<p>I'm looking for a clear definition of what is an EC. That's to say whats the difference between a hobby and an activity you put on a college application. For instance in addition to other things I enjoy camping, hunting, fishing, traveling, archery, composing music, and ping pong. None of these are things that you can be secretary or president of, or do on teams (at least in my school). So are these utterly unimportant to the admissions process? If so for future clarification how do I know what qualifies and what doesnt?</p>
<p>Anything you devote your time to other than schoolwork. If it's important to you and you think it's shaped you in some way, put it down.</p>
<p>-sports
-artistic talents
-jobs</p>
<p>important factors:</p>
<p>position held
ability in that talent
time practiced/spent in that EC</p>
<p>So for example: Hunting
I spend alot of time hunting and evan more time 'practicing', or preparing. This includes improving accuracy with a rifle, shotgun, and bow, studying the lay of the land, the animals I'm pursuing, wind directions, etc etc...
Will college admissions find that an interesting and or unique or think that Im a hick that likes to shoot things?</p>
<p>Not knowing anything about the college admissions process other than some of the basics I get from my college counciler and the massive amounts of gossip I hear and see on these forums, I probably couldn't give you a real answer.</p>
<p>However, I know that if I was an admissions officer, I'd find that could make for an interesting essay.</p>
<p>Though being a liberal I might find myself getting a subconscience bias against you. Maybe not though, I don't know.</p>
<p>A boy in my grades hunts alot. It's a very unique EC. he also working at a hunting supplies store so that adds to his EC time and participation. It is def. an EC.</p>
<p>Write it down if it's important to you. Write an essay if it is part of what defines you. Hunting is certainly an EC.</p>
<p>raggeton_boy i seriously don't think colleges are gonna find that impressive thats like listing</p>
<p>EC Activities - Halo 2 (XBox) - When I first started playing this game when I was just a "n00b" but I practiced everyday until I improved and I am now teh master. My XBox LIVE rank is in the top 100 of all gamers. I am very good at sniping, I am able to consistently get head shots. I am also very skilled in the use of plasma grenades as well as frag grenades. I once recieved back to back Killamanjaros and four Killtaculars in a row. </p>
<p>^^^ I don't see how something like that helps, unless you want to be a video game design major... then maybe it helps...</p>
<p>Shazilla lol.</p>
<p>Shazilla: That's why my position is "if it's important to you".</p>
<p>I, for instance, aspire to become a Game Designer (CS major). I'm going to be writing my gaming down as an EC, since it matters to me.</p>
<p>Also you would have to frame it better than that. Less along the lines of your accomplishments, as shazilla's does, but more along the lines of what you have gained from it intellectually.</p>
<p>I definately see your point Shazilla, but there is a surprising amount of science in hunting. For instance...
Ballistics/Physics: sighting in a rifle, knowing how high to aim at 100 yds, 200 yds, etc is surprisingly complicated. It is more complicated in archery where the slower moving projectile 'drops faster' (yes to all you physics buffs, we know that nothing drops faster).
Biology: Knowing and testing the psychological tendencies of the game that you pursue and under what conditions they prosper, what vegitation they like the best/need the most. Field dressing (gutting) an animal gives you the same education as disecting and also a profound respect for the power of firearms.
Agriculture: I plant things (new zealand clover) that makes the land that i hunt better habitat for deer and other animals. Soil testing, growing seasons....</p>
<p>All that being said that is how I hunt. If its what you want you can just walk out into the woods with a gun and shoot what you see. I guess if im going to put down hunting I will have to find some way to communicate that.</p>
<p>yea if you can find some sort of way to list all that stuff than it won't look bad... but it's gonna be pretty tough to sell it that way on an activities sheet</p>
<p>Once again, I don't know all that much, but I would bet it wouldn't look that good to sell it as an academic activity.</p>
<p>I think it would be okay if you said it was something that you did for fun and then explained what sort of impact it had on you.</p>