<p>Okay, I'm sure that this has been asked, but I couldn't find anything addressing this specifically.</p>
<p>The CommonApp (but this really isn't a CommonApp question) has spaces for Hrs/Wk and Wks/Yr, so I don't have to worry about my activities being seasonal anymore. However, I don't know how to report hours for activities that meet in "clumps" of time.</p>
<p>Say math club. We meet at school, but we might meet every other week for an additional 3 hours of practice. How do I report this? Should I just average it? In addition, where do the actual competitions fit in? I'm gone for like 9-12 hours for them, but it's on one day. Do I just put these into the total as well? I want to report them (because I'm giving up a weekend to go!) but I don't know how to.</p>
<p>In addition, I'm kind of worried about the amount of time I'm putting in. For some activities, I only put in 1-3 hours, but I'm distinguished at the state level. For many posters, that seems to be low, but I don't know how long I should be spending on my activities if spending more time wouldn't actually produce results. Given that most of my activities involve some sort of competition or convention, we just put in the time needed to win or do well at the state level. Many times, that's not more than three hours a week of practice (on average).</p>
<p>I'll throw in a hug too (cookies and hugs...who can resist?). Thanks for any responses.</p>
<p>What you would do is count up the total number of hours, from the hours every other week and the competitions. Then you divide by the number of weeks involved; the colleges don't need to know that they met every other week. Just count the weeks when you did do the activity. If in any given week you did not do a practice session but you did go to a long competition, count that as one of the weeks.</p>
<p>1-3 hours/week and distinguished at the state level makes sense. Many posters embellish on the time they spend on ECs. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm just worried because I see the "OMG, 25 hours a week on this and this" frequently. I'm getting my Eagle Scout, and my average for Boy Scouts is 2-3 hours per week. Is that awful? :( I don't think so, but...</p>
<p>2-3 hrs/wk is fine, because I'm assuming you're involved in a lot of less time-consuming activities. I do cross country in the summer/fall and speech in the winter/spring and easily put 25 hrs/wk into each. But those are really the only things I'm heavily involved in, so it's all even, really.</p>
<p>^ Right, I'm not involved in an organized sport; the activities in which I'm involved are by nature less time-consuming. I just wanted to make sure that this was okay, especially for top colleges. I'm definitely passionate about what I do, but they just don't require 20+ hours a week...</p>
<p>Winning/excelling at the state level shows that you're definitely passionate. I'm betting the kids who put 30 hr/wk into certain activities also aren't involved in as many activities as you are (or maybe they ARE completely sleep-deprived, lol) ;)</p>
<p>2-3 hours a week is probably pretty typical of most high school clubs. Actually it's generally less for most clubs at my relatively noncompetitive, uninvolved high school. </p>
<p>There are however some hobbies or groups of activities that do take more time and dedication... If you're a cellist and play in 3 orchestras on top of taking solo lessons and practicing every day.. that'll probably come out to more than 3 hours a week; those who do research will often spend more than 15 hours a week in the lab; actors will spend more than three hours a week at rehearsal. However, heading the literary magazine at school probably won't consistantly take more than an hour a week, unless you guys are amazing and put out like a new issue every month or something. And unless your team is uber hardcore, math team obviously won't meet for that long; neither will the quiz bowl or french club. I think that colleges understand that different activities take different amounts of time, even if they involve the same "level of passion"- again, I use this.. phrase hesitantly.</p>
<p>Though kyledavid- I would venture that I am most definately not embellishing my hours. It actually kind of offends me that you generalize that everyone is embellishing, and I'm not one to be offended easily. I just happen to be very passionate about a couple activities that do take up a lot of time. That and my "main extracurriculars" -I hate the term extracurriculars- are more hobbies than structured activities. My structured activities don't take that long either- they just tie into my hobbies as well. Just be careful what you say. Even if some people may be embellishing, there are certainly people who are not. I happen to like catching up on sleep in history class in exchange for another hour of practicing piano/writing/whatever. :)</p>
<p>Am I deserving of a virtual cookie too? Or a hug? I'm not too picky.</p>
<p>Thanks pianista; you get a cookie and a hug. See link above.</p>
<p>Anyway, I understand. Some things, like my piano, take 6+ hours a week. But I'm not involved in anything that could possibly justify 30+ hours a week.</p>
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Though kyledavid- I would venture that I am most definately not embellishing my hours. It actually kind of offends me that you generalize that everyone is embellishing, and I'm not one to be offended easily. I just happen to be very passionate about a couple activities that do take up a lot of time.
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<p>There's no need to explain yourself. Why be offended? I never said that everyone is embellishing. Reread my post; I said "many posters" and then "mostly embellishing."</p>
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That and my "main extracurriculars" -I hate the term extracurriculars- are more hobbies than structured activities.
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<p>Agreed. Many of the things I did in high school were personal activities that took up a lot of my time and that I was passionate about. If I included those, my "EC time/week" would have exceeded 40 hours. I didn't list them in the EC section, but I did explain them in the additional info.</p>