<p>I've got a lot of athletic based ECs - equivalent of JV for 5 sports and V for 3 (Im an international student) - but not a huge amount outside of them - no music/math/science/Model UN sort of groups...Will this hurt me? I'm captain of the chess club and class president, but not a huge amount else. Will applications want more in the way of academic ECs, or is it irrelevant what sort they are? Im going to apply to HYPS, MIT etc...</p>
<p>You’ll probably be fine. If you’re paranoid then go volunteer and do some academic-based activities over the summer.</p>
<p>thanks for the input</p>
<p>Yes, for these schools unless you’re recruited for a sport, nit having depth in an EC will hurt a lot. Kids get into these schools on ECs, they differentiate you once you have the stats.</p>
<p>It’s not that I haven’t DONE EC’s - it’s just I don’t really have time for many of them other than sport - ~25 hours of training a week for my main 2. Does the type of ECs have much of a bearing?</p>
<p>Well if you’ve put all of that time into sports, you’d interest them if you’ve reached an exceptional level and could play for them or your country. These schools aren’t looking for kids who’ve just put lots of time into things, they’re looking for those who have truly excelled at whatever they do.</p>