EC's: What Colleges WANT to see

Applying to College
1

<p>After seeing the triumph and chaos on CC following the EA and ED decisions I believe I can give a proper statement on what colleges WANT to see in terms of extracurriculars. Many of you may already know this, but I believe many others do not. However, while reading this please remember that this is just one person's opinion and I may be in fact wrong. I am not claiming to know the exact answer, but this should help. </p>

<p>I recently applied to Stanford University under the SCEA program and was accepted, and I was thinking, why did they accept me? I have great grades and rank, average test scores (30 ACT for Stanford), but I don't have these huge lists of EC's like all these other students. To be exact I only listed four EC's, which aren't even amazing under any standards of normal viewing. Here is what I listed:</p>

<p>Playing Guitar- (7 hr/wk, 52wks/yr, Self-Taught)
Chess Club- (1.5 hr/wk, 38wks/yr, Founder and current Vice-President)
Junior Statesmen of America- (1 hr/wk, 32 wks/yr, current Assembly Member)
Creative Minds (art club)- (1 hr/wk, 28 wks/yr, current Treasurer)</p>

<p>Now, you are probably laughing or something to that extent. Well the thing is, I agree with you this list is boring, but I had to breathe it life. In my application I talked about my passion for music and creativity. I showed that I loved chess and politics on a wide scale. By doing this I gave this very seemingly uneventful list life and truth. I expanded these EC's into who I was as an individual. I didn't have lists and I didn't have any fluff in my application. I presented myself. Though EC's are just one part of the application, I believe they show much more about a person than just test scores and grades.</p>

<p>My friends had always told me, "Hey man, you better get a sport or else you won't look well rounded when colleges see you." I ignored them because I don't like sports and I would not join one, because I would just be putting on a facade for the ADcoms wherever I applied. I didn't want to join things that did not interest me. Therefore, I just did what I wanted to do and what I felt was fun or interesting for me. The fact is, that I am involved in a few more EC's than the 4 listed here, but I did not feel that by listing them I would present myself any better. Me being in math club was not some huge thing for me. It was fun, but I didn't care to put it on my application.</p>

<p>So, my advice to you is "Stop making lists and start finding passions." Don't join something because it will help you on your college apps, do it because you want to do it. A previous statement I had said before on CC was "Stand out and be yourself." Let the ADcoms figure out the rest. If you just be yourself, then a rejection is not that bad, because you just were not their type. It doesn't show a personal flaw, but conflicting interests. A Bible-belt conservative would not be good at UC Berkeley, just like many students would not be best for certain college atmospheres. I honestly would fail at Cal Tech, that's why I didn't bother applying. If you learned anything from this whole rant, let it be this "Find what you love to do, and do it." Life figures out the rest. </p>

<p>I hope this has been helpful to some of the up-and-comers or anyone else who needed advice.</p>

2

<p>I totally agree, you did what you wanted and were real about it, and got in. Great job!!!</p>

3

<p>I only listed four as well:</p>

<p>Debate (state awards, Most Valuable Debator, only 4-year varsity ever)
Lacrosse (Captain, All-State, Varsity Letter, etc)
Quiz Bowl (All-Metro, All-State, Captain)
Cross Country (Captain, Varsity letter)</p>

<p>I'd done all four for four years, and it's pretty obvious that I dove headfirst into all of them. I'd done a few miscellaneous stuff freshman year (yay Spanish Club, HOPE Club, Teens for Life, which I now despise....), but these were the things that meant the most to me, so I didn't even mention those others.</p>

<p>Do what you love, and fu** the rest. That's the best advice I can give regarding ECs.</p>

<p>(By the way, I'm going to MIT next year, but also got into UChicago, Notre Dame, and UMich)</p>

4

<p>Did you ever perform with the guitar or anything?</p>

<p>I play the violin, but it's a bit personal. Most people - including teachers - don't know that I play and I'm self-taught. It calms me down and challenges me, but my brother told me not to put it on my application because it will seem "random." I was thinking of writing my Common App essay on it.</p>

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<p>I think that would be a good topic for your common app essay.</p>

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<p>Metallica, your post is so true! I agree with you 100%.</p>

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<p>Stanford loves creative people. It's my observation that most kids in my neighborhool that got accepted to Stanford did have some kind of creative passion in high school. So you do fit into that description. I also observed that these kids have above average personal quality/character.</p>

8

<p>I say if you have a million EC's, list em. It's possible to be involved in many things. Why hide something you were truly involved in? </p>

