<p>I notice in some of these threads that people do a variety of ec activities from art to sports to the debate club.<br>
Do you think colleges really look at the number of clubs and activities you join? </p>
<p>I mean me, I join some clubs here and there (about 4 i think) and for two summers (and soon this summer) I volunteered in a hospital. Some of the things I enjoy most like play the guitar and piano arent really affiliated with any sort of group activity except with me myself and I. </p>
<p>If the best colleges are looking at your character, do they depend on the number of activities you are involved in?</p>
<p>What concerns me the most are the colleges I am planning on applying to: UPenn, JHU, BostonU, Amherst, URochester...</p>
<p>Yeah, its just the activities that sort of worry me at the moment.</p>
<p>let's just say the "AVERAGE" applicant to MIT has done 12 extracurricular activities by the time they apply..(i got this from the article on the other board)</p>
<p>they matter for the Ivies much more than for lower-tier schools. For schools like Harvard, it's impossible to distinguish based on grades and scores when half the applicant class has a 4.0 and 1550+.</p>
<p>as long as ur scores are very strong (3.9+ gpa and 1500+ old sat), u shouldn't have a problem with most schools. however at ivys, u need a few clubs where u show strong commitement (grades 9-12 and hopefully some leadership). but as i said, if u dont have strong ecs u definetely need strong scores and sat scores (and sat 2 scores)</p>
<p>for the top colleges, is it that important to have a large amount of extracurriculars, as opposed to just good ones?</p>
<p>for example, if someone is extremely devoted to one club, with a state/national office, state/national awards, etc., and reasonably devoted to 2 more, with local officer positions in them, and then is a member of maybe 2-4 more clubs, will the lower number of clubs be a problem? or will colleges take into account how much more of a time commitment that first club is? (this is assuming the 3.9+ and 1500+)</p>
<p>time commitment is the factor of utmost consideration when colleges look at ecs. if a person does a million clubs but doesn't show any devotion to them they will be viewed as laundry lists, people who just joined clubs to "look good" on their college apps. In contrast if you have someone who did a few clubs (even as few as 2 or 3), but showed devotion either by leadership or organizing club activities, they will fulfill the requirments of adcoms. Of course, i can't stress enough, if you're low in teh ecs area, make sure you strongly compensate for them with gpa and sat scores. And at top colleges such as HPYS, admissions is a toss up anyways even if you think you look like the "ideal candidate".</p>
<p>Can someone tell me on a scale of 1-10, how strong my ECs are?</p>
<ul>
<li>Key Club Chief Secretary for 3 years</li>
<li>Key Club President for one year</li>
<li>Tennis Captain for four years</li>
<li>All League Varsity Tennis Sophomore year</li>
<li>Vice president of National Honors Society</li>
<li>Member of National Society of High School Scholars</li>
<li>Member of Junior Statesmen of America</li>
<li>Member of CSF</li>
<li>Co-founder and president of Future Business Leaders of America</li>
<li>200+ volunteer hours at the local hospital</li>
</ul>
<p>Some people say that its not the quantity, but the breadth of what you do throughout HS. So i'm wondering if this is enough as long as im actively involved in everything here.</p>
<p>Local EMS 3 yrs (1500+ hours volunteer, 300+ 9-1-1 calls responded, county youth member of the year, State certified first responde (4 month state course), 1 year as youth squad secretary, 1 year as 1st liutenant, 1 year as captain</p>
<p>Started first American red cross youth chapter in the county (3 blood drives, youth programs, raised $1000 for hurricane relief last year)</p>