Emphasize these EC's in College Apps?

Applying to College
1

<p>I have a decent idea on my reach schools, my dream school is Yale, a crapshoot. Im ignoring the numbers since the posters on CC epitomize academic success, im working on the numbers but also the subjective portion of my application(s).</p>

<p>The clubs I have taken so far:
FBLA (3 years by Senior Year)
Key Club (2 Years by Senior Year)
World Language Honor Society (Vice President)
Biology II League (1 Year)
Genetic Engineering (1 Year + Name (as well as participating others) published in scientific journal)
Leaders For Diversity (Chosen by teachers, intervewied, sent to summer program focused on importance in diversity and group projects to improve diversity within the community) (3 Years by Senior Year)
Radio/Broadcasting Club
Debate Club (2 Years)
Academic Decathalon (1 Year)
Cancer Awareness Society (1 Year)
500+ Volunteering Hours
12 Years of Classical/Contemporary Piano - Private Instruction
Internship/Work dealing with finance/spreadsheets at my father's Company</p>

<p>I was considering starting these two clubs within our school:</p>

<p>(Starting this year - Junior Year)
PHS-COSA - The Colation of Student Affairs
8 Student Leaders under myself in good academic/social standing will be interviewed(2 male/female representatives of each grade level)
What Student Leaders do:
-Lobby for change in Administration/Schoolboard
-Oversee in school philanthropy focusing each month on a different academic area, taking raised money and donating it back to the school
-Speaking once a month at faculty meetings on progress reports, in school economics, raised money, etc., reports on student academic activity
-Student leaders make arrangements with local businesses for advertising/percentage of profits for advertising in school or students who show student ID at purchase
-Collect money around town, as well as around the school, donate money to government aid in educating Africa/promotion of education in 3rd world nations.</p>

<p>15-20 Student Tutors (Including myself)
-Host tutoring sessions 2x per week for 1-2Hrs
-2 people per specialized subject area
-Up to tutors on how they benchmark student results (Liberal Education)
-Report benchmarks and increases over alotted time, report back to student leaders who will relay information to the faculty
-Communicate with faculty on extra credit oppurtunities/make up exams
-Hosting SAT Prep in one classroom every saturday, as well as a mock SAT in a different room the same Saturday, tests are scored and returned to students.
-Mock AP Exams in April as well as Subject review for some courses, exams are Scored and Returned, and Reviewed.</p>

<p>PHS-CCMS - Contemporary/Classical Music Symphony (Starting Senior Year)
-I partner with a musically inclined teacher
-Introduce club to entering class (Class of 2015) as well as other grades
-Gather an independent musical ensemble, music chosen by the students themselves and put to vote, a set list is created.
-Practice and enrich student music skills
-Host in school concert/Sell tickets
-Communicate with local civic center/civic centers from other towns, book venues, sell tickets
-Send all proceeds to charity that promotes music, donates money to local music programs, as well as international music programs</p>

<p>I have a passion for Business but also toward music and education. Will this reflect well on my college applications, no this isnt just for show (too much work) I feel this is actually fun, I'm just wondering how it will affect my application and how it will be viewed by Yale, any advice from Yalies or Yale hopefuls?</p>

2

<p>BumpityBump</p>

3

<p>You certainly have a lot of ECs for your application. My concern would be that you have TOO many listed. Your resume seem to be suffering from what, when I was in high school, we referred to as “Vice President of the French Club” syndrome- a long list of shallow ECs the student seems to have participated in primarily to bulk up their application. If I were an admissions officer I would have a hard time winnowing out your true interests, and I would be left with very little idea of who you are as a student. Are you a biologist? an entrepreneur? a social activist? musician? linguist?</p>

<p>Now for the positive. You have a lot to work with. Try figuring out which activities you really care about. Colleges and universities care about depth in ECs. They don’t want students who simply skin the surface, preferring those who will dive right in and wallow around. Think about the two or three things you want the Adcom to remember about you after reviewing your application. Cluster your ECs into meaningful groupings, such as leadership or music and get rid of the flotsam, such as “Cancer Awareness Society” (unless you’re emphasizing your interest in biology) and the internship with your dad, unless you spend a ton of hours there and can make the case that you make a really meaningful contribution. Think about it this way, if an admissions officer asked you about one of your ECs in an interview, would it give you an opportunity to shine? For instance, would you want him or her to focus on your time in the broadcast club and would it reflect a meaningful aspect of who you are?</p>

<p>Be wary of starting a bunch of clubs your senior year. Adcoms have seen this approach before and they’re not generally impressed unless the club dovetails with a long-standing interest. Remember that if you apply to Yale EA you’ll be interviewing less than two months after the start of your senior year. This isn’t a lot of time to accomplish anything meaningful. It’s barely enough time to get a new club up and running.</p>

4

<p>sounds a lot like what was termed in one admission book I read “a mile wide and an inch deep”… I mean, seriously “Biology II League”? “Cancer Awareness Society”? Here’s what a school like Stanford says it looks for in ECs

</p>

5

<p>Well…yes there is no denying that there is fluff in there, should I condense it down to one idea or two or should I group them to highlight my interest rather than staying singular obviously I won’t put ALL of that on there it shows no correlation but should I limit myself to only one cluster or group or multiple ones that highlight interest ASWELL as involve significant change or participation?</p>

6

<p>You have a lot of EC’s. If you actively partcipate in all of them, you should include and emphasize them on your apps. People on here say to have a “focused passion”, but if you have multiple passions, then I don’t see why you can’t pursue all.</p>

7

<p>I personally wouldn’t include ECs on the Common App that you’ve only been in for one year - it doesn’t seem very meaningful. By all means, include it in a resume attachment to your app if you think it’s important, but you’ve got a limited amount of space in the ECs section and it’s not worth highlighting things that show breadth rather than depth. Try to group your ECs somewhat, but sometimes focus isn’t the best - I can’t say I know many people who are truly “focused.” :slight_smile: Highlight one or two significant activities and work around that rather than trying to focus your entire EC section.</p>

8

<p>Unfortunately, a laundry list of ECs will not impress adcoms. Pick a few where you really made an impact and concentrate on telling those stories. Also, starting a club in and of itself is not impressive. You must be able to demonstrate impact.</p>

9

<p>Great advice from Sue22 and others here. Ditch the fluff. If I have to dig around in order to figure out what you are really interested in and whether you’ve actually had an impact anywhere, imagine how an ad com, with a stack of applications, is going to feel about having to make that effort. Most won’t bother.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, you’ll have a much saner senior year (and write better applications) if you focus on just a few ECs that you really care about.</p>