<p>Does anyone have any insight into what difference hours spent on extracurriculars make? As in, if people are involved in an activity, does it matter (significantly--like make or break an application to a top university) if a person records that they spend 2 hours per week on an activity versus 5?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>i have the same question too..</p>
<p>what if you spend 16 hours a week on an ec? how much better does it look versus five?</p>
<p>just want to give this a quick bump.</p>
<p>Relatively few colleges put much weight on ECs when it comes to admission. The exception are the most highly competitive private colleges -- places like HPYS. Other colleges may consider ECs for merit aid.</p>
<p>As for the # hours, places like HPYS care far more about what you accomplished in your ECs than how many hours you put in. For instance, a person could earn 1,000 volunteer hours by simply sitting on their butt and waiting to be told what to do at an agency. That isn't going to impress colleges that care about things like leadership and service. Such colleges would be impressed by a student who spent 50 hours volunteering, and accomplished something such as raising money, helping a disadvantaged kid pass a class, starting a youth group branch of the nonprofit.</p>
<p>I have a friend who was accepted to Stanford, but misrepresented herself on her application by putting several more hours per week on two extracurriculars than she actually spends. She is considering going to a different school (although Stanford is her dream school) because she feels as if she cheated her way in and didn't deserve to be accepted. She even emailed an admissions officer, told them about her situation (saying that she no longer spends that much time on those extracurriculars) and they told her it was okay and they did nothing to rescind her admission. In this case, did her misrepresented hours play a significant role in her acceptance?</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, the top colleges like HPYS that count ECs heavily as part of admissions are far more interested in what students accomplished through their ECs than how many hours they spent doing them.</p>
<p>No, misrepresented hours do not play a significant part of the admissions process. Sure, they'll glance over it, and might be impressed if it is really high, but most misrepresentations are just tiny little changes that will not make any difference. I'm not condoning lying on a college application, but just pointing out that minor lies are pointless and does wonders for your conscience.</p>