Do ECs necessarily have to include things you do in school?

<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore. I'm not involved much with clubs... I'm a member of the debate team and I do participate in tournaments and things but I'm not remarkably committed, and the same goes for our Science Competitor's Club. I'm not really attracted to the clubs at my school besides the two I'm in, and even though I like them I don't want to pursue officer positions in the future. It's not so much that I'm afraid of the responsibility than I don't think I'm cut out for that sort of thing; I'm introverted, and while diligent I like working in the background, if you know what I mean. We do have a Science Bowl team that I plan on joining next year and that's the one thing I think I'd be really passionate about.</p>

<p>Most of the "extracurricular" activities I pursue are well outside the sphere of influence of the school. I'm looking forward to volunteering as an "explainer" at the local science museum this summer and indefinitely thereafter, where I'll basically be walking around explaining scientific concepts to visitors who have questions. I'm an autodidact by nature and am teaching myself German and Russian (I love languages!) as well as piano, introductory physics and single-variable calculus. I'm really fascinated by self-organization, chaos theory and complexity theory, and if I'm lucky I may be able to land an informal research position with a professor who specializes in this area at a local university. Who knows, I may even submit research to the national science fairs, which would be a dream come true for me.</p>

<p>But to get on point, is this "okay"? I'm doing these things because I genuinely love to do them, but it seems like everyone around me at school and everyone here joins clubs and tries for officer positions because they want to "look good" for colleges. I resent that attitude, but I realize ECs are a big part of getting into the most competitive universities.</p>

<p>So what do you guys think?</p>

<p>No</p>

<p>ten char</p>

<p>it’s fine. ECs don’t have to be in school</p>

<p>In fact, ECs out of school can be much more impressive. Instead of just joining a bunch of clubs because they’re there, you’ve actively sought out things outside of school that you are passionate about.</p>

<p>Sounds good to me.</p>

<p>Of course not. ECs can be pretty much anything, whether it’s teaching yourself a programming language, working at McDonalds, or learning Arabic.</p>