<p>But take the things that are MOST important, and need the most clarification / explanation, and do that too.</p>

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<p>Thank you to everyone, I am just trying my best to sort out this complicated process of EC's. </p>

<p>To poster: (Optimization)- No I never did big performances but just jammed with friends and had fun. I didn't win awards for it, but I just love to do it. If I started competing I think I wouldn't like guitar as much. It doesn't make it fun. And to me, music is all about jamming and having a good time, not strict competitions. That loses what music is supposed to represent. </p>

<p>To poster: (ClaySoul)- I don't think it is the best idea to list a lot of EC's even if you are truly involved in all of them. I think for most people a huge list gets annoying or desperate at times. Though some people are truly dedicated to many activities, I see it as more of a "Look what I can do." list instead of defining who someone is. I think 6 EC's max on any application, but that's just me. Otherwise you start to look like you are desperate to show all the things you did, rather than just the important ones.</p>

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<p>Great post! Very informative</p>

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<p>You're cool. It's nice to see people get accepted who don't have 100000 different activities and instead do what they like*.</p>

<p>*Well, sometimes people like spending 17000 hours building houses for the homeless and discovering new elements and being the president of everything and solving the Middle East crisis, I guess, and that's cool, but your activities seem more genuine.</p>

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<p>wow, thats inspirational and gives me hope =D</p>

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<p>I know plenty of students that had much more focused ECs that showed a clear passion, which they discussed in their essays, and had better stats, and were rejected. Really, simply by going through the process, you can't make a judgment on how it works. You're one example. What about the ton of counter-examples? You don't know exactly why they accepted you.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/392488-my-chances.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/392488-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Being a Hispanic male with those stats might have had something to do with it. =)</p>

<p>Regardless, I agree that one should find passion in one's ECs. This might not have to do with specific organizations, but things they do on their own.</p>

14

<p>That was a great post. <em>claps</em> Bravo! I'm so glad to see some people who agree with me! </p>

<p>It's more important to develop "you" in high school, rather than a plastic student that you think the adcoms want to see. I know a lot of people who gave up their talent in singing or acting so that they could look "well rounded," but to me, doing that is kind of like sacrificing your soul...</p>

<p>Conversely, though, I don't think you should overindulge in simple pleasures, like video games. Sure, they're fun, but do you really plan to put on your application "World of Warcraft 90 hrs/wk, Level 99999999 Warrior-Barbarian-Super Elf or whatever?" </p>

<p>Be reasonable, but remember: we're still high school kids. These are the best years of our lives, so balance work and play and it'll pay off. :D</p>

<p><edit> ^lol, you beat me to the "sacrificing passions" concept ^_^</edit></p>

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<p>I remember seeing a kids app on cc and they listed "War of the Worlds" as their favorite movie.</p>

<p>Lolz.</p>

16

<p>Yeah I did alot of random activities of NO significane that I am not listing at all..I have 9 activities listed, with a description of each, 3 are volunteering (hospital, temple, research lab) .. one is shadowing a doctor..and the others are a foregin exchange, sport (lacrosse) and student govt (in which I don't hold a position, but i headed several committees, which I wrote about), and then NHS is listed last..</p>

<p>So I think it shows that I take initiative, since only 3 of 6 are school based, the rest I had to sort of go out and find..</p>

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<p>is it ok to combine related activities?
like gsa/amnesty international or newspaper/literary journal
the duties were essentially the same
if so how do I take the blank activities spaces off.....</p>

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<p>wow i saw your EC list and i saw a version of mine in there. thanks</p>

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<p>Frankly, the truth is, if you are truly passionate about something you will 99% of the time excel to a position of greatness or accomplish a major achievment while you are pursuing your passion as well. Take me for instance - I have always love politics, believing it to be the most essential aspect of mankind, and now I'm a national political leader for high school students that regularely converses with congressman, presidents, and other political figures. Point is;</p>

<p>Follow your true passions, and rewards will naturally flow to you.</p>

20

<p>Thing is, I'm passionate about a whole bunch of things - sports (national level in one sport, on the school team for about 4 others), writing (school publications), international relations (Model UN), cultural activities (drama, music, etc. - all at the intra/inter school level), the environment (toooooons of environmental activism) and science (soon gonna start research).</p>

<p>Will colleges think that I did all this stuff just for the sake of admissions or will they see how heavily involved I've been (will have done all this stuff through all 4 years of high school when I graduate) and realize that I actually AM passionate about a lot of things?</p>