<p>Ok, I'm very confused. As I'm browsing through the college confidential website, I'm getting the idea that in terms of importance, extracurriculars account for pretty much 50% of the applications... I'm not being sarcastic or trying to exaggerate anything. In my mind, where previously I thought that extracurriculars/awards/etc took up about 10%, I now think takes up 50%. People spend so much time reassuring others who have blah SAT scores, GPAs, or class ranks that they can make themselves equally competitive applicants to those who have amazing "numbers", if not more so... that people who are in the opposite situation feel worthless.</p>
<p>The reason this is a concern for me, is my extracurriculars are mediocre. Actually... no, they SUCK. I'm in a few clubs, never really held any leadership positions, and only won one or two worthwhile local awards. I do have personal passions, but I haven't been able to focus on them for various legitimate reasons. The only thing that I have had great control over was my grades and my SAT scores, which I've focused on A LOT. I feel really worthless right now, because I see so many people who've been captains of this, leaders of that, 200+ community service this, intern that, etc...</p>
<p>Now really... can someone please tell me, just how important extracurriculars really are? Do you know of anyone who did not have much extracurriculars but managed to get into a REALLY GOOD school?</p>
<p>IF INDEED extracurriculars are THAT important, what are some schools (high up there like Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, etc) that stress "numbers" more and do not care as much about extracurriculars? I know for one that Stanford considers extracurriculars very important, but I don't know of any that doesn't CARE AS MUCH about extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Devoting to one activity and excelling is way more important than joining 500 clubs.</p>
<p>Which of the following do you think is better?</p>
<p>Football captain
Regional high school best pianist
President of a club</p>
<p>vs</p>
<p>“Hi, I’m in this club that club this that, oooo I did this too, that club too, and this, and this, and this, and this… Oh yea, by the way, did you know that I’m average at everything?”</p>
<p>Bottom line: Colleges want to fill their campuses with a diverse student body, so finding people who excell in one activity is more diversity-material than someone who joined a bunch of clubs (after all, what the hell can that guy who joined a bunch of clubs bring to the campus and actually do well in besides academics? signing up for more clubs and showing up to goof around?)</p>
<p>They also care about persistence, so the longer you devoted to your activity, the better. </p>
<p>PASSION IS THE KEY.</p>
<p>ECs are very important in top colleges where almost everyone has impeccable scores. Not so much in state colleges, where some are idiots who are happy that they even got into a college and thinks that he’s no dumber than people who go to Ivy League. At state colleges, you can get in with just grades.</p>
<p>That was what I kind of knew already, but thanks for the reply. I have to be practical here because I’m a senior in high school, and I can’t really do anything about my extracurriculars and developing my passions… Are there any top schools in the US that are known for having lower expectations for extracurriculars (but higher expectations for SAT/GPA) than the other top schools?</p>
<p>ECs are only really important to the highest rated schools. Most flagship Us don’t care about them at all. Some LACs care about them. To see which schools care check out their Common Data Set. Section C states where they sit in the evaluation categories.</p>
<p>ECs only matter at schools like HYPS where there are so many people with good grades/scores that they need some standard to accept some and reject others. If your ECs are bad, the reality is that your chances are probably bleak at those schools.</p>
<p>Good grades/numbers should be fine mostly anywhere else.</p>
<p>Like other people have said, ECs are only that important at the absolute top schools, because ALL the applicants have absurdly high GPAs and test scores.</p>
<p>ECs don’t matter much at 95% of schools. They are only really important at the top schools that get many applicants with the stats and they are used to differentiate them.</p>
<p>I am not attempting to play devils advocate here, but if EC’s don’t matter at most schools, what do these kids with average grades/stats talk about in interviews and on their essays…what can they bring to the table?</p>
<p>having a very average (below average for most here) kid in terms of stats, she would not have a leg to stand on without some of her outside interests in my opinion…</p>
<p>even AO’s at average schools want to read interesting applications don’t they?</p>
<p>I have the same question. I’ve been focusing a ton on school (GPA, SAT, etc), but my extracurriculars are somewhat weak - not totally crap, but weak. I’ve won some awards though. Do I still have a chance?</p>
<p>For most schools in the top 20, they are very important as everyone has top of the line states. But as you go down, their importance goes down as well, to the point that strong stats are all you need to get in, particularly at public universities.</p>
<p>If a school is comparing 2 applicants who are the same in scores and gpa, then the ECs will come into play more prominently. At smaller schools where there is a much more holistic view of each applicant, ECs will count more than at a larger school (eg: BC vs Michigan). If you are a senior and haven’t been fully committed to a specific interest, it may hurt you at the tippy top schools, but I don’t think for most schools, if your stats are within range, it will make that much of a difference.</p>
<p>so the consensus here is if you are not planning to apply to the very top schools, then it would be wise to focus more on your grades. An obvious way to have more time to do this would be to limit ECs.</p>
<p>Ever since I entered sophomore year I have been really depressed because I don’t have ECs. I have only a pointless club which stopped after two years, in witch I was VP, (previously secretary position), and an unimpressive club for four years. I am also in another club which I only did second semester Junior year and then senior year.
I wanted to join XC but I didn’t run enough. If I do XC once senior year is it worth anything? I have 200+ hours of community service, mostly done at one place, and will get a job soon.
I couldn’t get myself to do the ECs that I was supposed to freshman year. HELP I DON’T WANT TO GO TO A STATE SCHOOL!!! Ever since I entered sophomore year I have been really depressed because I don’t have any ECs.</p>