<p>I'm currently a high school sophomore aiming for the Ivy League. So far, I think I have most of the other parts of my package going well: mostly A's and A+'s and good standardized testing scores. However, I'm worried that my EC's aren't up to snuff.</p>
<p>Here's what I have in school:
-Scholar's Bowl
-Debate Team, Captain
-Computer Science Club, Founding President
-Literary Magazine, Publisher</p>
<p>Outside stuff:
-Owner of web design firm with 4-digit contracts
-Cofounder of tech startup currently pursuing 6-digit venture funding
-Publisher of online student blog/magazine with readership in the thousands
-Core team member, Habari (Open Source Project)</p>
<p>I'm worried that my outside stuff won't count for much since it's not what colleges typically encounter/care about. So, do I need to participate in some more school activities?</p>
<p>Here were some ideas of things:
-Math Team
-FBLA
-Writing Club</p>
<p>Do I need to start doing some of these? Thanks!</p>
<p>"I'm worried that my outside stuff won't count for much since it's not what colleges typically encounter/care about."</p>
<p>Are you out of your mind? Of course they are delighted to meet someone like you who has the gumption to start up and manage a business while they are in HS. You don't need to go digging for any conventional ECs. You have one really big and perfectly fine unconventional EC.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about this, and go back to making money with a business that you obviously enjoy!</p>
<p>Haha, thanks!</p>
<p>I guess that's what I was a little confused about. Colleges would either think it's an interesting activity or discount it for being nontraditional.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. And yea, I have a tumultuous relationship with my sanity.</p>
<p>dont do ec's just to pad your resume. colleges are getting better at spotting applicants who do certain activities just to show colleges how many things they participated in. find what you truly enjoy doing and spend your time doing it. besides your a soph so you should be doing what you enjoy and not stressing about college yet. youre time will come in a couple of years/</p>
<p>Colleges like nontraditional ECs more than they like seeing yet another student who's doing what thousands of others are doing. It's easy to follow the crowd, far more difficult to create your own path. Colleges appreciate this.</p>
<p>word to your mom, I certainly don't want to do any EC's just to pad my resume. For one thing, all the ones I listed (including the ones I'm not currently doing) I really <em>am</em> interested in. The ones I'm currently doing are things I am truly passionate about.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, so do my ECs count as sufficiently nontraditional/interesting? I personally think they're very engaging and interesting, but an outside perspective would really help.</p>
<p>The reason I'm stressed out is because I'm aiming to go to an Ivy, but my school has very limited honors courses (just 5 AP's for seniors/juniors) and hasn't sent a student to an Ivy in quite a while.</p>
<p>padding your resum</p>