how do colleges know?

<p>I've read a lot of posts where students list (for example) being in five or six different honor societies (history, math, spanish, french, etc.). My school has 4: NHS, spanish/french/latin honors societies. </p>

<p>For ECs like this, will colleges be told be guidance councilors (or somehow) that the school only offers clubs X and Y, but not Z? Or do you have to tell them in your app?</p>

<p>(Asking because my school offers next to no clubs that actually try and meet/do things...and the that do are the ones I'm in, so...)</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Ask your counselor. My school (and I would imagine, most other high schools) sends a school profile that has information about all that stuff. Just ask your counselor what information gets sent to colleges.</p>

<p>My school has only four as well, the same ones that you’ve listed. Usually the names of the honor societies that your school has is listed in the school profile, exactly like BigGreen said. You can stop by the guidance office once school starts to ask for a copy of the profile if you want.</p>

<p>I don’t think the names of the clubs offered are always included on the profile though :/</p>

<p>Haha, my school only has NHS. I didn’t even know the others existed until I had read them on these boards. I’ll have to ask my guidance counselor about that.</p>

<p>I agree, there is the school profile, though I remember looking at my school’s profile and I don’t remember seeing that.</p>

<p>A lot of stuff you put on college applications is they just have to expect you to be truthful. I mean, I’m sure the admissions committee can tell when you’re obviously lying…but when it’s not obvious, they don’t have the time to comb through tens of thousands of applications. I know the UC system does a random check on 1000 people, but that’s nothing compared to the number of people applying.
So basically, it’s that you’re expected to be honest.</p>