<p>Hello all!</p>
<p>I am going to become a senior this September, and I've been wondering about college applications. </p>
<p>So far, I have volunteered for 4 years at a preschool, I am the editor-in-chief of my school newspaper, and I am part of the National Honor Society.</p>
<p>Are those extracurricular activities and community services enough?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Well, it depends on:
a) Which schools you're looking at
b) How much time you devote to each activity</p>
<p>Do you put in time each week at the volunteer activity? If so, then that's probably a very significant use of your time.
How about the editor-in-chief job? How many hours do you spend there?
And finally, NHS is really huge at some schools, and little more than a formality at others. Do you elect officers, volunteer, meet regularly, etc?</p>
<p>I would say that, unless you are very involved with sports or an after-school job, top-25 schools would probably wonder why you currently don't do many activities. It will be hard for them to get a feel of what sort of person you are.</p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I think it really depends on what kinds of schools your applying to. For most schools, as long as you show your passion and commitment to the activities you're involved in, that's probably enough. But for super selective schools like the Ivies, that's a differnet story... so yeah, it really depends. But remember, quality is more important than quantity. Good luck to you though!</p>
<p>I've worked for 4 years at a local preschool in the summer, 5 days a week from 8 to 3. </p>
<p>As the editor-in-chief of the newspaper club, I'm probably going to be spending most of my afterschool on the paper.</p>
<p>Should I get involved in more activities?</p>
<p>At this point, I think that getting involved in a lot of activities would actually be a bad decision. It's much better to have committments that you've kept for a year or longer...by joining tons of clubs at the start of your senior year, you might only make yourself look desperate.
But, you could always try doing one or two meaningful activities that you think would convey your personality better. Since you work at the preschool all summer, maybe you could find an after-school job during the schoolyear. Or, if you're really interested in medicine, for example, maybe you can take a class and become certified as a nurse's aid. there are some activities you could do that wouldn't make you look like you're just jumping on the bandwagon.<br>
of course, it really depends on which schools you would like to go to. you appear to be a really hardworking individual--something that would appeal to many schools! But the top-25 can be pretty harsh with the way they view ECs.</p>
<p>i should add-- ECs aren't everything. if you have solid test scores, disgustingly good recs, and well-written essays, you have just as fair a chance as anyone!</p>
<p>What do the top 25 colleges expect in terms of ECs?</p>