<p>Okay, so I'm going to be a freshman this year at the University of Maryland, and I'm going in with the mind set that I want to have fun, make friends, and be the best I can be. However, there is still a part of me which really wants to go to Boston College (my dream school), and I want to make sure that I cover all my bases so that the possibility of transferring there still exists. In high school I was in the top 5% of my class academically, and took all AP and honor classes, but I was never very interested in ec's. Now that I'm going to college however, I really would like to get involved. I'm interested in playing club tennis, volunteering through the Catholic Student Center, and being a senator on the University Senate. These are all activities that I'm interested in, would enjoy, and feel I could really dedicate myself to. However, I'm concerned about how admissions officers would view them. Are they strong ec's? Should I do more? If I really devote myself to them, will they be enough?Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Those sound fine. Do as much as you’re comfortable with; don’t sacrifice GPA for activities. For transfer admissions, the relative emphasis on ECs is low compared to that of GPA, schedule rigor, HS stats, etc.</p>
<p>I agree wtih Caillebotte. Admissions officers view EC’s in light of your interests. They don’t have “favored” EC’s. If you pursue things which really interest you, it will show through when you describe them in your application. Quantity is not important. Doing what you love and being able to show that on your application essays is what matters.</p>
<p>You have a great attitude. So go and enjoy UM-CP. Who knows? You might not even care about BC after your settle in. If you do still want to try for it, take your best shot, but realize that you can have a great experience at Md.</p>
<p>“Bloom where you are planted.”</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the insight! I’m hoping I do enjoy MD so much that I don’t want to end up transferring. But I think that keeping the idea of transferring to BC in the back of my mind may actually encourage me to get more involved at MD than I otherwise would have.</p>
<p>Hey I know the 1st singles guy on UMD’s club tennis team. I don’t know if he’s doing it this year (he told me his gonna try out for the DIV I team), but if you want I can PM his name and you can get more info</p>
<p>tenniscostaleez- Thanks! That would be great. I would love to know more about the practices, matches, etc. i’m really into tennis.</p>
<p>Yeah, the general rule for ECs is quality over quantity. You have enough, for sure, in terms of sheer numbers it’s just a matter of what you do with it. Really dedicate yourself to one or two of your ECs that you really love. Make your passion for them show in your application. A huge laundry list of small ECs is not very impressive and dilutes your application.</p>
<p>MagiTF- how do u suggest showing your dedication to your EC’s on the application? For the common app, I know one of the essays is supposed to be about a favorite EC, but it’s only about 150 words. How do I really show the admissions officers that these are activities I really care about?</p>
<p>In a transfer app, that is a bit hard. Make that short essay WORK! You can PM some of us to review drafts when the time comes.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about EC’s; I don’t think they will be the most important factor in a transfer app AT ALL! GPA, course selection, references… these will be more important. Your main essay <em>might</em> feature your EC’s in some way… but don’t force it. If it’s relevant to what you need to say, do it. Otherwise, don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>I noticed everyone keeps talking about course rigor. I’m trying to take Core classes this first semester, but I had certain restrictions on my schedule selection. I’m in the Scholars program for life sciences so I have to take one colloquium class (2 credits), as well as two sciences, and a generic freshman class. So my classes wind up being colloquium, the freshman class, astronomy, biology, calculus I, and art history. This amounts to 17 credits which is more than most freshmen at UMD are supposed to take (I needed an advisor’s approval to do this.) However, will this schedule look to “soft” since I’m only taking four real academic classes?</p>
<p>No, that doesn’t look soft. Calculus, lab science, and humanities are rigorous imo. Transfer adcoms know that freshman colloquia are often mandatory.</p>
<p>any more insight?</p>