<p>rmldad: valid question. I’m an avid church goer and have served in many high capacities as well. </p>
<p>Simply attending services is very different than being an active member of the community – especially given the many areas available to serve. I stand by my assertion: simple church/mosque/temple attendance being listed as an EC is straw-grasping. Being a young person very active in the congregation is altogether different and can be a GREAT source of meaningful ECs.</p>
<p>lookingforward - I think you and I agree on this.</p>
<p>If an applicant loves to read and sets aside a regular time each week/day for reading, then it can be listed as an EC. Hopefully a passive endeavor such as this will not be very high in importance on their activity list, but if it is a significant part of his/her life then it should be included. It would be better if this love of reading manifested itself in joining (or starting) a book discussion club, volunteering at the library or starting an adult literacy tutoring group.</p>
<p>The key is not simply listing the activity, but describing how it helps define you and how you impact the world through it.</p>
<p>Most students would not list going to church regularly as an EC.</p>
<p>However there is no standard definition of EC.</p>
<p>So, if one actually goes to church regularly, listing it as such would IMO not be misleading or sneaky in any way. Unless there were some more traditional EC’s that went with it – e.g., volunteering at church, participating in youth group, etc., I’m not sure how it would help to list it. All ECs are not created equal.</p>
<p>For some, attending church takes up a significant part of their time and prevents them from participating in many other ECs due to the time commitment. Until I see written guidance from colleges and universities, or from the College Board saying it’s not an EC, I see no reason why it can’t be listed if it’s important to the applicant.</p>
<p>This is complicated by the fact that we’re talking religion. But, lots of things are important to us. Here, the context is a college application. Getting an admit because they like your performance as well as your energy and engagement, some hints of your impact and judgment, etc. You can list it. You can list loving the Yakees and watching all their games. But, you can also ask yourself what it tells stranger adcoms about you, that they need to know, to build the class they want. </p>
<p>I can’t think of a college that would dismiss a kid from consideration because religion took up that many hours in his life. But, in the app context, remember they are looking for kids who engage beyond what’s put in front of them in hs, can show some ways they offer their time and energy, as part of who they are. Proceed with caution. Some schools don’t care. But even the UCs are holistic. I am pretty sure if OP rethinks, he or she has more than just attending.</p>
<p>@lookingforward</p>
<p>I agree that few if any schools would dismiss a kid from consideration because religion took up many hours of his/her life. However, more important – if a school did reject a kid for that reason, the kid probably wouldn’t be comfortable attending that school in the first place.</p>
<p>D counted the two church plays she participated as EC’s. (She put months of rehearsal time in) and the time she spends assisting the Youth leaders with the youngster during church service as service hours. (About an hour per month for the last 3 years). She never considered attendence as an EC.</p>
<p>I think if you keep in mind that the UC apps also ask about number of hours, and if someone attends church six hours a week ( and I know folks who do, if you count the Wed thing), that might give it a different meaning.</p>
<p>FWIW, after 10 or more years of my kids attending a “Christian” school, then filling out the UC app, and realizing the religion classes they had to take every year that didn’t “count”, meant fewer classes they could take that did, I was happy my D had enough leadership and involvement in religious activities for it to be a “thing”.</p>
<p>I would love to have what some of you are smoking. Going to church is not an EC in anyway whatsoever. This is laughable. Do you really think adcoms are going to sit there and be floored about someone attending church? They are looking for leadership. </p>
<p>Here are the exact examples given by the UC app:</p>
<p>Examples: team captain of varsity soccer team, student body president, school yearbook editor, first chair of high school symphony orchestra, lead actor of high school play, JROTC Leadership Education Training</p>
<p>Do you notice a trend? “Captain” “President” “Editor” “First Chair” “Lead Actor” “Leadership”</p>
<p>Hopefully I got the point through to you. Simply attending church is in no way an EC. If you don’t have any EC’s don’t put it down. It looks like you are doing it as a last resort since you have nothing to show for.</p>
<p>OP’s question is “Simply going to church”. Nothing further. Unless you involve in something that shows leadership, do not bother putting it down. It will be grasping at straws. If you are involved in something in church that portrays a leadership role, then by all means put it.</p>
<p>Attending Church is certainly not an extracurricular.</p>
<p>If colleges allowed religious services to be considered an EC, everyone would put that down and it would make absolutely no difference as to whether or not you get in.</p>
<p>It’s obviously an EC. That’s not the question.
