<p>Hey,
To me it seems, at least in Denmark (where I'm from) and the other European countries I've been to (quite a few), that extra curricular activities, competitions etc. are not common or at least not nearly as common and practiced as in the US. This is a shame I believe, because it make international students look poorer on applications in terms of leadership and passion to help others, even though they might be passioned and great leaders.</p>
<p>I have been wondering whether or not it is taken into consideration, that there is generally less extra currilars in Europe, by admissions committees?</p>
<p>That depends very much on the school. Schools that get a great many European applications (including HYMSP etc.) do understand the context in which to interpret EC’s. Schools that take fewer, including many state universities might well not.</p>
<p>Well, you don’t have to do a school-sanctioned/organized activity as part of your EC. For instance, volunteering at your local hospital, working a part-time job, etc… are all considered extra-curricular activities.</p>
<p>I can only speak for Germany, but there ECs do exist - they just take a different form. For example, we do have athletics, but they are run by the township rather than the schools. We do have community service clubs, but they are run by churches or the township. Our schools do have music and theater performance groups, and maybe a few low-key academic clubs. German high school students work part-time jobs just like their American counter-parts.</p>
<p>The big difference is that extra-curricular activities are less encouraged in Europe. They are not considered in the college admission process, so students only do what they <em>actually</em> care about. ( <= See the passion aspect right there?)</p>
<p>As the above posters say, most colleges will understand the cultural differences and not hold them against you. Actually, most colleges don’t care very much about extra-curricular activities to begin with as long as your academic performance is solid! (That excludes the very top colleges, who still care quite a bit about your extra-curricular accomplishments.)</p>
<p>Usually, in Croatia, Europe, people learn foreign languages and do some sports/acting/dancing. That’s all and it does look poor in comparison to American EC’s</p>
<p>Colleges and universities do not expect international students to be exactly like US students. The admissions officers know that you come from different cultures. In fact, this difference is part of what they are looking for!</p>
<p>I posted a thread like this and spotted yours so sorry if it looked like I copied your question. xD So out of interest what does everyone think they would think of me having no ECs besides paid work?</p>
<p>The question that the top colleges are really asking with regard to Extracurriculars is “Tell us what you do outside of your academic classes that can tell us what sort of a person you are.” They already know about your classwork, and they know that largely, you don’t have a huge amount of choice as to what you do in your classes. Oh you can choose one A-level instead of another, but once that choice is taken, you are probably going to be following a quite prescribed curriculum. However, what you do outside of class tells them a great deal more about what you are likely to do on campus.</p>
<p>And it doesn’t matter whether it was organised though school (as it often is in the US or not). Supposed that a student had started two pop bands over the course of your schooling. Now who do you think that the school would rather admit, that student, who might well start a band when they get to campus, or another WITH EQUIVALENT GRADES AND SCORES, who spends all of their time at home alone reading textbooks. The first student is more likely more fun to be around.</p>
<p>As to paid work, that comes in all sizes and shapes. If a candidate applied, indicating that in addition to sterling academics, he or she also worked 45 hours per week as they were the sole support for their family, then their already impressive transcript becomes much more impressive when you consider the reduced time. Or suppose the job isn’t done for the money, for instance a hypothetical budding journalist, who interns for token (if any) wages at the local newspaper as they want to learn their craft. Is the part time job sweeping up the local barbershop, or preparing research samples at the local lab?</p>
<p>This is why the top schools practice “holistic admissions” and why it is so hard to predict who will get in and who won’t. They will try to get a picture of who you are based on your essays, extracurriculars, and occasionally interview, and all else being equal, they will then make admissions decisions based on that.</p>