Hey guys, I was just wondering if this enough extra curricular classes to take for freshman through senior year debate
club, interact club, key club, national honor society, science Olympiad, math club, and youths in government
The number of extra curriculars you take isn’t what’s important, it’s how well you do in them. I would say focus on three or so and try to win awards, get leadership positions, etc. Having a huge list of extracurriculars without many accomplishments can make it look like you did ECs because you wanted to impress colleges, not accomplish anything.
Thank you so much Qwerty568 for your reply but just out of curiosity what would be the ECs that you would recommend taking that are important.
The ones that you feel most interested in are the ones where you will be the most successful. The only thing I would say is, at least in my high school, there is a lot of overlap between the community service our interact club does and our national honors society does. If I were you I would go with NHS over interact. The rest should be up to you!
Thank you for your help Qwerty568 your feedback has been very helpful
I’d eventually try to get a leadership position in one or more of the clubs you are involved in. For many schools the number of things you do is not as important as the depth of your involvement and leadership. It is also OK if you find new interests and add a new club and drop an old one over the course of your HS years.
ECs won’t make up for your grades, so make sure you have enough time to put your energy where it counts - on your academics. Then pick 2-3 activities to focus on. If you don’t enjoy one, drop it and try something else. The objective with ECs is to find what you love, develop skills that are different from the ones you develop in a classroom, find a way to be part of your community(ies), and have some fun. Nowhere does it say that you need to fill in all 10 blanks in the common app, be ‘well-rounded,’ or prove that you ‘give back’ to those less fortunate in order to get into a good school - but people behave as if they’ve been giving marching orders along these lines. Save your energy - use it to get more sleep and to think more deeply about the things you are already doing.