<p>My entire application lists only ECs to do with music (I play the guitar, mandolin, piano and ukulele), music-related stuff (instrumental-rock band, classical guitar ensemble, music club etc) and computer science related stuff (android application development, web development, teaching CS at an underprivileged school etc)... and a few leadership positions sprinkled here and there.</p>
<p>However, I have absolutely no sports listed. I mean I do play a lot of soccer... but that's just for fun and not at varsity level or anything.</p>
<p>Basically I show no breadth in my activities and i'm not really well-rounded. Everything I do has to do with either CS or music. How big of a problem is that for top schools?</p>
<p>Shouldn’t be a problem, as it sounds like you are an accomplished musician. Though you might want to phrase your soccer playing as “recreational” and put it down as an EC, so it doesn’t sound like you’re a couch potato.</p>
<p>^ still counts. Adcoms say anything you do outside the classroom is an EC. OP could have written recreational soccer. Of course it wont have the same value as varsity soccer, but its still counts.</p>
<p>And its fine. It shows how dedicated you are</p>
<p>It’s good if you can show your misc activities amount to something. I don’t mean quantifiable as much as you’re part of some effort, like ensemble. That it’s not just you in your bedroom learning ukulele. Kids do put app/web dev on their apps- is this a club/group or business? Or again, you just hanging out, doing it for yourself?<br>
Recreational soccer is fine to include. In your case, you are trying to show some rounding. It’s just not a top EC on your list.</p>
<p>@lookingforward, it’s not really for a club… but I’ve developed 1 for a business (server-client relationship stuff) and also for my school (not as a part of an assignment - teachers wanted a way to automate student attendance so basically I developed an app they could install on their phones, use to take attendance for each of their classes and automatically update a main database remotely, which for some of them is faster than taking down attendance on paper) </p>
<p>^ I didn’t do this stuff myself and organized a group of programmers at my school to help out. It wasn’t an official club or anything though.</p>
<p>@MrMom, are you sure I should put it down? It would take a spot of another EC (volunteering somewhere for a few months). Could I possible briefly mention it in a sentence in the additional information section?</p>
<p>If ur ten spots are full, then leave it. Its not something worth mentioning in the additional info section. It usually takes the 9th or 10th spot on activities</p>
<p>As a sidenote, is it worth mentioning that I play the mandolin & ukulele at all? Although I’ve done a lot of things with the piano/guitar, I haven’t had any opportunities to put my skill in other instruments to use since most people here haven’t even heard of the mandolin & ukulele. So I have no recitals or anything to back it up like I do for my other instruments. Seeing as how they don’t really amount to anything much in the perspective of colleges (other than as things I do alone for fun), are they worth mentioning?</p>
<p>They aren’t looking for a snapshot of your high school life as much as trying to gauge what sort of kid you are and will be on the college campus, what you did commit to, what it may represent. Imo, vol work needs to be included. The programming sounds like it shows initiative and teamwork (and a result.) Soccer shows you pursued an interest, though not competitively. Maybe some things get logically bundled with something else. </p>
<p>We don’t know enough about how the 10 lines are filled, to answer about mandolin and uke. In general, they add interest. But the whole point is about the picture the college gets.</p>
<p>Yes, include your instruments - many admission officers HAVE heard of the mandolin and the ukulele and add “self taught” if it’s true. You can put them together as in “teaching self string instruments” and detail the most difficult pieces you can play in the line where you describe your achievements. If you compose your own songs, include that too.
Your progamming and volunteering need to be included, and you need to explain what exactly you do (show up once a week and help random kids with homework? Have a dedicated slot with a big brother-type partnership, seeing a kid through from 1st until 4th grade? etc)
Then, as your last EC, mention recreational soccer.</p>
<p>I also do mobile application development and when I asked my guidance counselor if I should put it on my applications, he said not to do so because they were not ECs, and that putting it on my appliation would make it seem like I had nothing better to put. I don’t know if all admisions officers look down on these types of activities, but just be cautious.</p>
<p>Davelee, your counselor is wrong.
I’m afraid your counselor confused “playing with apps” and “designing apps”…
If you spend time outside of class developing mobile applications, yes you need to put that activity (which apps, android or what, #downloads, etc) on your application. Go correct that on your common app :)</p>
<p>Kids do put it on their apps. The difference in this case is OP found a project, coordinated a team and produced a usable result. (I wonder if one of the teachers will mention it in the LoR.) Plus, he’s taught CS to kids. We don’t know the full details, no. Maybe I am spinning it. But it sounds like a nifty project.</p>
<p>First, it’s what you did do. Then it’s what it amounted to. Then how you present it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the answers! I’ll try to bundle all of my instruments into one space (ie: guitar, piano, ukulele, mandolin all together) and fit soccer in at the end. I didn’t realize I should add “self-taught” so i’ll add that in too, thanks.</p>
<p>@MYOS, here in India, government schools are really subpar… as in they can’t afford teachers for a lot of subjects, so a lot of locals who have the time help out by volunteering to teach at the school for a subject they’re good at (not like a buddy system, but they actually teach a class), which is what I did for CS.</p>
<p>@davelee, I agree in that you should include those as ECs since they’re things you did in your free time outside of school. My counselor also indicated to me when I was first filling out the CA that it would be okay to put in.</p>
<p>Perhaps distinguish instruments based on level achieved (and make that level clear) OR whether it’s self taught or if it’s part of a formal structure with prizes/awards.
Since this is your major accomplishment, place it first and detail it as much as you can.</p>
<p>Being the volunteer teacher for a class will be very valued, too. </p>
<p>Good luck and don’t forget to cvome back &post your results to help future applicants!</p>
<p>This is an interesting thread. DS has the similar problem, flawless academics and accomplished musician. Has been offered full-ride from many Us based on academics and music (if he applies). But DS DOES NOT have any sports EC that’s worthwhile to put on the CA. He is a sports fan, though.</p>
<p>DS has applied to major conservatories, and that admission process is straight-forward. He has also applied to several elite colleges to major in science. It will be interesting to see the results from these colleges. I will report our experience.</p>
<p>For the “liberal arts with conservatory” experience, look into Oberlin, Lawrence, and URochester (/Eastman). For a Liberal Arts school with a standout music dept, look into St Olaf. Lawrence is top notch for chemistry, St Olaf (match) and URochester (reach) are both excellent in math/CS.</p>
<p>Good news to report - DS was accepted by Yale in the SCEA round. Sports were not mentioned at all in the application, as he didn’t have any. But his passion, dedication and achievement in music were shown throughout the entire application. The focus of the application, though, is that he wrote about how he used his talent in music to serve the community. So from our experience - it’s okay to not have have any sports as EC.</p>
and add “self taught” if it’s true. You can put them together as in “teaching self string instruments” and detail the most difficult pieces you can play in the line where you describe your achievements. If you compose your own songs, include that too.