How does having a job in high school (in my case, 2 years, about 9 hours a week, just during the school year) affect college admissions? Is it a particularly strong EC?
I think it is.
It can be a strong extracurricular, depending on how it fits in with the rest of your application.
Were you just doing it to earn some extra cash for yourself, or to help support your family? Is it somewhat related to your field of interest? What responsibilities were you given in your job? Is this something a high schooler would normally do, or does it require maturity beyond your age? Did you have to balance this job with your studies?
I think these are some questions admissions committees will ask.
Thanks for the feedback. While it wasn’t a particularly high level job, I did have to manage money and balance it with my schoolwork, as there were times I worked 3 weekdays a week 3+ hours at a time after school
The job will basically take the place of doing an EC.