<p>I was always wondering, when listing your ECs - should you sometimes not list certain ECs that may not be suitable. This question has always bothered me, not that I have anything really that I would not want to hide, but some people do.</p>
<p>I mean, like if you were the founding member of your (insert satanistic cult name here) club, then not only shouldn't you be listing it, but neither should you apply.</p>
<p>But what about sports like paintball, shooting related sports, hunting (not fishing!), beer drinking contest haha, and other whacked or sometimes frowned upon activities. </p>
<p>I mean, I play paintball as a sport. (In a team and we play in tournies etc) But I know there were some Europeans countries that banned the sport or put some very strict rules on it.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts and ECs that make you feel uncomfortable about listing them?</p>
<p>I didn’t feel uncomfortable writing about it, but I knew it might raise some eyebrows. I wrote about an EC of mine and included a part where I talked about Islamic radicalism and upholding a right to free speech and expression including videos of IED’s and such. I added that I in no way agreed with it, but that I supported the right to display it. Censorship only adds infamy, which doesn’t help make things right.</p>
<p>Beer drinking contests is a no.
I’m not sure where you’re applying, but I haven’t experienced similar attitudes towards paintball here in the U.S. It would probably just be a relatively original EC (it actually seems better suited to be an essay topic).
Hunting might be a little more risky, as the readers might be morally opposed to it (like me), but it still doesn’t seem that bad. In general, if something doesn’t seem to fit as an EC, it might work well in an essay instead.</p>
<p>I think if you’re uncomfortable about how it might look on an EC list, maybe write your essay about it instead. I know that kind of sounds like counterintuitive, but I think if you use your essay to explain your passion for paintball or hunting (as long as it’s well written, obviously) you can give the admissions officers a real picture of who you are as a person. Also, explaining why you love it will add depth that just listing it as an EC can’t.</p>
<p>That being said, “beer drinking competitions” is not an EC. Hahaha.</p>
<p>There is a school of thought in college admissions that pays particular attention to the “Building a Class” concept. </p>
<p>If your EC is something that you couldn’t really do on campus or would not contribute to the college community in any way, it doesn’t help your application. The schools want students who will be contributing members to the campus community – so hunting, for example, would be a difficult thing to do/ involve other students with on most campuses – hence a negative. That’s the thinking at least.</p>
<p>I don’t think that would be true unless hunting were your only extracurricular. I don’t think that any college actually wants you to only be interested in things that you can do on campus.</p>
<p>I REALLY don’t think paintball is frowned upon.
It’s pretty common, no? And not harming anyone. Unlike actual hunting…whereas you better hope the adcoms aren’t PETA members. Haha. :D</p>
<p>Most colleges use ECs at most for merit aid.</p>
<p>The colleges that do factor ECs into admission look for ECs that provide evidence that an applicant would contribute to creating an active, well rounded, diverse class. Such colleges probably don’t attract a lot of hunters, so putting down “hunting” may help tip a qualified applicant in to a place like Harvard or Princeton.</p>
<p>I used to skateboard a lot and used to be quite good, but decided skateboarding was not looked favorably upon in the academic world. Thus, it went unlisted.</p>
<p>My s wrote about a paintball tournament as his college essay. He listed both paintball and ultimate frisbee in his ECs (yes- there is such thing as the varsity ultimate frisbee team). He was admitted to 2 of his 4 schools and waitlisted at the other two. Got great merit $$ too!! So I wouldnt worry about listing the ECs. But agreed- I’d leave out the cults, dog fighting, peeping tom, and pulling neighborhood pranks as ECs.</p>
<p>I was a college prof, have interviewed applicants to my Ivy alma mater, am married to a college prof, and I even have friends who teach at a top 30 university and have a son who is a skateboarder and was NM commended. I’ve never heard of academics in general stereotyping skateboarder.</p>
<p>^
One of the places where skateboarding and other potentially negative ECs come up is in the somewhat controversial book on college admissions: What Colleges Won’t Tell You by
Elizabeth Wissner-Gross</p>
<p>Not an endorsement, just mentioning that this is specifically addressed there.</p>
<p>That’s what happens when you learn about college admissions from the movie Animal House. I bet Dean Vernon Wormer from Faber University hates skateboarders. I hear that any students who own a skateboard upon admission are immediately placed on Triple Secret Probation – Level Five.</p>
pong is the most popular sport at my school.</p>