Do these extracurriculars look good?

Applying to College
1

1.Avid all four years
2.Engineering club freshmen year
3.Football freshmen year
4. played the violin since I was 11
5. Summer internship
6. Job for two years
7.Started a culture club
8. Cleaned my school with a group for 12 hours a year
9. Joined a business club
10. An Avid reader ( I read a lot of science books.)
11. Learned how to program in java during my junior year
12. Love to draw

Really I’m just naming everything I’ve in my first three years of high school and I have no idea what to write for my extracurriculars. I honestly doubt these are that great. Are these that great?

2

They are fine. No need to panic. I am not sure HYPSM would necessarily find them eye catching, but if that isn’t what you are aiming for, you are good. You might pick up some volunteer hours. It’s not necessary, but if there is a cause you are interested in helping out with, you should consider it. It also might give you something to write about for your application.

3

That’s the thing, I am aiming for Ivy leagues and Stanford.

4

Your ECs do not stand out for the hyper-competitive schools but would be fine for many other colleges and universities.

And FWIW I would consider things like being an avid reader, drawing, and other things you do alone at home to be hobbies rather than ECs. To me ECs require a degree of involvement in your school, your community etc.

5

Are you selling yourself short? “Played the violin” Are you in orchestra or other musical groups? Do you help teach it? What was the internship? What were the jobs? Any Art awards? What do you do in Avid? Do you hold an office?

I wouldn’t list sports you played for one year (that long ago).

6

Don’t add things like ‘I like to draw’ into the ‘Activities’ section of the common app. Adcoms will be able to tell that you’re just trying to pad your application

7

Any chance you can take on a leadership role in something?

You mentioned starting a culture club – what is it? How many members?

What was the nature of your internship?

How have you spent your summers?

Any work experience?

Honestly, I don’t think it’s the number of activities you’re involved in, but the consistency and the passion you have for them and whether or not you have led/managed/created. Things like hobbies, cleaning your school, etc. don’t belong.

8

In the club we talked about important people in the Latino culture and we also brought food here and there. We also talked about the Chicano movement and how it has impacts Latino Americans. The club was meant to empower latinos at my school. Over the summer I worked 4 hours Monday through Friday and every summer I went to summer school to get ahead of my classes. I also had an internship for engineering it was unpaid but I gained experience. The reason I didn’t get involved in after school activities was because of transportation issues. But I stayed occupied with playing the violin, programming, and drawing.

9

This should be mandatory reading for posting on CC: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways

10

I’m also the president for the club

11

Again, things like playing the violin, programming, and drawing at home are generally considered to be hobbies, not ECs.

12

Would these ECs even look good for any UC university?

13

I think your ECs are good but a lot of good (and great) students will be applying to the same schools you are thinking about. This could just be the way you presented everything in a short list but the list doesn’t convey any passion. If the reason you couldn’t be very active was due to transportation and maybe having to work, that is something to mention on your application. Many students can’t stay after school because of circumstances at home and that can be discussed. Avoid the trap of feeling like you need a long list of little things. A few great ECs are better than a long list of things that look like you are just padding your resume.

14

These are not going to help you get into an Ivy League school. The ECs that help kids at those schools include activities that garner national/international level attention, winning very prestigious competitions, published scientific research, acceptance into extremely selective programs (i.e. RSI, TASP etc). You’ll need to rely on other factors.

More specific feedback:

1.Avid all four years - is this an EC?

2.Engineering club freshmen year - not helpful since you stopped in 9th grade

3.Football freshmen year - not helpful since you stopped in 9th grade

  1. played the violin since I was 11 - can be a decent EC if you won awards, etc.
  2. Summer internship - can be a decent EC depending on what you did
  3. Job for two years - decent

7.Started a culture club - could be decent if club had a large impact

  1. Cleaned my school with a group for 12 hours a year - not too significant
  2. Joined a business club - not too significant unless you were very involved
  3. An Avid reader ( I read a lot of science books.) - not an EC
  4. Learned how to program in java during my junior year - not an EC
  5. Love to draw - not an EC unless you submitted to competitions, etc.