<p>My D loves to write and will write almost every day. She writes short and long stories, some Sci-Fi and Fantasy and others more current. She does not like to submit them or even show me her stories, but it is definitly a passion. She is an excellent writer, and has been praised by many teachers, including getting the Middle school award for English. Can she use this as an EC on her application?</p>
<p>What makes that unique though? Sure, she could submit it since it does take up her extra time. But what makes it different from another kid who also loves to write?</p>
<p>Sure, she can use it as an EC, but it would be more impressive if she also was in a writers club (She even could found one if there's no such club in her school), attended writers conferences, and/or got published. Teen writers are welcome at many writers conferences even if those conferences are for adults.</p>
<p>Another option would be for her to go to a summer writers camp or take some kind of creative writers class, which she may be able to do on-line.</p>
<p>Definitely. This has been asked many times, and the general consensus is that writing is an EC. A big focus of my application was my writing--I would write stories, even novels, but I also presided a writing group, went to conferences for it, entered and won various writing contests, published stories online, etc. The writing group I headed facilitated/judged writing contests for the student body. I also started a literary journal that collects entries from the student body and publishes it on a CD at the end of the year, sort of like a yearbook. Your D should try to involve herself visibly in writing, and given the broadness of the craft, she has many options for doing that.</p>
<p>Relatively few colleges use ECs as part of admission. The few that do are places like HPY, which have such an overabundance of high stat applicants, that the colleges can afford to admit from that outstanding pool the students who'll create an active, well rounded student body. Consequently, students whose ECs have impact on others, have won awards, etc. would be desireable, not students who do their ECs all by themselves and don't accomplish anything tangible with those ECs except self satisfaction. </p>
<p>Some other colleges use ECs for merit aid consideration. They look for students who will add to the campus environment by, for instance, being active in student organizations or by having skills that bring some kind of glory to the campus. A writer who didn't seem as if they would even submit to the campus newspaper or literary magazine wouldn't be someone whose ECs would help them get merit aid.</p>
<p>Yes! Combined with good English grades, awards and maybe even clubs, this will definitely count.</p>
<p>Also, she could write an app essay on her ECs. I know a girl who actually spent a lot of time restoring furniture. Can't win any awards or do well in classes with that kind of EC but she did write an excellent essay on it and got into her first choice! (It was only UW, but it worked!)</p>
<p>if she can get them published and lauded for then its a good EC. if she just writes them just for fun then she is not really distinguished from other writers who write for fun also.</p>
<p>Hey, does anybody know if you can include participation in NANOWRIMO as an EC? That's definitely took a lot of time...</p>
<p>NANOWRIMO would be put down as a part of "Independent Writing."</p>
<p>The other big hobby she does is spinning and knitting, and creating lace knitting patterns. It sounds like she could also use this as an EC. She would like to enter something in the State Fair which would help.</p>
<p>Yes, that can work also. Bottom line: Anything can be an EC, but whether or not it has a positive effect is another matter. If it fits into the image of you that you present (note: it's only the image you present, they won't see anything you don't show them) then it'll work.</p>
<p>As someone who probably owes her admission to her writing ability, I will tell you that writing IS and EC, but I recommend that your daughter participate in contests/clubs in order to make the EC more tangible. Believe it or not, but very many teenagers, especially intelligent ones who enjoy reading, write stories in their free time, most prominently fantasy and sci-fi, so having a teen who likes writing is nothing truly special. Now, if she is passionate enough about it to join writing communities and good enough at it to get writing awards, she will suddenly become a unique applicant in the adcoms' eyes.
I was a lot like her for most of my high school career, writing profusely in my spare time, but not really backing that up with anything substantial. In my last two years, however, a really inspirational teacher brought my abilities out, so I was able to get a few writing awards to beef up my EC list</p>