<p>What would you say is an average and/or good amount of involvement in EC's (hours/week), assuming that I have a very good transcript and test scores and that I am not targeting HYPSM (rather schools like Rice and Johns Hopkins)? I understand that it is necessary to take into consideration the degree of achievement in and particular activities themselves, but I'm more uncertain with the extent of involvement in my case.</p>
<p>How many hours per week do each of you in particular spend on EC's?</p>
<p>There is no formula to follow, Episteme. You’ll have other HS kids telling you to do X volunteer hours or “start a club” or “try sport A or sport B”. That’s all bollocks. Do what interests you – even if no one ever were to ask you for your resume. Be authentic. Don’t do things because of what they look like to others. Please don’t mimic the 1000s of other HS drones you see buzzing around.</p>
<p>The way the OP question is phrased makes me a bit suspicious. Is Episteme a freshman who is trying to map out his/her high school career or a senior who is trying to put together college applications.</p>
<p>If OP is early in high school, T26E4’s advice is solid. Do whatever you want to do, but do it well and use it make an impact in your community.</p>
<p>If OP is a senior who is now working on apps, don’t worry about the number. Rather, focus on the accomplishments of each activity. Hopefully you aren’t someone who is trying to figure out how much you need to “fudge” your numbers to make them seem competitive.</p>
<p>Yes, I am a junior. The reason I asked my question was not to learn how to “fudge” numbers (I’m sorry if it seemed that way), but to gain an understanding of how my current EC’s stand.</p>
<p>At the current moment, my plans have not gone according to plan and I believe that my EC’s are slightly lacking, both in terms of what they are and how much time I spend on them:</p>
<p>Math Club (President): 9-12
2 hr/wk
MathCounts Coach: 10-12
3 hr/wk
NHS/CSF (possibly an officer position): 11-12
1 hr/wk
Tutoring: 10-12
1 hr/wk
Independent Math/ Physics Study for Competitions/Fun
5-7 hr/wk
Reading
5-7 hr/wk</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the last two can even be considered EC’s. In addition, I may only collect 100 hours of community service over my high school career at this pace. I will also participate in math and science competitions this year, but I may not get any tangible results from them; I also plan on doing research this coming summer.</p>
<p>How should I improve these EC’s? Should I add more community service? As per T26E4’s advice, what I really want to do is dive into more of math, physics, and computer sciences; however, I feel that my lack of community service and “traditional” EC’s will hurt me later on.</p>