Being well rounded?

[81perkins]

<p>Just a general question here. Why do colleges want us to be well rounded academically, and take a lot of foriegn language and APs in all subjects even if it has nothing to do with our future major, but not participate in too many clubs, activities, and sports. Most colleges say they want a kid who is heavily involved in 2 clubs instead of being pretty active in 5 - 10. Just seems very hypocritical to me.</p>

[BrownParent]

<p>No college specifes how many clubs to get in. Wherever you are getting that information from is wrong. AP’s are never required for college, it’s just that it may help you at competitive ones. For noncompetitive it may not matter at all. Colleges want a certain level of education that is considered basic knowledge an educated person should have no matter what their profession. If you want a vocational school, go to one, they won’t care. You can also find colleges that don’t require foreign languages.</p>

[intparent]

<p>I think kids are fine with those who are in a lot of activities, as long as you have real depth in one or two of them. Completely superficial ECs don’t impress them. But my D2 had more ECs than fit in the Common App space (needed to use the additional info section). A couple with a lot of depth, and the rest not as much. And she got into U of Chicago, Swarthmore, and Harvey Mudd.</p>

[gibby]

<p>This is a very google-able answer. If you search college websites for “Preparing For College” or “Choosing High School Courses” or “Extra Curricular Activities” you can find the answer. Here are several that I found:</p>

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A good high school education should do more than prepare you for the next level of education or for later employment—it should prepare you to take advantage of future learning opportunities of all kinds. You should gain particular skills and information, as well as a broad perspective on the world and its possibilities.</p>

<p>Academic strength is our first consideration in evaluating any candidate. The single most important document in your application is your high school transcript, which tells us a great deal about your academic drive and performance over time. We look for students who have consistently taken a broad range of challenging courses in high school and done well. Your high school teachers can provide extremely helpful information in their evaluations. Not only do they discuss your performance in their particular class or classes, but often they write about such things as your intellectual curiosity, energy, relationships with classmates, and impact on the classroom environment. Obviously it is important to ask for recommendations from teachers who know you well.</p>

<p>The term “extracurricular activities” covers an enormous amount of ground. We are interested in whatever a student does: in addition to school extracurricular activities and athletics, students can tell us of significant community, employment, or family commitments. There are many who spend a great deal of time helping to run their household, preparing meals and caring for siblings or making money with a part-time job to help the household meet expenses.</p>

<p>Unfortunately many schools have had to curtail or eliminate extracurricular activities and athletics, or they charge fees for participation. In addition, many students cannot afford expensive musical instruments or athletic equipment — or have families without the resources to pay for lessons, summer programs and the transportation networks necessary to support such activities.</p>

<p>Admissions Committees keep these factors in mind as they review applications, and are concerned most of all to know how well students used the resources available to them. Extracurricular activities need not be exotic — most are not — and substance is far more important. A student who has made the most of opportunities day-to-day during secondary school is much more likely to do so during college and beyond. This applies to academic life as well as extracurricular activities.

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