Extracurriculars?

[mikemac]

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I know extracurriculars are very important in the admissions process and you can’t get into a good college without them.

ECs play a minor role, if even that. Its just grades and scores for most colleges, and at many the bar just isn’t very high on even those. Actually most colleges in the US accept most of their applicants. On the other hand if your definition of “good college” is the top 100 or so most in demand out of the 3,000+ 4-year colleges in the US, yes they care about ECs.

By this I mean, do colleges want to see you participate in a few activities for several years, or many activities for just one or two years each.

For the colleges that DO care about ECs, mere participation is meaningless. That doesn’t even put you in the running for a selective college. They want to see leadership and achievement. So if your primary reason for playing this sport is the thought that just being on the team for 4 years is going to impress an adcom someday, you should understand that it won’t.</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 constitutes 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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says

Students often assume our primary concern is the number of activities in which one participates. In fact, an exceptional depth of experience in one or two activities may demonstrate your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the impact you have had on that club, in your school, or in the larger community, and we want to learn of the impact that experience has had on you.

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