Are my EC's good enough?

[garciac]

<p>My EC's go as follows
- delivering meals to elderly people 50 hours
- internship in nyc in august 3-4 days a week at a SONY
- contractors assistant since freshman year every summer for my dad (my main summer job)
- Altar server since 5th grade
-1 week tenessee service trip
-2 seasons of track
-1 season of rugby plan to do again in 12th grade. </p>

<p>My question is how do you think my EC's are? I know i dont have any leadership or long term commitments so im really nervous now. Im applying to top 50-30 universities such as BC and Holy cross. What doyou think my chances are with these ec's? Any advice would be appreciated. I also left out that i was a navy sea cadet and that i did italian club for two years because i wasnt incredibly serious about either. Both have about 40 hours each. I already sent in my common app so its probably too late anyway but cant hurt asking. Thanks!</p>

<p>Ps i posted this on another thread but really just trying to get as much help as possible.</p>

[M_s_Mom]

<p>Go to the Common Data Set for each school that you applied to and look at Section C. It will tell you the relative weight that the school gives to different parts of your application. Many don’t care about ECs at all - and others just want to know that you will be a contributing member of the school community. Only the selective schools care about impact or achievement. In short, what you have on your application is sufficient, and frankly, what I find most interesting/impressive is that you’ve been working every summer as a contractors assistant for your dad. I’m sure it’s hard work and has taught you a lot. The rest is stuff that everyone has and that’s just fine.</p>

[mikemac]

<p>The question about impressive ECs comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says

Students often assume our primary concern is the number of activities in which one participates. In fact, an exceptional depth of experience in one or two activities may demonstrate your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the impact you have had on that club, in your school, or in the larger community, and we want to learn of the impact that experience has had on you.

</p>

<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>