<p>What are some of your spectacular ECs, Columbia admits?</p>
<p>haha personally, when reading the “spectacular EC’s” I think of the people who are “well-lopsided” - nationally ranked individuals who are super duper duper good at one thing (sports, an instrument, research, etc.)</p>
<p>but for most the rest of us…(including myself lol) i guess its just to make yourself well rounded, while making sure you do contribute something insightful</p>
<p>f.x - 1) I was the founder of two school organizations that i spent a crapload of time on, writing constitutions, planning out all acitivities/state conventions, fundraisers, etc, shows dedicatino I guess</p>
<p>2) Make sure to let your intellectual curiosity show even in ur extracurriculars…attend summer seminars and such at universities. I did one each summer (one for computer science, one for political science, and another for humanities in general)</p>
<p>3) I train dogs…(sounds corny, I know) but i spent like 2-3 hours each week, and my dog can do a crapload of stuff, enters competitions, etc.</p>
<p>some other stuff, like environmentalism and volunteering at libraries, thats about it :D</p>
<p>i’ll just copy and paste my ec’s from my stats thing.</p>
<p>ECs: </p>
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<p>wow… joso2015 you are extremely dedicated to one thing… that is really admirable. im trying to do a lot of activities concerning business/economics/finance but i cant find that many… its frustrating</p>
<p>I was deferred, but actually when I was going through stats of admitted people when I was in that nervous as hell point around december 1st, I randomly clicked on like 2 or 3 people who had slightly less impressive SATS and you know what they crazily all had in common?? They were all president or co-founder of the Gay-Straight Alliance. I thought that was kinda weirddddd, but maybe just a coincidence. </p>
<p>Our school doesn’t even have one, I think we might have like one gay kid. xD Too bad I live in a conservative little town, hmph. Maybe I could have gotten into columbia if I had started up one of those. Haha, kidding.</p>
<p>admitted 4-5 years ago but still:</p>
<p>debate team (won a few competitions)
loads of community service working with mentally challenged kids (lead a club in school for this)
part of impromptu acting group
squash team
math society
taught a blind man English and geometry over a couple of summers</p>
<p>these were substantial commitments, I was also peripherally involved in a couple of other things.</p>
<p>joso2015, your ECs sound a lot like mine, only more extreme and like 10x more impressive. haha</p>
<p>naomikt, I’m the treasurer of my school’s GSA, but I still got rejected! lol</p>
<p>what ecs does columbia like? or hold in high regard?</p>
<p>^ none in particular. just do what makes you tick. and don’t ever ask that question about any college</p>
<p>bump… 10char</p>
<p>I’m a beatboxer, and I’ve performed to raise money for nonprofits. Adcom liked that, the rep sent me a note telling me to join the a capella group 
</p>
<p>Varsity softball and tennis. Senate President, NHS Vice President, Philosophy Club Founder, Debate captain, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium state finalist and national delegate, lot of research awards. Research at a plastics company, couple of university bio/neuro labs. 350+ hours of volunteer, also long-term in a dementia care facility. Counselor for a Taiwanese American camp. I handle PR for the city’s biggest youth philanthropy group (well known in the area) and do marketing on a brand-new service initiative. I live in the suburbs of one of the most economically devastated cities in the U.S., but I do all my volunteer and philanthropy work in the city. </p>
<p>I copied and pasted this stuff from an old thread, but I wanted to add a little note. Show passion. It doesn’t matter if your hobby is making paper mache horses or you’re a cheese connoisseur… if you show passion for what you do you’re good to go. Show them why you spent so much time and energy on your activities. I didn’t expound on my “big name” activities (president of this/that), but I talked about beatboxing a lot because that’s my one great love. Admitted ED this year.</p>
<p>Do you think adcoms care about the length of time you have a hobby?
If someone discovers e.g. how to make paper mache horses later in their junior year but is able to do a lot with that passion, such as raise awareness for something or other, would it be just as impressive as someone who has had a hobby for a while but keeps it only to him/herself?</p>
<p>^ If you have little hobbies like stargazing, stamp collecting, origami, etc. definitely include it on your app, even if its only a personal thing</p>
<p>the paper mache thing sounds interesting so i guess it could work haha</p>
<p>Yeah, just wanted to throw in, the ECs are a big part of showing the adcoms who you are. So, really put your weight on the ECs that are really important to you. I remember my counselor in HS told me to make a collage of pictures from all the plays/musicals I did in hs. I thought it was bizarre–and I didn’t do it 'cause I’m lazy–but I think things like that actually do help. If you’ve really put your heart into an EC, make sure the adcoms understand that, especially if it’s something you’re going to keep doing at Columbia. Also, awards tend to speak for themselves to some degree, so it often helps to use the essay (and that little mini-essay about an EC) to expound upon a hobby that you don’t have a way to demonstrate with an award or officer title in a group.</p>