As someone finishing junior year of high school, I am, just like everyone else, freaking out about college. Ever since freshman year, I have been in a lot of clubs and even founded a community service club and my school’s chapter of DECA, president of NHS, etc… The thing is is that I did do all of that for college apps,I just really enjoy all of my activities. But now everyone is telling me that colleges want to see a few activities with a ton of commitment.
So will a lot of activities hurt a college application now?
i think admissions counselors want to see what you have done in those ECs…so if it is member of CLub 1, member of club 2, …member of club 6 that isn’t as good as “Founded Community Service Club. Since inception, 53 members have joined. We have raised $20,000 for the sick children’s fund and performed 5000 hours of community service.”
Clearly you have leadership opportunties so those are great.
Don’t worry, I am an alumni ambassador and I have seen many resumes with tons of ECs. Usually they tell a story about the person.
Don’t curtail what you enjoy doing because somebody on the internet thinks it may not be what college admissions officers want to see. My D was a member of a few clubs just for fun and she took on leadership roles and had a real commitment to other clubs. She got into her ED school so it didn’t hurt her at all. If you have too many clubs to list, just leave some that are less important to you off the application or group things together.
IMO the idea should be to do things you enjoy and try to be a leader in some activities you particularly care about. Sounds like that is what you are doing. Don’t live your life in pursuit of crafting that “perfect” college application. Be who you are and things will work out.
(PS unsolicited advice for a junior – if you haven’t done it yet, you should line up your college recommendations so you will be set next fall).
If those are the things you enjoy doing (think you meant to say you DIDN’T do it all for college?) then it’s fine. But bear in mind that not everything is worth mentioning. If you like hanging out at a club just for fun, but it isn’t something you are super involved with and perhaps doesn’t add to a bigger picture of you, you might just want to leave it off. My D was not involved in a ton of ECs, but even she left off a couple of things, becasue she felt they didn’t add anything useful to her application. She actually didn’t want to fill every space on her app, because she felt like it might seem as though she was trying too hard. She did really well in the acceptance process.
Did you know you have the same user name as our top US women’s Nordic skier? 
I am kind of a fan…
Anyway, do what interests you the most. Colleges want people who are interested and engaged outside of just their academics. Don’t worry about it if you truly like the activities you are doing.
There are some ways to group or list your activities on the Common App – come back for suggestions when you are ready to fill it out.
Take a look at this video of a former Stanford admissions officer, paying a particular attention to when she covers EC’s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XL8vBBB7o
I’m not insinuating that you’re in the same case, but something to think about still.
If you aren’t shooting for the top 15 schools in the country, it probably isn’t going to matter.
Who is everyone? Your GC? Or your peers.
There is nothing wrong with having a ton of activities, as long as you can describe what you did, talk about it in an interview (my D often got, tell me about something on your resume) and possibly group them together as others suggested to show an area of interest. Also, it is better if you have been doing them for at least a couple of years rather than joining and quitting clubs.
Not everyone has only one thing that they enjoy. High school and college are a time to explore your interests.