does blogging count as an extra-curricular activity? i have been blogging for 2 years already now. does adding it to my college application make it stronger? and what kind of ECs stand out to get into an esteemed undergrad institution like princeton, williams, amherst, yale, harvard, columbia, stanford etc ?
ECs that relate to your plans for your college major and career are always positive, especially when they have some national or international scope – i.e., extend well beyond your high school. Things to consider regarding your blog is does it relate to your planned major (either because you want to write, or because the topic you are covering is related), and how big is your readership? Do you have tens of thousands of readers/hits a month? Do lots of people comment on your posts? Etc. I know of one person who in addition to blogging wrote lots of freelance articles, even publishing in national publications with large readerships. She maintained a writing portfolio online. She had no interest whatsoever in being a writer, but rather all of her stories were about technology. She managed to get into MIT for grad school. So yes, blogging and anything else you do definitely counts as an extracurricular activity.