<p>I'm a junior right now, and I feel that I do not have enough EC activities. That also includes leadership positions. However, I'm not just sitting back and doing nothing either. Here is my predicament:</p>
<p>By far, I am most active in my school's marching band over any other program. In fact, band-related activities are the only EC's I'm really a part of. I'm most likely going to join this new health type of club next week, but that's pretty much it. I applied for NHS, but I was rejected, which really angered me. I felt I was completely qualified for that club, my essay was excellent, and I am dedicated. However, I was still rejected. Maybe because I don't have any community service hours? I don't know. I mean, some girl who couldn't even submit her NHS application on time was accepted... so I just don't have any words for whoever made the decisions.</p>
<p>When it comes to leadership, I have tried my best. In band, my section is the pit, so I am rarely practicing with the rest of the band, therefore, the band director never really sees us practicing. I applied for section leader this year, which was a rather difficult process, and couldn't even get that. Myself and the rest of my section (except the other person running with me) expected me to get the position, but I didn't, which REALLY angered me, because he doesn't even lead. Even now when the season has started, I am the one leading rehearsals when we're alone because that guy just sits there with his mouth shut, yet, I receive no credit. When we ask him what to do, he says "I don't know" or "It's up to you". So again, I have no words as for why my band director made that decision.
My AP Stats class also functions as a club; we raise money for the AP test. Since it's a club, it needs officers. I ran for FOUR officer positions, and wasn't even picked for one. It was a class vote, so the seniors just voted for each other. It wasn't a very fair election...</p>
<p>So yeah, I try, but I'm never even given a chance for anything. I haven't done community service simply because my parents work full time, I have no car, and I don't know anybody near me who could constantly give me rides to and from those activities. Marching band is hard enough to get to...</p>
<p>I sit here and wonder if EC's are over-exaggerated a little. When I ask people why they join certain clubs, or why they run for president for a club, they all answer with "It looks good on college applications." Very few students ACTUALLY care about what they're doing. A lot of people admit to me that they really don't care about what they're doing, they're only doing it for college. I do marching band because I like it. I want to join this health club because they are also going to look at psychological and mental health along with physical health, and I am extremely interested in those topics. However, the clubs at my school that are supposedly "raising money for the unfortunate" really don't do much, and the clubs that go to the beach to "clean" end up sitting there with a box of pizza all day, and maybe clean for thirty minutes, but claim they did service that day for 5 hours. All of these are not assumptions about my school, I have taken the time to look into it. This has led me to believe that many EC activities are sort of over-exaggerated when it comes to college admissions, or in other words, me having 3 different band activities, a health club, and a part-time job looks just as good as the kid with MUN, NHS, Red Cross, ect. ect. ect. </p>
<p>I just want to know if this is going to hurt me. Do admissions officers REALLY care about being involved in a TON of different clubs? Does a smaller amount of activity but a passion for each one look just as good or maybe even better?</p>