<p>I already volunteer at the library, and I thought that was good enough but I see that loads of people have done so much more. I was thinking maybe a local clinic or animal shelter if I can find one, but my father isn't really with me on this whole extracurricular thing. I keep telling him that even the teachers say that volunteering and community service and stuff like band and choir are important in college applications it's not just SATs and GPA stuff(I know they're important but it's not the only thing that counts). I've done my first year at the library and I go there every week. I also plan to join Venturing, which is kind of like boy scouts. How do I convince my father it's a good idea to join clubs and and volunteer? He keeps saying that it's not important and academics are important and not "those things". I know academics are important, (but they aren't my best kind of thing) and I put study first but I want to do some other stuff too! And what are some good local EC ideas because I doubt he'll be giving me a ride to do community service but I can walk.</p>
<p>Maybe through an actual college site? On an admissions page, there should be information about the importance of extracurricular activites in admissions decisions.</p>
<p>Depending on what colleges you’re looking at, ECs may play a very minimal role (the vast majority of colleges and universities don’t factor ECs into their admission criteria)</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t factor ECs, community service, jobs into admission, but make decisions based on your stats and for public schools, your state of residence, with in-state residents being preferred.</p>
<p>The only colleges that factor Ecs, etc into admission are places like Harvard that have the luxury of using such factors to pick and choose from among the overabundance of high stat applicants they get so as to create a well rounded, active student body that’s diverse in all meanings of the word “diverse.”</p>
<p>ECs, etc. are mainly for the student’s benefit. They help the student develop skills – social and otherwise – that will serve the student well for a lifetime, and they also help the student learn things about themselves and the world that will help the student realize what college majors and careers will be good fits.</p>
<p>Students learn leadership, organizational, and other skills through ECs, etc. </p>
<p>I believe that if you find colleges’ common data sets, you can find out whether they use ECs, etc. as admission factors. One place that compiles such info is the U.S. News site about college admissions. For $15, you can access the entire site until next Aug. including getting detailed information about hundreds of colleges’ admissions criteria.</p>
<p>Thank you, I think I can try seeing if there’s a local community college I can do volunteer work at. And I just checked the site I think it’s $20 now? Anyway, I think I’ll consider that because it sounds like some useful information to know. I actually enjoy volunteering at the library but I really want to volunteer at an animal shelter for the animals lol.</p>