Here’s a list of ECs that I would not list, unless it’s the ONLY thing you can list:
Attending church.
Reading.
Working crossword puzzles.
Going on long walks in the woods alone.
Going to the opera.
These things are all activities, and they are all extracurricular. But they are not the sort of thing that make you look all that good–but they’re better than nothing.
Here’s a list of some activities that aren’t better than nothing, and (in my opinion) shouldn’t be listed even if they are all you do:
Video games.
Watching TV.
Gambling.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe I was wrong.</p>
<p>Going to church can be considered an EC. Is it worth mentioning? Probably not…however if you’re involved with church functions or if you volunteer there, that is definitely worth putting on an application.</p>
<p>Well, I help serve food, help clean up, and attend a youth fellowship. Thought those tasks were too petty to be mentioned. I guess that works then?</p>
<p>Serve food to whom? The homeless? Or the church attendees after church?</p>
<p>Just church attendees for lunch.</p>
<p>“I would love to have what some of you are smoking.”</p>
<p>I am smoking scotch bonnets and I have WAY too many, so…send a postage paid envelope. </p>
<p>" Going to church is not an EC in anyway whatsoever. This is laughable. Do you really think adcoms are going to sit there and be floored about someone attending church?"</p>
<p>What if someone spends their time without regard to what would make adcoms “floored”? That has been the most eye opening part of CC to me. </p>
<p>"If colleges allowed religious services to be considered an EC, everyone would put that down "</p>
<p>Insidious813; Because everyone attends, or because they would lie? I realize you can only speak for yourself.</p>
<p>Some folks come here to find what will floor adcoms, and some kids just do it. No longer relevant in MY house, but I hope the kids who “just to do it” find their fit.</p>
<p>"'If colleges allowed religious services to be considered an EC, everyone would put that down '</p>
<p>Insidious813; Because everyone attends, or because they would lie? I realize you can only speak for yourself."</p>
<p>In response to your question, because everyone attends. For those who don’t (such as myself), I honestly wouldn’t want to put that as an EC anyways even though I did attend Church for the first 14 years of my life.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to put myself in the adcom’s chair. If I saw someone who had “Attending Church” as an EC, I would personally completely disregard that because it’s so normal and I’m pretty sure nearly 80% of the world goes to some sort of religious service. Especially because of the fact that in the Catholic Church (not sure about how other religions do this but I know the Catholic Church does it this way), you are obligated to go to Church. Therefore, a religious obligation should not be considered an EC.</p>
<p>Going back to the person who asked this question originally, if you server food to people there and clean up and whatnot, you can put that down as something like “Helping local community parish” or something similar to that. Also, if that’s the only EC you can think of, I would highly recommend putting it down because anything can help if you’re a bit shabby on your EC’s.</p>
<p>Good luck,
~Insidious813</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>“Active involvement in XYZ church, including assisting [deacons] in food service and cleanup and participation in Youth Fellowship.”</p>
<p>“In response to your question, because everyone attends.” Maybe in your neighborhood, Insidious 813. In my neighborhood, people go on the holidays and that’s about it. I’d guess less than a quarter of my neighborhood go more often - and the kids are too busy ‘flooring’ the adcoms with their participation on soccer teams.</p>
<p>You can list anything you want on your application, but those who read it won’t consider it an EC unless you are volunteering to do something - youth ministry, choir, soup kitchen, etc. Best of luck with you college applications!</p>