<p>I have good grades,, but I don't think I have strong ECs..
I mean I participate in few clubs, but I don't t think I have anything to show my 'passion' in it..
I play basketball, but in community league instead of school (I didn't make the school team.. :() .. I also volunteerd in hospitals and redcross during each summer..
My EC is really ORDINARY..
Honestly I wasn't interested in any school clubs..
and I don't get how colleges can judge how socially active a person is by lists of clubs he participated.
I play guitar, and I'm really good at it, but I can't found a club because I need 10 more people to found a club and none of my freinds want to learn or play guitar..
So I can't find any way to show my 'passion' in guitar..
Well,, I guess I was astraying from the topic,, my question is this..
How much does EC important to college admission?
Can I just show what kind of person I am in my essays, instead of lists of clubs, awards and leadership positions?</p>
<p><northstarmom>
At the vast majority of colleges in the US, your ECs matter only if you are on a thin little borderline. At most schools, you get accepted if your GPA and test scores are above a certain line, and rejected if they are below a certain line.
</northstarmom></p>
<p>Having said that, at the most selective schools (along with a few others), ECs will matter in a way that you can’t just make up with essays. The point isn’t to see what kind of person you like people to think you are; the point is to see that you DO things beyond what someone comes and tells you must be done.</p>
<p>ECs are far less important than grades and ACT/SAT scores. I would say that they rank far below (1) strength of secondary school curriculum; (2) grades; and (3) standardized test scores. But colleges do want someone who can contribute to the “life” of the college in some way.</p>
<p>And ECs aren’t just clubs at school. What do you do with guitar outside of school? Are you in a band? That’s an EC. Do you teach the kid down the street how to play? That’s an EC. What activities do you participate in outside of school?</p>
<p>The broader question: How do selective private schools choose their students?</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> Messages vs. Admissions Realities](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Admissions”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>
<p>This is generic, not about any particular school.</p>
<p>Good to have EC’s but no one here is a college admissions rep and none of us know why our children we accepted or not to any individual school.</p>