<p>A lot of people put church volunteering as part of ECs, so I wonder if there is a point in putting 10 years of chinese school on the app?</p>
<p>I don't think it applies, it's very "intra-curricular," not "extra-curricular" as the term implies. Chinese school in itself would still just be part of your education and it probably didn't involve interest and activity like EC is supposed to be.</p>
<p>I disagree. Perhaps cbpeanut is misunderstanding what you mean by Chinese school (or perhaps I am), but if it's like the ones my friends went to, it involves spending your Saturday afternoons learning Chinese. I would definitely call that an EC...you're spending you time doing an activity that is unrelated/not required by school, and it is enriching you culturally. Even better would be if, as you got older, you've helped out with teaching and stuff.</p>
<p>Ohhhhh
I see what pinnipotto means hahaha...</p>
<p>I'm Korean, so when people refer to "Korean school" we talk about going to like a public school, so i guess i misunderstood him.</p>
<p>But yeah, in that way, you could write it as an EC, probably emphasizing what you did there, what you learned, etc..</p>
<p>You can list them but it won't help you stand out. I read one book, I think Marilyn Jones from MIT said there are tons of kids with Chinese/Korean language school, violin or piano, high math scores, etc.. made it really hard for them to distinguish themselves on paper.</p>
<p>imo an extracurricular is anything done outside of the classes you take at your school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think Marilyn Jones from MIT said there are tons of kids with Chinese/Korean language school, violin or piano, high math scores, etc.. made it really hard for them to distinguish themselves on paper.
[/quote]
will playing viola or playing sports "distinguish themselves on paper"?</p>
<p>^^Don't know, some sports are more popular with Asians like tennis. I think cello is a differentiator but viola/violin/piano are not. I also heard crew is differentiator.</p>
<p>^how about clarinet, trumpet?</p>
<p>^I don't know.</p>
<p>lol, I didn't know cello was a differentiator. I went to Japanese school, and put that, along with being a TA there, as an EC.</p>
<p>Clarinet/Trumpet are regular instruments that aren't really stereotypically assigned to a race.</p>
<p>cbpeanut is right on this one. </p>
<p>Chinese school or study in "intra"curricula. Schools wants to use "Extra"curricula to gauge a student's outside committement,leadership,interaction with community. Learning Chinese unless you do something with it like working as an interpreter is not an EC. If you list it as EC you just increased someone else's chance.</p>
<p>Chinese school usually isn't just "Learning Chinese." Chinese schools usually also function as community centers for the Chinese diaspora.</p>
<p>but lets say that i used my exp in chinese school as part of my personal statement. Will that help me stand out?</p>
<p>How is cello a differentiator while viola is not? It always seem that there's too many cellists, but not enough viola players (violists? =p) =_____=</p>
<p>But I'm not complaining, I play the cello =)</p>
<p>Ya, violin and cello far outnumber violas.</p>
<p>"Learning Chinese unless you do something with it like working as an interpreter is not an EC."</p>
<p>This is blatantly wrong. If you actively do something meaningful outside of school, then it is an *extra*curricular. I, for one, study many languages outside of school (at the community college, with official organizations in my town, etc.), because language is my passion. </p>
<p>And if you have to devote time to it on Saturday, then I'd say it's an EC.</p>
<p>zzzzzzz this is so typical asian, colleges won't care at all, especially top tier schools. I flunked out of mine a while ago too. It's like playing the violin (which i do as well haha) or the piano. Wont help much.</p>
<p>My D school offers 3 instruments: violin/viola/cello. Cello has the least number of students, my guess is that it is a big instrument to carry around, very inconvenient. My D played cello but she quit after 3 years because she did not like to babysit this big instrument after school.</p>