<p>Hey I'm a sophmore and i have a lot of time to think about what i should do for ec's. Last year i played on the school Basketball team and i briefly did some tutoring with a non-profit organization.
(I have a lot of questions if someone can answer them all I'd be very grateful.)</p>
<p>This year i have nothing and i have no idea what i should do outside of school. What clubs look good on resumes? Also is volunteering just as good as doing an after school club or is one better than the other? Is interning something college adcoms admire? I have many ec opportunities and i am having a hard time deciding what I should do. I don't have any intention of filling up my resume with tons of ec's like everyone else does, is that bad? </p>
<p>So what is best: Volunteering, clubs, or interning? I have some specific interning positions and voluteer opportunities i am interested in but i don't want to waste my time if colleges look at it as insignificant. I was also thinking about joining the national honor society as a school club but that seems really common, am I right?</p>
<p>I know that you might say i am just trying to do anything impressing, but i want to know what colleges look at as "good ec's" so i don't go the wrong way. If anyone has any tips for ec's please tell me. </p>
<p>I know i am asking a lot, but I'll greatly appreciate it if someone where to answer these questions that are plaguing my mind. Thx</p>
<p>Your question comes up a lot on College Confidential. The ECs that most impress adcoms are whatever ECs applicants use to run with their passions, whatever those passions are.</p>
<p>Consequently, good ECs could be sports (in school or outside of school), school clubs, professional organizations, jobs, community service, church work, art, research -- whatever an individual student loves doing and pursues with passion, creativity and responsibility.</p>
<p>How adcoms judge passion is results: impact of the EC on the student, organization or community as reflected by essays, interview, recommendations, awards, published articles, leadership positions, $ raised, etc. as appropriate for the organization. </p>
<p>The benefits of ECs do not just pertain to college admissions. Pursuing ECs lets you know about your interests and talents, helps you make vocational decisions, helps you learn how to get along with people, how to lead, etc. If you decide on ECs simply to try to please colleges, you'll be cheating yourself.</p>
<p>I agree with Northstarmom.</p>
<p>I have something to add though: DO NOT SPREAD YOURSELF TOO FAR/WIDE!</p>
<p>I'm in highschool right now, and I see many people doing FBLA/Debate/Key Club/Science Club/etc. and just signing up. But they hardly have any time to focus on a specific thing. My advice: find a couple, maybe 3 or 4 things you really love and do them. And don't think the activity has to be organized by some respected institution. As long as you aren't being lazy, you're good to go.</p>
<p>said right......but remeber that ppl are there who can manage to do multiple activites and still excel in each of them</p>
<p>please do not do something that you feel is a "waste of time" because admin people may not appreciate it...</p>
<p>to me, your looking to do something to look good, not because its fun, not because it will help people, not because you will learn something, not because it interests you, it seems that all you want to do is look good for applications</p>
<p>if that is the case, whatever you choose, you will not do well at, because it will be for show,not for anything real, unless you adjust your attitude a bit and do something because it is the right thing to do</p>
<p>And if you only do things for college applications, you are not only cheating yourself, you are cheating those for whom you are doing the ec, cause your heart and brain is not in it</p>
<p>absolutely right said...... application are meant to showcase your talents.......</p>
<p>Your talents are not meant to showcase the application</p>
<p>they are more valuable</p>
<p>Yeah you guys may have interperted my post in the wrong way. I am definetely applying for things that i would like to do. I just want to know if those are acceptable, that is all. I didn't know if colleges recognized volunteer work as ec's because that is something i really want to do, because I enjoy helping people.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying that though, i guess anything for ec's is acceptable, as long as its outside of school and its work. I don't think I will make the b-ball team this year, since i changed to a school that was a national powerhouse, so I am exploring my extracirricular possibilites at the moment. </p>
<p>I am really looking forward to doing some internships, because i really don't have any occupational interests at the moment, and i already have applied for 2 internships close to my community.</p>
<p>I am also applying to be an esl tutor and help teach people english. I am passionate about that because my mother was bilingual and had a hard time finding work etc in this country and I helped her a lot with english, so that is why I'm doing that.</p>
<p>One big question I have is, what else can I do to explore my vocational interests? Are there other things that I can do to formulate a possible career choice? Because right now I have no idea, and that worries me. When people ask me what I want to study, I have no reply. Is that normal for most people in highschool, or am I in trouble?</p>