How important are the commitment to E.Cs....?(in terms of years)

<p>Like the title said, is it disadventageous to have your E.C start too late? I have multiple list of interesting E.Cs, but half of them, mainly the club I started and couple other I have joined, have begun in my junior year. I have two or three other E.Cs two of which I have been involved since 10th grade and one that I started at 9th, but I wonder how bad it will hurt my chances to have my E.Cs start late? I am fully committed to My E.Cs, activities and positions I hold, but will it still hurt me to have them so late? Thanks in advance =)</p>

<p>Same here. I just started dancing and I am completely in love with it...but it's my senior year so I haven't been involved very long. I think I'll probably include it. It really means a lot to me. If your EC's are really meaningful, by all means include them. Try to explain their importance in your essays or interview.</p>

<p>It won't help you, that's for sure. adcoms see that people tend to panic come junior/senior year and start putting on ECs. but if you have significant accomplishments, write the essay about it, or put in good quality hours, i think it won't hurt at all.</p>

<p>I'm in the same boat.</p>

<p>I've been very involved in band (football marching band, competitive marching band, symphonic band, concert band) for all four years, and I only started branching out to other clubs my junior year. Freshman year I was clueless about everything (not a surprise) and sophomore year I felt very self-important with my first AP class and felt I couldn't possibly have the time to get more involved (rolls eyes). By junior year, I realized that the APs were just going to keep getting worse and to quit whining and start doing stuff I love. However, I do worry how that'll look when I apply. -shrug- Oh well. At least I really am doing stuff I like instead of joining a bunch of different clubs solely to look good on college apps.</p>

<p>If your ECs have depth in terms of impact -- on your or on others -- that will make the ECs impressive.</p>

<p>Having spent hours and hours or years and years on an EC with no evidence of impact is not impressive. </p>

<p>Sometimes a student will find or start an EC late in h.s. out of genuine interest, and will make a big impact. That's impressive. An example is a student who transferred to a new school senior year and within one month had instituted a school-wide event related to her ethnic group. This activity was related to some experiences that she had had elsewhere while taking a relatively minor role in multicultural events. It was clear that she used the lessons from her previous experiences in order to take a major leadership role at her new school.</p>

<p>That not only enriched her new school, I'm sure it also impressed colleges and scholarship committees.</p>

<p>yea so the last "what to do with my E.Cs" thread didn't include specific info about my E.Cs....so yea here's the elaborated version:</p>

<p>Extra Cir/Leadership:
- (Sec/Tres ~ President) KEY club (11- 12)
- Sec/tres 11th (probably VP/assistant student director senior year) for Vocal Choir III(our most advanced choir class) (9-12)
- (VP ~ President) for American Cancer Society (11~12)
- IAY (International Association of Youth) Co-VP (10~12)
- member, (Secretary ~ VP) of Junior Statesman of America (10~12)
- Founder/ President of Pre-med club in my school. (11- 12)
- Red Cross: member (10~12)</p>

<p><em>Wrote/published a short book(about 50~75pg booklet) in Korean about korean international transfer students and guides to adjusting in US</em></p>

<p>Volunteer/intern:
-KCCEB (Korean Community Center of the East Bay)(11-12)
-Maybe intern at Foreign Office (gov't) (11)
-Red Cross club
-IAY Tutoring for underprivilaged elementary kids at Pittsburg
-120 + hrs from random community service</p>

<p>If I can get few more awards (state/national) will that boost my E.Cs higher? Also, I am planning to publish an article/essay at an international history megazine that is devoted to publishing materials from secondary education students. If you have any advice/recommendation for either of these things, please leave a comment.</p>

<p>Also, that biggest worry of me right now is the fact that many of my clubs/organizations are concentrated around 11th and 12th grade. Most of them have started on 11th grade and the pre-med club was also founded then. Will it be a big blow to my E.Cs to not have consistant E.C for 4 years? I have only one that I have been doing since freshman year (School choir) and three others that I started in sophomore year, but the rest started when I became a junior. Will not having 4-year commitment seriously damage my chances? Same goes for volunteer work. I don't have a set volunteering job that I can rack hours with, like hospital or something mindless like that. Instead I got together and organized with my friends a tutoring session with elementary kids and did other various things with redcross club as well. Will not having long term commitment volunteer work and E.Cs seriously kill my chances....? any advice will be greatly appreciated</p>

<p>but..HO! (was just reading shakespear.......my poor attempt at imitating) </p>

<p>Bumpiddy BUMP</p>