<p>if you dont do any ACADEMIC extracurricular activites at school...such as science bowl, mock trial, math bowl, etc...does it look bad on college applications? if youre on a sports team, join clubs, do volunteering and other things outside of school, will that make up for the lack of academic teams youre on?
i was just wondering this because many of my schools academic teams are hard to make and generally the same people are on all the different teams (for example, one of my friends is on the science bowl, math bowl, mock trial, and hosa team)</p>
<p>If you aim for a better college, ECs are a must. Devotion, leadership, and general achievement is not only recommended, but rather necessary in being accepted into the higher-tier universities.</p>
<p>Of course, if you aim lower or in the public system, then a solid GPA and decent test scores will get you there.</p>
<p>Athletics and volunteering show dedication, but depending on your hours of practice or skill, it might not necessarily stand you out of the crowd.</p>
<p>Rather than focusing on a particular type of extracurricular, I think schools care more about things like: is the activity something that’s related to one of your stated interests (academic or otherwise), have you concentrated on a few activities that are meaningful to you or gone for a resume-like laundry list, have you held leadership positions in the groups in which you have been involved.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous post. The schools are more interested in the time and effort you’ve put into the things that you’ve done and what they mean to you - not specifically what you have done. Some people might have an after school job or heavy family responsibilities that take up most of their time so they can’t do the “classic” extracurriculars. Schools value that as well even the top ones.</p>
thank u!</p>