<p>Hi, I'm a current Junior in high school and i was just intereseted in your guys' take on EC's at small vs. large high schools. For example, i see a lot of posts on here where kids are president of 3 clubs, play 3 varsity sports, have a job, etc. Now i presume most of these kids go to small private schools with less than 200 kids in their class. I on the other hand, go to a competative (both academically and athletically) public school with 2,400 students. To be honest, it's absolutely impossible to have EC's that look even comparable to some of the students at smaller schools. If your the president of one large club (like DECA) while being on a varsity sports team, its a big deal. So finally my question, do you guys think that selective colleges take this into account when they look at applications, or do they just see that I have 1/4 the number of EC's than some of my competitors?</p>
<p>Not always, many people here go to public schools that are pretty competitive. Some of these people are just amazing and some of it has to do with how the school handles EC's. The magnet school I'm applying to had 600 students with over 100 clubs. Unfortunately top schools are looking for the absolute best students at a school. If one of your teachers says in their recommendation that being president of DECA and on a sports team is a huge deal they will take that into account. However you have to look for other opportunities and what you actually add to a club (you don't have to be an officer to add a lot to the club).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>They always try to put your application into context and they consider how well you took advantage of the opportunities presented to you. So they aren't going to look at the two people the same. However, there are more clubs available at a larger high school, so there are more options that the smaller high school kids don't have. Then again they could create a club. It is all relative. They weigh everything and make a judgement.</p>
<p>I've also seen small private schools where anyone can be on a sports team of his/her choice-vs the large public schools where there are try-outs for all teams except track.</p>
<p>But how would colleges know if the school is athletically competative? Like I go to a school that consists of 5000 kids and considered #1 in our city. Its also tough and has tryouts in sports. So how would colleges know if the school does tryouts and everything?</p>
<p>I doubt anyone mentions on their app: Sport - varsity football or varsity basketall - Must tryout for the team and I was one of the 12 to be picked.</p>
<p>And plus would it even be a good idea to write that on your apps?</p>
<p>Small high schools may have some advantage when it comes to getting leadership positions, but that's balanced by the fact that small high schools don't have the quantity of clubs, and not all the clubs they do have will have leadership positions. This can be a pain, especially if you try to stick to clubs you actually care about- you may end up without any leadership positions to speak of, providing no advantage over larger schools. (That last sentence is my current EC situation in a nutshell.)</p>
<p>But how do colleges know if your school is that competetive in ec compared to other schools? How would they know if a student is lying on their ec's?</p>
<p>Also, on my application would it be a good idea to say, - must tryout to make the team and I was one of the few that got picked? Wouldn't it look weird?</p>
<p>Please don't put that on your application. It will look ridiculous.</p>
<p>The college admissions office will view a profile of your high school which includes the student population, number of sports offered, clubs, AP's offered, etc.</p>
<p>number of sports offered as in number of how many teams? cause in that case we have a lot which would prolly be a bad thing for me. However if it shows how hard it is to get in, then It would be a good thing as our school recruits kids from other states/countries and only a few (maybe 2 or 3 at most) get picked to play.</p>
<p>They will see the number of kids attending the school. They will see a list of the sports available at the school--JV Boy's Basketball, JV Girl's Basketball, Varsity Boy's Basketball, Varsity Girl's Basketball, JV Boy's Baseball, JV Girl's Softball, Varsity Boy's Baseball, Girl's JV Softball, and so on. If you have a large student body, it can be deduced that it is more difficult to "make" a team when trying out. To say that you made a team because you tried out and earned a spot is childish. Most schools require tryouts---with cuts to those who don't make it. This is not something to put on an application. The only thing that should be on your application/HS resume regarding sports should be for instance:</p>
<p>Varsity Soccer----grades 10-12 ------- Captain--grades 11 and 12
Position-----------goalie
All-Division----grade 12 ----------- All-County Academic Team--grade 12 ----- MVP--Grade 12</p>
<p>Do you see what I mean? Stating that you're on a team because you tried out and made it is insignificant. What is important is your dedication and any leadership or awards you earned while participating on the team. I say this as a mom of ex-high school athletes that are now attending college.</p>
<p>Why are you trying to emphasize difficulty of getting in the team? Are you good enough to play in college? If not, it's no big deal. Do you think colleges prefer varsity players to jv players? No because there are millions of other varsity players nationwide</p>