<p>In response to an earlier comment about EC's reflecting one's intended major(and passions),
are debate, speech and Model UN (good dedication and accomplishments) strong
enough as EC's to reflect my passion towards majoring in philosophy? They seem kind of unrelated to philosophy, but there was really nothing related I could find at school...</p>
<p>Remember that the Columbia CommonApp supplement will ask you to list your favorite assigned and unassigned readings of the past year, the publications that you read regularly, and your favorite shows, exhibits, performances, etc. You can take this opportunity to let them know your interests if you don’t think they come across in your school ECs.</p>
<p>I indicated that I wanted to major/concentrate in a combination of linguistics and computer science, and while my school didn’t offer any kind of activity that related to that field, I was able to back my interests up on the application with readings on codebreaking in military history, exhibits in early computing, and with a few language and linguistics blogs that I follow, for example.</p>
<p>However, I don’t really know how necessary it is to match your ECs with your intended major anyway. If you engage in a lot of independent reading and study in philosophy, then by all means let them know in the supplement, but I don’t think universities expect high school students to have lots of knowledge or experience in subjects which aren’t taught in high schools and for which not many relevant extracurriculars exist. Just make sure you can compellingly explain why you are interested in studying philosophy and, in particular, why you are interested in doing it at Columbia.</p>
<p>I think forensics and Model UN definitely indicate an interest in politics and philosophy. It’s all about argumentation.As iteotwawki said, though, you’ll really get a chance to shine when you list your favorite assigned and unassigned readings. All in all, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If you really wanted, though, you could start a “philosophy club” at your school.</p>