaming party” and I brought in my system and games, to see how much interest there was. We got like 40 people in the door! We got approved to purchase the games and system a few weeks ago! Starting next month, the library will be holding the video game club every other week! A big reason why the club was such a draw for so many people was because I live in an area where not many people can afford to buy video games or the latest consoles, which is why I wanted to create the club in the first place.
On paper, “Founded a video game club” may not sound “impressive”, but that’s not really what I cared about. I just wanted to bring something that I’m passionate about (video games) to a larger group of people! You should try to think that same way.
ok thx
Are you more of a humanities person or a science/math person? That depends a lot.
If you lean more towards humanities, history, english, etc, some impressive EC’s are: Model UN, Debate team, Speech team, business competitions (DECA, BPA), writing competitions.
If you’re math/sciency: Science Olympiad, science team, Academic Team, math competitions, math team.
General clubs: key club, community service clubs, etc. But these really do not add much if you want to apply to a top school.
Just listing these clubs on your app won’t look impressive, you need to excel and have a genuine interest in the EC’s you choose.