Do you need 10 great ECs to get into top colleges?

Applying to College
1

Hello, I’m a junior who’s looking to apply to some top colleges (particularly LACs) for the class of 2025.

Although I have a strong academic profile, I’m worried that my chances might be hindered by my ECs.

I have a few (4-5) very unique and strong activities that I’ve been commited to, but beyond that all of my remaining activity spots will just be clubs and volunteering that I’ve participated in briefly.

From what I’ve seen, most admits to these places have been able to max out their commonapp activities section with great extracurriculars, so I’m worried that I’ll be at a competitive disadvantage when compared to them.

Is this an issue? I’m an unhooked applicant (white/northeast) to most elite colleges, except for legacy at Williams and Stanford.

If anyone has been able to get into top colleges without filling all 10 activities spots, please let me know

2

No, if you have too many things that you are involved in it will be a red flag.

3

A few things that you’re really working on is going to be better than 10 that you’re only partially committed to. Depth is better than breadth. Work more on the few you have, especially leadership roles and creating new things, and you’ll be great.

4

Less is more. Very unique and very strong will stand out more then random names or clubs. You want things that you are involved in for 2-4 years. The longer the better. Sure put down a club or two you tried out etc.

Colleges want all sorts of kids. They like ones that are active on their campus. From your essays to your Ecs they get a picture of what type of student you will be on their campus. You are painting a picture for them to see.

5

That sounds about right. ECs aren’t boxes that you need to tick for colleges to consider you, and colleges acceptance isn’t a prize for the highest grades or the “best” or “most” ECs.

Colleges prefer higher grades, because they indicate that a student is good at academics, and is more likely to succeed than a student who struggles with more challenging classes.

Colleges use your ECs to see who you are, what you can do, and whether you are able to do stuff which wasn’t assigned to you in class. There are ECs which take a huge amount of time, and don’t leave much time for anything else. Dancing and sports are huge time hogs, and don’t allow for more than one or two serious activities, much less 9 more.

So, if you have an EC like dance or swimming, etc, you don’t need to have another three ECs, much less nine. If your ECs take less time, three to five is a very good number. It gives you the ability to engage in very different activities, but also have enough time to actually focus on each.

A pattern like yours - a few activities which you dabbled in, and four or five on which you focused looks like somebody who has interests and passions, but also explores other possibilities.

There are a very few people, who are able to juggle 8 or more different ECs, especially is they are seasonal, so a person isn’t engaging at all 8 at the same time, or some are in the summer. However, there simply are not enough hours in a school week for a student to actually be engaged seriously in 10 ECs.

After you consider classroom time, homework, meals, sleep, travel to and from school, you are left with 45 hours, which includes week end time. Assuming that a normal teen wants to spend some times with friends and family doing stuff which is neither schools stuff nor EC stuff, there is not enough time left to engage seriously in 10 ECs.

So no, trying to have 10 ECs will not make you a more “attractive” applicant. the opposite is much more likely.

Your ECs. as you described them, are strong enough for most schools. If your GPA is good and your schedule was rigorous, you are competitive for top LACs, though they are reaches for anybody.

6

Laundry lists of ECs can be a big red flag.

Quality wins over quanity every time. Quality means that you’re active in it and made the EC better by your participation.

ECs are also a way of proving that you can handle doing things outside the classroom and still maintain your GPA. Colleges have so many things going on that one dimesional students (study all the time) can struggle.

7

Not sure where you got your info, but it’s not right. As Stanford says

8

It is about quality over quantity.

I judge applications for a local scholarship. It is a crystal clear difference between someone who is “throwing in the kitchen sink” and someone who demonstrates thoughtful, deliberate, and careful use of their time towards more focused goals.

I have heard of several high performing students applying to highly selective colleges who deliberately do not list all their ECs. They participate in an activity or three, superficially and strictly for personal enjoyment, but they know, for whatever reason, it doesn’t add to the picture they want to paint (that is the latter example above). Therefore, it won’t help their application.

Honestly, I wonder if the app has ten spaces precicely so AO’s can tell who is “throwing in the kitchen sink”.

9

My son dedicates 20-25 hours per week outside of school to his primary EC. There isn’t much time for anything else. He has no choice but to go deep, rather than wide, when it comes to ECs.

10

You will be fine.

Both my kids were accepted to elite colleges, and neither filled all the spots. I think my daughter had six.

My son had more at nine, but three were summer programs. Another was a student government position which didn’t take much time. The rest were deeper.

On a related note, both my kids used the additional information section to flesh out the activities whey were heavily involved in.

11

just 9

12

Neither of my kids used all ten spaces. My daughter just graduated from an excellent LAC. I think she had about seven spaces filled in. Don’t fret about this. Especially now, when everything is a mess. In fact, filling in ten spaces in the current situation might raise eyebrows.

I actually think “less is more” might be quite important for the coming cycle. If students can a find a way to show they were able to stay involved in their ECs over the last few months, it will probably be a boost to their application.