<p>For top colleges, I understand that one would need good extracurriculars to get admitted.
However, I do not know what would be a "good" extracurricular.
For instance, I would like to be pre-med, and so I will be volunteering at a nearby hospital, and applying for an NIH internship when I am 16, and also I reeeaaalllyy want to work at a Starbucks (I love coffee :P)
However, I do not know what else to do-so for fear of being "generic" to the adcoms, could you all help me?
I am also in the process of starting a blog, and I am on my schools cross country team-i am debating on whether or not I should do swim team or the musical
Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s all about doing what you like. If you care about some activity enough, involvement and ECs should come naturally. For example, I played, reffed, and coached soccer year round - to the point where it took up a large portion of my week.</p>
<p>Agreed with the above poster completely.</p>
<p>If you’d enjoy swim team and it’d fit in your schedule, do it. If you’d enjoy the musical and it’d fit in your schedule, do it. If you have to pick one or the other, pick the one you think you’d enjoy the most.</p>
<p>I hardly had any ECs in high school other than mock trial, because it was the activity that I enjoyed the most. I still got into excellent schools, because I was passionate enough about mock trial that it became an extremely strong EC in that I effectively lived and breathed mock trial for three years. I wasn’t in much else because I didn’t have time for much else.</p>
<p>The question about impressive ECs comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what she has seen make up impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html</a></p>
<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>