<p>They do sometimes just to double-check. Takes 2 seconds. Most likely colleges won't have time to read a bunch of explanations of EC's though. If you must, then you can include it in Additional Info.</p>
<p>to Post 5; IR09</p>
<p>put both official work and work you did to prepare...if necessary explain the two parts</p>
<p>how much Additional Info do they allow you? or actually, how much is too much?</p>
<p>and for the EC's and the work experience, should i put a single activity twice? or just in one category and not the other?</p>
<p>blueducky: They give you a lot of space for additional information, but don't include more than is necessary. You were vague on your second question. I'll assume that you were asking if you had a job, would you put that in both work experience and extracurricular activities, and the answer is no in most cases, but it kind of depends. If you worked at McDonalds, for instance, then it goes in Work Experience and there's no need to put it in EC's. Another example: I had a job in junior and senior year as a reading tutor so I put that in Work Experience, but I also assumed a leadership position (which wasn't was I was paid to do) so I included that bit in EC section.</p>
<p>I wouldn't repeat myself, ever. I found it hard enough fitting everything in as it was, and even if that's not the case, admissions officers don't want to be reading the same thing twice. I recommend that even if you did have a leadership position as part of a job, just note that in the "Work Experience" section, freeing up the EC section for other stuff.</p>
<p>Also, never exaggerate EC involvement. At all. Ever.
A couple of hours extra isn’t going to help you get in; they’re really looking at what you contributed to your ECs and not the number of hours you spent with them. And even if it was going to help you, do you really want your admission to be based on a lie? And what if they find out (it’s a lot easier than you would think to call up a guidance counsellor, especially if <em>anything</em> looks “off” in the application); is it really worth the risk?</p>
<p>On the other hand, being creative with ECs is totally fine. You can count almost any activity as an EC (as long as you’re honest about what it entails). I heard a story of someone listing “daydreaming” as her main EC, and getting into MIT. If you tutor you sibling, or help your parents with stuff around the house, or do your own research, or even play computer games – all this shows unique sides of yourself that could help you out in the admission process. I wouldn’t recommend gamming as your only EC, but why not list it along with other “more prestigious” activities, if that’s a side of yourself you want the reader to see?</p>
<p>Well, I wasn't trying to make it seem like I was adding hours--I just wanted to show that the leadership position (as an ambassador) was separate from my actual job (which was a reading coach).Plus I made it very clear that I was talking about the same organization. It seemed like blueducky shares my past concern. But I agree--don't lie. I'm just clearing my name in saying that I just didn't know where to put that I was an ambassador for the organization I worked for. Actually, what I think I did was I separated my job from my ambassador position, so I put the hours on the job in work experience, and the hours/week doing stuff as an ambassador in EC. So yeh, don't repeat yourself. I agree with Star* that you shouldn't exaggerate, although I must say that I included time for transportation to and from the job site in my hours. Hehe, depends on how you define "exaggerate," I guess.</p>
<p>Oh, I didn't mean to say that you were lying at all. I completely understand, I just mean that you could've used that space to talk about something else. My comment on exaggerating ECs wasn't directed at you, dchow.</p>
<p>Oh good. Okay.</p>
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<p>blueducky</p>
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<p>That admissions officer I was using as an example, did tell me he got an app where the student had just TONS of ECs. He thought it looked a little suspicious. He did add up the hours. There were more hours the student was committing to ECs in one week than there are actual hours in one week.</p>
<p>Obviously, admissions officers do not go through applications punching numbers. My main point was this: If your passion is not picked up from somewhere else in the application other than the "Hours per week, week per year" column, your ECs are meaningless.</p>
<p>Reccs, essays, awards... they should all tie together somehow.</p>
<p>Sorry to double post, but I have a question that is kinda related to this topic:</p>
<p>I'm an IB Diploma student, so there's a community service requirement to fill (part of CAS). I'll have noooo problem doing it, but I'm wondering how colleges define community service. For IB, me doing prep work for the two international-affairs-related clubs I run counts as CAS hours, as does my volunteering with another club that raises awareness about the genocide in Darfur. Do those hours count as volunteer hours? I spend about 12+ hours/wk on those things together.</p>
<p>I've been refining my brag sheet, and this question popped into my mind. I know IBO does things kinda wierd, so... answers are appreciated!</p>
<p>i really wasn't thinking of exaggerating hours people, i mean i kind of sounded like i wanted to. i mean, i was just asking because i'm concerned that maybe other people do it? </p>
<p>star, are you serious a girl got into MIT with "Daydreaming" as main EC? that is just ridiculous. what else did she do?</p>
<p>I'm sure people do it all the time. But you will have a clear conscience! :D</p>
<p>I'm not going to exaggerate, i'm sure none of you believe me. </p>
<p>I know that there is no point in adding a few hours in anyways, because it will only help you if you talk about it in your essay section and/or have awards to back it up.</p>
<p>Um... no... I do believe you...</p>
<p>Ealgian, yeah, it counts as volunteering. You might want to indicate that it relates to the IB program though.</p>
<p>^^ Blueducky (post #33), well said!</p>
<p>And I actually don't know the "daydreaming" applicant personally; I heard about her from the admissions officer who read her file. He did point out that clearly she had other great ECs and other stuff going for her (and wouldn't have gotten in if the rest of her application hadn't been great as well), but the fact that she was willing to put down daydreaming said a lot about her confidence in her abilities and willingness to take a risk / just have fun with the process. After hearing this story I was much more willing to write about what I really wanted to in the application, and not about what the reader might or might not want to hear. Not that I would’ve lied, but I’ll admit I would’ve emphasized aspects of myself that didn’t mean so much to me, but that I thought would sound good. It was relieving to feel like I could just honestly be myself, and ultimately I think that helped me a lot.</p>