How important is it to stand out?

<p>I recently read this interesting book that states that instead of doing little things that take up a ton of time because of the sheer number of them, students should approach few things they are passionate about, that show uniqueness. ("How to be a High School Superstar" - Cal Newport). </p>

<p>The author claims that admissions authors are constantly bored because they see the same things- so eventually, things that seem impressive just don't seem that way anymore.</p>

<p>Do you agree with this theory?
Should I take this road (which I currently am on right now) or should I start adding some more ECs? I currently don't have many noteworthy ECs, besides building a social networking website. I still have many ideas up my sleeve, all internet/mobile related.</p>

<p>Yes! Be passionate! My D only has 2 major extra-curriculars but she has been dedicated and focused on these activities since age 3! And hopefully the admissions com. will be entertained watching her tap dance! I think that is much better than a loooooong list of club after club after club…</p>

<p>And the admissions lady we spoke with at Kenyon told us that too!</p>

<p>I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of focusing on only a few ECs - or even just one - about which you’re most passionate. Not only does this pave the way for an excellent essay that proves that your ECs are more than a list of clubs and “leadership” titles, but it also makes it more likely that you’ll actually have made an impact on your community (whether that’s school, local, organizational, or otherwise), since you’ll be concentrating your efforts in an area you really care about. Colleges care that you do something worthwhile, not just join a bunch of clubs and show up to weekly meetings.</p>

<p>I sincerely believe that my success in college admissions was in large part due to my focus on what was essentially a single EC, but which turned into an excellent leadership role and the topic for my Common App essay.</p>

<p>Truly interesting ECs - and thus the ones that truly stick out - are those where you’ve actually accomplished something. You can only really have so many of these, and it’s hard to have any when you’re so overcommitted that you can’t even make it to one meeting each week for each activity (I’ve known plenty of people like this … one even prided herself on having at least one club for each day of the week).</p>

<p>Oh, and it’s probably worth mentioning that if you’re doing a few things you really enjoy, you’ll probably have more fun than if you do a bunch of things that you somewhat enjoy or don’t enjoy at all.</p>

<p>Okay, I guess I will continue on this road.
I hope it’ll pay off.</p>

<p>It isn’t just Newport that says that. Here is Stanford’s admission FAQ

Keep in mind, though, that most colleges admit with little or no attention paid to ECs; its only the highly selective colleges that do so.</p>