<p>Bit of an odd question here, but I'm hoping for some input.</p>
<p>Do you think stereotypes come into play during extracurricular evaluation?</p>
<p>The reason I ask this is because one of the activities I'm involved in, dog showing, has an .... interesting reputation. Most people think its weird or elitist, etc, or even just that the people themselves in it are strange (ever seen the movie Best in Show? haha). Even my mother had reservations about letting me start because of her perceptions of what its like.
I've gotten some pretty strange reactions when I mention what I do and not all of them are positive.</p>
<p>Anyways, this is something that I'd like to list as an extracurricular on my apps, but I'm afraid of the way that it will be received by application committees. I'm worried that they'll read this information and all those unpleasant stereotypes will come to mind, and they'll think less of me for it.</p>
<p>People here like to talk about their "passions", and animals are probably mine- besides this, I do other dog sports, horseback riding, I volunteer at animal shelters, humane education camps, and do various fundraisers to raise money for the shelter. I have other interests, too, but my main ones center around animals and animal welfare, they are both important to me. But I am also worried that my focus here is...too focused- that colleges will take one look at my list and think, "crazy dog person", and all those associated stereotypes.</p>
<p>Your activities seem to reflect an interesting passion about animals. Just be yourself. If a college doesn’t like you because of who you are, you wouldn’t be happy there anyway.</p>
<p>write your paragraph essay about it (the ec one in the activities section of the common app)–it’s an interesting activity, especially for a high school student, and goes well with your interest. If you have other animal activities, they’ll know you are just a lover of animals, not the stereotypical cookey dog-shower, but i don’t think an adcom would think of you this way, regardless, unless perhaps they have had a previous experience with a particularly crazy dog owner
you could even mention the associated stereotypes and counter them for your case, relating it to your love of animals. You have some other interesting activities to write about, so maybe you’ll choose something else, depending on what you spend more time on, or you may even write your common app essay about your love of animals in some way, in which case you wouldn’t want to seem too single-minded, but dog showing has potential! and it could help you clear some of the associated stereotypes,</p>
<p>Thats a great idea Ehoss, thanks I wrote my common app essay about art (my other main interest), so I could use the paragraph to talk about this. That might work out nicely</p>
<p>My thought is that it’s unique and will likely be remembered by any review committee. Most things that make your application stand out will be helpful. Hopefully, you have some other “regular” ECs and community service to round out your application. You should have multiple ECs even if dog showing isn’t your main one.</p>
I wrote my common app essay about art (my other main interest), so I could use the paragraph to talk about this. That might work out nicely</p>