<p>Okay here's a [refined] list of the ECs I plan to put on the application. Note that I do more ECs/volunteer work than what's on my list, but I find that it's irrelevant because while they are special, it's usually a one hour a week sort of thing.</p>
<p>I'm also trying to have an emphasis on helping teenagers/art/music.</p>
<p>-Motivational speaker about body image
-Internship at an OCD center (with a focus on BDD)
-TeenLine
-Piano (with awards)
-Yearbook Editor
-Art (with awards)
-Drums</p>
<p>Okay, so a few notes/questions:</p>
<p>-I take the piano/drum lessons at my school as a "class". However, my mom pays for it as if it was a tutoring session outside of school (~$60), so will the adcoms view it that way too?
-Our yearbook is in no way prestigious. In fact, I'm the only one who works on it. I do put a good amount of time into it though (~30 minutes a day/~3 hours a week). Should I even bother putting it on my application?
-I plan to make my essay about my own experience with BDD and how I overcame it instead of it being about my BDD research/motivational speaker job. Is that a wise idea? Or will it hurt me?
-Should I mention drums? I just do it for fun and I don't really practice enough to make it significant.</p>
<p>Thanks for putting up with my questions! :D</p>
<p>In terms of your essay, just make sure it’s got your voice and reads well, with a hook and shows your feelings, not just have it tell about some events. (Not: I knew I could eat this whole box of cookies because I’d take “care of those extra calories” later…instead: “The sweet smelling cookie was crying out to be eaten, my stomach already felt heavy and full, but my hand clenched that unnecessary morsel of oozing chocolate long before I pondered what I always next.”) You really have a powerful story, because not only have you stopped, but you help others now.</p>
<p>In answer to your other questions:
Yes to piano. You got awards for that.
Yes to yearbook. Who cares it’s not all that prestigious.
No to drums. You probably have plenty for your app.</p>
<p>I’m no expert, but some thoughts that come to mind:</p>
<ol>
<li>Do piano/drum lessons count for a grade? I think this is probably the deciding factor for whether it’s an EC.</li>
<li>If your yearbook is official [and actually distributed to the school], I’d put it down. To me, it’s no different from working with a group of people except that you’re getting a lot more skills than you would be [since you’re designing, probably taking pictures, marketing, etc.].</li>
<li>I think making your essay personal would be nice. However, I think including the fact that you have become a motivational speaker is important since it really shows how far you’ve come. Lots of people are able to say that they’ve lived through BDD, but not as many can say they’ve gotten so far past it that they’ve synthesized their experience to help others.</li>
</ol>
<p>Do piano/drum lessons count for a grade? I think this is probably the deciding factor for whether it’s an EC.</p>
<p>I think even if you take it as a class, you can still list it as an EC since a lot of individual practice (and often, outside of school performance) goes into playing an instrument. Anyway, definitely put down the yearbook [noparse]:D[/noparse]!</p>