<p>I'm not sure what field I would like to go into just yet. I am naturally good at humanities, have discovered a love for the sciences, and math is really intriguing. None of that though adds up to a concrete idea of what I might want to do. I know choosing ECs early and sticking with them is important but I am afraid of choosing the wrong ones.</p>
<p>ECs I will do for sure:</p>
<p>Key Club
Speech and Debate
Newspaper</p>
<p>ECs I'm thinking about:</p>
<p>Future Business Leaders of America
Math League*
Science Research Club
Environmental Club
Model UN (is it worth it?)</p>
<p>I'm scared of joining the Math League. I'm not the strongest math student and as an incoming Freshman I will only be taking Geometry. I plan on going up to AP Calc BC by the end of high school. Maybe it's a really dumb idea but I really like academic oriented extracurriculars. The same goes for Science Research Club. I'm really self conscious about the fact that I'm only a Freshman and others are probably tons smarter than I am.</p>
<p>I haven't figured out volunteering yet either. This August I'll be a food pantry volunteer with a Jewish Family Service organization.</p>
<p>As anyone can see, I'm so lost! I'm scared of joining these different clubs because I have experience in pretty much nothing!</p>
<p>You’re gonna hear this a million times: do what you want not what colleges want. Seriously, colleges are gonna care whether you do newspaper or math league. So long as you can excel in one of them that’s all that matters. And there’s no reason to be insecure around upper classmen. They aren’t necessarily smarter, just more experienced. They actually (IMO) make better friends than people from your own class.</p>
<p>Do what you want to do. If you join a club and excel at it, it will look loads better then randoms clubs that you didn’t really do anything in… quality over quantity, at-least that is how I see it. Don’t be afraid of sophomores, juniors and seniors. There really is no need. I just finished my freshman year and my upperclassmen were amazing and as long as you’re not super annoying - you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>One more piece of advice regarding EC’s: Join a sport!! Track, cross country or really anything else. Are you good at any sports? </p>
<p>Nick, I played soccer but I don’t think I will continue it. I’ve been giving cross country some thought but I’m concerned about whether I’ll be able to do any other extracurriculars. If you practice right after school there is no time to do anything else. It would be hard to join organizations and clubs in November. </p>
<p>goodnoodle, thank you for your response! I hope colleges don’t care about “rigor” of extracurriculars. If that’s even possible!</p>
<p>High school sure seems overwhelming. AP classes, self studying for some, doing actual homework and essays and projects, SAT, multiple SAT IIs, sports, clubs, volunteer, summer classes. Way too scary! Does anyone ever sleep, or possibly get annoyed at all the Barnes and Noble trips to buy all these study books? haha oh man</p>
<p>You’re over thinking it. You don’t have to know for sure you’re going to like an EC. If you think you’re going to like it, try it, even if you’re afraid to. Then if it turns out you don’t, then you can always drop it. Just don’t overwhelm yourself by joining too many EC’s. </p>
<p>Not all clubs meet after school all the time, but I don’t know how it works at your school, so maybe XC might not be a viable option. </p>
<p>High school really isn’t as overwhelming as you’re thinking, really.</p>
<p>By far my biggest regret in high school is waiting until my sophomore year to start playing sports. I can’t overstate how much more I would have enjoyed my freshman year if I had started earlier. If you take only one piece of advice from this entire thread, start a sport as a freshman.</p>
<p>I personally do math club and take the AMC even though I am good but not great at math. If you will enjoy math league go for it, as is the case with all of your ECs. Just pick things you will enjoy. I personally joined a lot freshman year, figured out what I enjoyed and quit the rest…</p>