<p>Yes, but I think the top colleges prefer ECs that don’t fit into the checkboxes well anyway… it is important to keep track of all of her activities and awards in high school, though. Starting a sort of resume with every letter earned, award earned, placement in competitions, activities, etc. is VERY useful when senior year comes around!</p>
<p>Regarding politics, there are lots of ways she can get more involved as an extra curricular. She can campaign right now for candidates or specific issues (for example, if there are specific ballot initiatives). Helping register voters is another option, and something the parties often work on even between elections. In two years she may be able to be a delete to your local or even state convention for her party of choice (that depends on the system in the state you live in). One of my kids also chose to volunteer at almost all of the regional level conventions for our party in our state (so there was one for each national House of Representatives district). So she want all over the state volunteering at these conventions, which she really liked. One advantage of political activity for your D is that it is an election year (not presidential, but house/senate at the national level) her junior year of high school, so she could potentially do a lot of volunteering that she could then talk about in her college applications/essays.</p>