Does having most ECs not related to the major hurt? [business ECs, engineering major pre-MBA]

Applying to College
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I am a rising senior, and I’m planning on applying to an engineering major. However, until this summer, I’ve wanted to go into a business major and because of that most of my extracurriculars aren’t STEM (FBLA, Debate, started own non-profit, sports, etc.). Will having most of my ECs not related to engineering hurt me at top schools? My goal is to get into a T20 or a top 10 engineering program.

If it matters, I’ve shown my interest in STEM through my academics. I attend an engineering-focused magnet school and take engineering classes as part of its curriculum. Additionally, I’ve taken a lot of STEM APs (Calc BC, Physics C mech, chem, CS A, etc.), and I’m even taking multivar calc next year. Some of my ECs also show STEM focus, such as tutoring and co-founding an AI business, but none of them are directly related to engineering. I was thinking I could start an engineering-focused club next year at my school.

Not sure if this is worth mentioning either, but the strongest part of my application so far is my academic stats (4.75 GPA, 2nd in class, 1560 sat, 16 AP/DEs by 12th grade), so maybe ECs won’t matter for me as much as others. However, for top schools, I imagine it still is very important.

The reason I suddenly wanted to do engineering is because my end goal is to get an MBA, but I feel a business major wouldn’t be as valuable if I was going to get an MBA anyways, so I might as well get a technical major (heard business schools like engineering majors too). Plus, I’ve always been drawn to engineering/STEM, and I’m really good at math and science. Also, I feel a business major wouldn’t be too challenging for me, and I would like to apply myself to the fullest in college. Please let me know if this reasoning is flawed in any way.

Additionally, I’ve looked into schools with integrated business and engineering programs, and I will be applying to those. However, for schools that don’t, I’m worried that having most of my ECs not related to engineering would hurt my chances. Would it be a good idea to just tell the college in the “why major” essay that I want to end up with an MBA, but I choose engineering since it also interests me and I want a technical degree, or would it be better not to mention it?

Thanks in advance for any advice and for reading all of this (didn’t even realize how much I wrote).

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Lots of college applicants have ECs not related to their intended majors. Examples include sports, music, scouting, and religion.

Some engineering employers do not have a positive view of new engineering graduates who seemingly want a fast track into management instead of doing engineering work. @HPuck35 has made some posts to that effect. Whether or not college admission readers have that viewpoint, you may want to consider whether that is the right signal to send later in terms of post-graduation employment.

1 Like
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Your ECs do not have to align with your possible major. ECs should be things you enjoy doing, and which show a commitment. Our engineering/biology kid had a lot of music ECs and one sport. Nothing that had to do with engineering or biology. Kid even wrote about something related to the music EC as the essay.

Do what you love and love what you do!

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Since Terms of Service prohibits multiple accounts, I am closing this thread. There is no need to repost under the original account since the question has been answered.