So I am a rising sophomore, and I’m seriously getting concerned about my ECs, because as a freshman, all I had was (non-varsity) track, and I’m afraid that would count against me. True, I joined like 9 clubs during the beginning of the school year, but that was mostly because even though they looked pretty fun, I felt bad turning all of those people down. Then I discovered that 1. I bit off wayyy more than I could chew, and 2. most of those clubs didn’t even have any meetings after November, and the one that did didn’t interest me anymore after a few months. So I planned on having solid, interesting ECs, and ended up with almost none. If I join a couple clubs during sophomore year, will that make me look desperate in the eyes of adcoms? And I’m afraid if I do find clubs that interest me, they’ll turn out like the 8 clubs that I joined last year and never do anything. 
Also, I didn’t do any community service last year, (well, I actually had 2 hours, but that was just because I went to a presentation by a Holocaust survivor, and I couldn’t put it in my transcript anyway because you need at least 25 hours a year, so that doesn’t count.) so I’m getting worried about that as well. I’m doing some volunteering at the local library over the summer, but it’s only 2 hours per week, for six weeks, so that doesn’t seem like much, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.
I’m taking chemistry over the summer as well, will that count as an EC? And I’m planning to join cross country in the fall, and I might (hopefully, I have to convince my mom) do the summer camp for it as well. Is that an adequate summer plan?
That is fine for summer after freshman year. Whatever you decide to do for ECs, commit yourself to them. In school, out of school, whatever – but get deeply involved. Offer to help organize activities, etc.
Sophomore year is definitely not too late to start getting involved in EC’s. I think it’s still a good idea to revisit some of the clubs that you thought had potential (the real ones, that meet regularly) and see how can get involved. As far as summer, maybe see if there is a community organization that seems interesting that you could volunteer your time for, or another activity. What you have currently may be passable for a pre-sophomore summer, but I think it would be good to take advantage of this time if you can
You should get involved in the ECs you want-that you think are worthwhile-that you’d join even if colleges don’t ask about ECs. HIgh school is not just a resume builder for college-it is 4 years of your life. Don’t waste it chasing what you think colleges want to see. It won’t get you anywhere. Read the following even if you have no interest in STEM. http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
@lostaccount I’m not trying to do things just because colleges would be impressed; I’m trying out ECs that I’m really interested in. Honestly, I’m not involved in things that colleges typically are interested in, such as Science Olympiad or NHS, (Although I might join MUN, who knows) because they simply don’t seem right for me.
Good that you are not trying to do things to impress colleges-you discuss what ad cons think so that gave me the impression you were. If you aren’t, that is good.
@lostaccount Thank you! Obviously I wouldn’t want to do things that might seem like huge minuses, but I’m not going out of my way to impress them, either.