How many extracurriculars and clubs in high school are considered "too many"?

Applying to College
1

<p>Wow that was awkward wording... LOL. I'm a sophomore in high school and I want to get a head start on getting a solid application for college.I attend a public high school that is often overlooked, so I have to really stand out from the crowd... So far, I'm in Key Club, Tennis, Spanish Club, Multi-Cultural Club, Book Club, I tutor elementary children and foreign students, and I volunteer at the local library and Handicapped Children's Society... Am I overloading my application with unnecessary "laundry list" things? If so, how can I balance things out?</p>

2

<p>Probably the amount that I have haha. I have done over 20 extracurriculars since freshman year. Stay involved in the ones that you really care about and GET LEADERSHIP POSITIONS. There’s only 10 spots for this stuff on the Common App so I guess give yourself a max of 10.</p>

3

<p>It depends how much time you spend on each. If you’re only spending an hour a week in tons of different ECs, then maybe step it back in number and redistribute your time. Then again, you’re a sophomore! This is the time to pick which ones you really like. If you’re genuinely engaged in each of them, stick with them. The thing that makes ECs seem like ‘application-padding’ is usually when you pick them up late 11th/early 12th grade without any prior interest as if in ‘I didn’t do enough!’ panic mode.</p>

4

<p>@dream24680 Haha thank you! I’m just so stressed out about it because my school literally has a 75.3% graduating rate and I don’t think colleges will be jumping to get their pick from my school… What are some of the EC’s you’re doing?</p>

5

<p>Keep in mind that out of the 3,000 or so 4-year colleges in the US EC’s are important for admission at only a small fraction. Perhaps the most selective 100 or so. Many students worry needlessly about EC’s.</p>

<p>The question about impressive EC’s comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says

</p>

<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) I don’t buy into his underlying explanation of why they are impressive, but take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>

6

<p>For the few colleges where ECs are important, level of achievement in an EC likely matters much more than participation. Winning a state or national level tennis tournament is likely much more impressive than playing tennis all the time but not getting good enough to be competitive in school or local level events.</p>