<p>On the UC application, that is.</p>
<p>Um… have not seen pure attendance of church used as an EC, so probably not. If you have been active in a church youth group, gone to camp, taught some kind of religious education, volunteered with your church, been an alter person, sung in the choir, etc. – that is all fair game as an EC. But I don’t really think church attendance itself is…</p>
<p>Sorry but it just screams “straw grasping” unless it follows the lines of post #2</p>
<p>Attending church is an EC, but not a very compelling or interesting one. (On the same level as ‘likes to read.’) However, if you are very engaged in your church, per intparent, then yes, I’d list it along with all the time and activities are you engaged in.</p>
<p>If that’s all you’ve got, I guess I’d list it. It at least suggests you do more than play video games. Why don’t you volunteer to be scripture reader, usher, acolyte, or something, and then put that?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consider attending church an extracurricular activity any more than I would consider eating lunch to be one. Teaching in the religious school and volunteering in a soup kitchen are extracurricular activities; simply attending church or merely eating lunch, not so much. JMO.</p>
<p>But the semantics of whether you can or can’t consider church attendance to be an extracurricular may not matter. If it isn’t one, then it’s bogus to list it as one. If it is one, it’s of so little value (for the purposes of college admissions, I mean) that it looks, as T26E4 said, like grasping at straws to list it.</p>
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<p>God, no!</p>
<p>ECs are activities done by students that fall outside the regular daily school curriculum. They are usually non-paying, social, and often philanthropic and/or student-led.</p>
<p>Examples include: student government, clubs, competitions, volunteering, internships, societies, etc.</p>
<p>Simply attending a weekly religious service at a church, mosque or synagogue is not considered an EC.</p>
<p>Going to the movies each Sunday, however, is. ;)</p>
<p>The issue with church is it’s usually family driven. Your parents make the decisions, gather you all up and make it part of your life. There are kids for whom church IS a major part of their lives- but you show this through more than just attending, per whatever the attendance expectations are. You get involved, you do some good, including for the community around you.</p>
<p>Attending church is not an EC.</p>
<p>Of course it’s an EC. It’s extracurricular, and it’s an activity. The problem is that attendance alone doesn’t suggest much participation, commitment, leadership, etc. It’s like being a member of a club, perhaps. (If you were a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at school, surely nobody would say that this wasn’t an EC, even if all you did was go to meetings.)</p>
<p>Going to church, in itself, isn’t really an EC. That’s almost on the same level as going to a restaurant for a weekly lunch special, or going to a club meeting without doing anything.</p>
<p>What you do in church, on the other hand, counts. For example, if you volunteer, go on mission trips, sing in the choir, etc., you can definitely list those activities.</p>
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I don’t agree with this–a church is an organization you belong to, and its worship services are its meetings. So it’s not really much different from any club in which you’re a member, but just attend meetings without doing much else.</p>
<p>I certainly agree that doing something, even if it’s as minimal as occasionally serving as an usher or greeter, would make this a much better EC on an application.</p>
<p>My daughter is putting church down as an EC, but she is a member of the youth council, and the worship committee, and regularly plays the piano for worship services, all of which take time and preparation, not to mention a sacrifice of her social life (no late parties on Saturday nights because she has to get up so early!) So yeah, I’d call that an EC. If the ad comms don’t like it, she won’t be a good fit for their school anyway.</p>
<p>If church is an important part of your life, then put it down. That’s who you are and that’s what the application is supposed to reveal.</p>
<p>I think it’s worth emphasizing that when you’re listing an EC, it’s important to say what you do, and not just what you belong to. This is true whether it’s church, or science club, or a sports team.</p>
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Can we compromise here so as not to make OP crazy? Merely attending church services is indeed outside of the school curriculum and is certainly an activity, but it’s not something admissions people will care about and will add nothing to an application but a possible eyeroll.</p>
<p>MommaJ, I don’t disagree, but I still think I’d advise a kid to put it down if they had nothing else at all. I wouldn’t add it to a list of other activities.</p>
<p>Most religions expect some good deeds- if you can’t somehow list that in the CA, adcoms will not guess. So, just attending is like the issue with just being a “member of” a hs club. No offense against religion intended. </p>
<p>Most of the colleges agree not to discriminate based on, among other things, religious pref. But, I suppose if you are applying to a religious college, it might be good to tell them you go to church.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer to this one. If it’s important to you, put it down. The UCs will make of it what they will.</p>
<p>My inclination is that it should be listed and its importance on the application will correlate directly with how your involvment is described.</p>
<p>I am curious, since the responses to OP seem split roughly 50/50. My kids do attend church (and are invovled during the week/summers as well). Do those posters who discourage OP from listing church as an EC attend or not?</p>
<p>My assumption is that people who don’t attend church are more likely to discount it as an EC. This is true for many ECs: band (when taken as a class); babysitting (as a paid job); etc. Those who do not participate are less likely to understand its importance and impact in the same way as people who are involved.</p>
<p>My kids vol work and community service started at the church or with groups from the church- and far exceeded, in effort and value, what they did through the hs. They didn’t list “attendance” as an EC. They did note the various efforts, projects, things they managed, etc, were as part of that church. </p>
<p>I don’t think posters are discounting the church affiliation- we’re saying just going doesn’t share anything with adcoms that will, one way or another, support your college app. It just says, I go to this church. Considering adcoms are looking for signs of your engagement in the world around you, what does membership show? And, especially, if you note membership of an organization that probably values some sorts of service- and you can’t list any of that?</p>
<p>Imo, the activities you list should relate to the sort of attributes and experiences the colleges consider indicative of your fit there, how you will engage there, maybe pursue leadership. And, of course, your academic and future goals. </p>
<p>Hunt said list it if it’s all you’ve got. Imo, if it’s all you’ve got, well…</p>