"Hidden" Extracurriculars--What are Yours?

<p>It makes me so happy that NaNoWriMo and Screnzy have been mentioned a few times :). I didn’t do them when I was in high school and I never would’ve thought to list them if I had, but they should definitely count. I mean, if you do both every year, that’s at least two months in which nearly all of your free time is devoted to writing, and then on top of that there’s any planning you do before hand and any editing you do after.</p>

<p>I have a collection of books which contains more than 800 books and I have read most of them. We have a special room for my book-collection(mini-library) in our hause. </p>

<p>Also I have a mini DVD collection, maybe 200 DVDs in it.</p>

<p>For about 6 years, I try to watch every single movie that comes to theaters.(Which makes 5-6 movies a week)</p>

<p>Would these help?</p>

<p>@eugine</p>

<p>Maybe leave out the part where you watch every single movie that comes out, that may be seen as a time waster. But the books part is great, you HAVE to put that in!</p>

<p>I know this may seem weird but i really want to know.</p>

<p>I go to a lot of concerts… Like one every two weeks, sometimes two in a week. But I do attend a lot of shows. So can I put that</p>

<p>goal of life: finish reading the [1001 books you must read before you die] list.</p>

<p>@RazorConcepts thank you for your reply! I guess you are right about the time-wasting thing, and I’m going to talk about my book collection. </p>

<p>@clowiebear That’s my goal for 2 years, and I can say I’m pretty close. </p>

<p>Should I write that too?</p>

<p>Ok…could selling gadgets throu ebay (for 7 years) be one??</p>

<p>Ive been a sales person through ebay for 7 years now, kind of seasonally. </p>

<p>Would that be a job or an extracurricular?</p>

<p>fixing stuff and remodeling could apply as extracurricular aswell?
thanks!</p>

<p>I’m wondering whether I should tell the admissions officer that as I walk into a classroom I will always recite a recitativo from one of Donizetti’s many coloratura arias. It is of course weird and quite disturbing, but people have gotten used to it xD</p>

<p>Should I mention that I owned/operated a private server gaming community before I start High School? This was near the end of middle school.</p>

<p>Also, I made a website for the students that attend my High School. It’s an open and anonymous imageboard that I created to allow students to anonymously share their thoughts without fear of being identified by anyone. Is that worth mentioning? It’s not really academics related. Also, I wrote a draft of my common app about the importance of Internet anonymity. Would the website complement my essay?</p>

<p>Yea, I’m wondering the same as Paukid, except for me it’s slightly different. </p>

<p>Throughout high school (freshman to senior year) I’ve made money by buying broken electronics, fixing them, and selling them on ebay (or craigslist). I chose to do this because obviously freshman year I wasn’t old enough to work, and sophomore year when I was 16, homework started picking up big time, so I couldn’t see myself working.</p>

<p>I realize that choosing not to get a job because of the difficulty of balancing work and school casts a negative light on my ability to juggle responsibilities. Is this talent worth including on a college app, and if so how would you describe it so as to highlight the positive aspects of making money in a creative way? (also, is this something I would put on the resume that i submit with my application, or should I put it directly on the common app?</p>

<p>I feel like I need to include this in some way, because i think its been a pretty big part of my high school life. I mean, all of my friends know I do it, and I can’t tell you how many times people have approached me at school asking if I could fix their ipod or something. Its not as though I’m microsoft certified or anything, but in doing this I’ve learned how to diagnose and fix hardware problems on most macs, some other computers, all ipods, and various other small electronics. Oh, and I make a lotta cheddar doin’ this, haha. (at least as much as my friends do at their retail jobs).</p>

<p>Oh, and also I’m kind of curious about hackey sack club. I know a lot of people poke fun at it for being a hippie past-time, and an activity that’s only really recognized as a sport by obscure satellite tv networks, but its one of the few things that I’ve kept up with consistently throughout high school. Obviously I take my role as newspaper editor and NHS president more seriously, but I was in hackey sack club for freshman and sophomore year, and I’ve carried at least 1 hackey sack on me at all times for pretty much my entire high school career. Its uh, a huge hobby of mine, and im pretty good at it.</p>

<p>I guess the reason I’m asking is because theres no academic merit in being involved in it, but at all of the middle and upper tier schools that I toured over the summer (princeton, mit, tufts, boston u, etc etc etc), they stressed the fact that when we tell them our extracurriculars, we put down the ones that mean a lot to us, and not the ones that we THINK they will find impressive. What’s your take?</p>

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<p>If you were my advisee, I might suggest that you mention this interest in the 150 activity mini-essay (~150 wds) on the Common App. You could start out with something like, “On my application you’ll see ‘Newspaper Editor’ and ‘NHS President,’ but if you were to cut me open, you will find a hackey sack right next to my heart …” Then you can go on to briefly explain your involvement and perhaps why you feel it’s so appealing.</p>

<p>YES that DEFINITELY should count, Pokemon has taught me so many new vocabulary words and taught me to believe in myself :D</p>

<p>I write novels in my spare time. does that count?</p>

<p>.Seeing Broadway plays and other shows (took an extra class in which she saw plays and other shows and wrote reviews).
.Took extra classes in the arts, eg. piano, photography, guitar. Has continued to self teach piano and guitar (the photography she is just taking this semester).</p>

<p>I also forgot that she is a Harry Potter fanatic, reading most of the books so much that we had to buy duplicate copies…and a reading fanatic in general…in fifth grade, one teacher complained that she read “too much” and a cartoon the teacher drew of her in the yearbook in elementary school had her saying to my daughter who was walking through the hallway reading a book: “Reva, put down that book!” Also, she has had a fascination with animals: knows just about every breed there is.</p>

<p>Would working with a personal trainer for a year count?? (shows commitment?)</p>

<p>Anyways, I’m taking the sports med class and that requires 50 hours of observation/work inthe athletic training room or at games, does that count?</p>

<p>I’d say most of the things people listed here ‘count’ because you can easily get an essay of them that illustrates why you are unique, interesting, passionate, and likely to add to the character of the school. These quirky ECs/passions/interests make you memorable in a sea of applications that are pretty hard to differentiate among-and admissions officers are human. They are much more likely to remember the person who stood out for some odd EC than the one who was president of all the usual clubs. Be the one who stands out! The other stuff (newspaper editor, sports team captain, president of the french club) pretty much speak for themselves, so you don’t need to talk about them unless it was somehow a life-changing experience for you-heck, your teachers and recommenders can talk about these standard school ECs. Save your bullets (essays) to talk about why you are different.</p>

<p>Drawing and painting, tumblr, being an avid desperate housewives fan.</p>