<p>The advice I used to hear in getting into a top college was "Do as any activities as you can." Nowadays it's "Choose one or two and focus on those. Show PASSION!" </p>
<p>But what if I'm passionate in a lot of areas and want to try a lot of new things too? I mean seriously, I'm a teenager. Isn't this the time to find what I'm really interested in? Or in general, why settle for two activities when this might be the only opportunity to get to experience so many others? </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I'd say dabble in as many things as you like but only be really deeply involved in a few.</p>
<p>Pick what you like to do.</p>
<p>I never liked this whole thing, but if that's what colleges are looking for, I guess that it's important to do one or two "major" ECs, and then do about two more smaller ECs.... They focus more on building a CLASS now... or whatever it is. Sighs.</p>
<p>yeah.....sigh.....colleges don't look for well rounded people, apparently you have to have a passion for something and you can't just be ok at it. You have to be one of the best at it (Varsity, captain, leaders, and all that jazz) You have to have a real talent at it.</p>
<p>yeah, it sucks... i'm good at everything and no, i don't know what i want to do with my life yet. so... i'm really involved in a ton of areas. they're all important to me, and i spend a lot of my time with each. i mean... i'll be an officer of pretty much every club i've joined in high school next year. and if i'm not an officer, it's because there ARE no officers (eg. science league... though for math league, the teacher decided to create officerships for those of us who are good at it). and i have awards in everything too. so... i'm well-rounded and good but not GREAT GREAT at everything and i don't have a passion. gosh darn it.</p>
<p>^ my life story</p>
<p>I hope I don't have to answer a question on my intended major...</p>
<p>But that doesn't make any sense. </p>
<p>I've heard people say that you should be "well-rounded" and now people are saying that you shouldn't be. </p>
<p>On the common application for example, they have about 7 slots for your extracurriculars. Am I getting mixed signals, or am I not seeing something?</p>
<p>You should be well-rounded, but you should also have a "passion." Colleges now want interesting (hint: well-rounded) people that specialize in something they love. So I do agree with book_worm. You should volunteer, do music, do some sports, get into student organizations..., but the whole thing shouldn't come off as a laundry list of ECs that you are creating for college. Throughout those topics, you should focus on something that could be the "thread" of your extracurriculars. Perhaps concertmaster and playing in recitals for music? Building homeless shelters for a couple of breaks?...something that really conveys your interests.</p>
<p>By well-rounded, people used to think it means going out and attempting as many things as possible. Now, it's having a wide variety of interests but also defining your major passion.</p>
<p>But of course, you should never do ECs for college. I never had a "central goal" in my ECs in order to get into college - I think it should just come naturally. You know what you love to do, and it's only obvious that your activities start conveying them gradually.</p>
<p>You have heard people say you should be "well rounded" because you've been hearing from misinformed people. Its a good life lesson; just because you hear someone say something convincingly and in seeming earnest doesn't mean its true (look at any utterance from Pres. Bush if you want to see more examples). But cynical political jibes aside, which probably don't have much place in this forum, the truth is that colleges do NOT seek "well rounded" students. Whether it's good for your own personal satisfaction and enrichment is a different matter, but we're talking college admissions.</p>
<p>They are looking for kids who have excelled in some area. They build a well-rounded class by choosing from these top performers, on the idea that having the talented artist rubbing shoulders with the community activist and the inquisitive scientist will bring benefits to them all.</p>
<p>If the common app has space for seven activities, there is no rule that says they can't be different activities with the same theme (say arts, or journalism, or science). It doesn't mean colleges expect 7 different things.</p>
<p>See the advice about well-rounded applicants at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/23r6pr%5B/url%5D">http://tinyurl.com/23r6pr</a> by a former adcom. And Stanford says in its FAQ
[quote]
We do not favor one type of activity over another; nor is it necessary to participate in a large number of activities. An exceptional experience in one or two activities demonstrates your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the impact your participation has had on that club, in your school, or in the larger community. With extracurricular activities, a sustained depth of commitment is more important than a long list of clubs you have joined.
[/quote]
Lastly, keep in mind that this whole EC thing is overblown for 99% of the college kids. Your HS might scare you into doing ECs by telling you that you need to do them to get into college rather than trying to persuade you that they're intrinsically worthwhile, but the truth is that outside of maybe the top 50-100 colleges ECs don't matter. They admit based on scores and grades, period. So all this angst over whether what you're doing is "enough" or "right" is wasted worry unless you're trying for the most selective colleges. For the original poster, it sounds like you have many interests and want to try many things. I say go for it! It may be at the expense of being the star applicant to HYPS, but you can get an excellent education at many schools (even if it isn't what the collective wisdom of this board seems to tell people).</p>
<p>don't forget, it's like 70-80% academics, only 20-30% ECs. I feel like most of us students fall all over ourselves trying to show how wonderful and involved we are when the colleges just want grades.</p>