<p>My school does not offer most of the ECs that I see most top applicants involved in. On top of that, most of my ECs have little to do with what I want to do in college (business/economics). Most of them are just things that I enjoy doing. I'm one of the most involved people at my school, but my ECs are not nearly as impressive as many of the others that I see here. Will this break my application or can things like strong essays and good recommendations make up for this?</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities don’t have to be offered by the school for you to partake in them. (That’s largely why they’re extracurricular.)</p>
<p>@capitalamerica I just wasn’t aware of these types of activities until I joined here. I wish I could go back and do more. Just wondering how it would affect me.</p>
<p>Only the most competitive 50 or so colleges in the country care about ECs. The vast majority of schools do not.</p>
<p>Even at the most competitive colleges, how much ECs matter depends on other factors. If your stats are super good, ECs may matter less, etc. For most applicants, one part of your application will be the part that really makes them stand out, whether it’s perfect grades/scores/stats or spectacular ECs. Or you can be really well-balanced and have above-average (but not necessarily extraordinary) everything.</p>
<p>Note that even if your stats are amazing, you can’t not have ANY ECs. That just shows to colleges that you’re a sheltered nerd. Find one or two things outside of studying to spend your time on.</p>
<p>Also, you are evaluated based on the context of your school, as I’ve heard from countless admissions officers at college info meetings. Meaning, they take into account what your school offers and what they don’t offer (AP courses, honors courses, ECs, counseling, etc) and compare you to current or past other applicants from your school. Do the best that you can. And maybe break out of your comfort zone and seek for opportunities in your community.</p>
<p>@absentions thank you for the awesome advice!</p>
<p>Most 4 year colleges care about ECs because most colleges want to see that you will contribute to the campus community. There are things you can do within your community or programs you can join.</p>
<p>
Look at the Common Data Set filings of the colleges you are thinking about. That will tell you how important they consider ECs.</p>
<p>In general, only the top colleges put a huge emphasis on EC’s, but they obviously come after grades. This is because if you look at colleges like Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Wellesley College, etc., most of their applicants already have high grades, so they need a way to narrow down the applicant pool. They do that by taking ECs into consideration. Also, if your school doesn’t offer such opportunities, you could always start your own club (which will look really good because it shows that you are a leader) and when you apply, your school sends a sheet which details the opportunities you had, so colleges will see what your school offered and make their decision based on that.</p>
<p>"you could always start your own club (which will look really good because it shows that you are a leader) "</p>
<p>because this has never been done before… To all the would be club starters out there – just stop it. In 10 seconds, someone can tell if you’re just padding a resume or really looking to fill an unmet need.</p>