<p>ideally, how much ecs/internships/volunteers/clubs should a college student do by the time they graduate to be able to get the "most" out of their college experience? </p>
<p>i'd think, maybe, ideally, they'd have an internship every quarter they're in college... but that might not be so realistc.</p>
<p>My thoughts on what is ideal:</p>
<p>At least one internship.</p>
<p>At least two activities outside of class.</p>
<p>And if it suits your major, at least one study abroad session.</p>
<p>Its really whatever you are comfortable with and what interests you. I was a member of a greek organization, participated in intramurals, went on 2 study abroads, conducted academic research, and was a president of an academic organization. Some of my friends arent involved in anything and dont feel deprived. Others are so over scheduled i think my head would have exploded, but it suits them. College is about exploring yourself and your interests and discovering who you are. Just take some time to enjoy the little things and those moments that will just hit you as you are walking to class. You can also engage in hobbies that are not related to organizations, like crafting or something. Just do what fulfills you and makes you happy, but dont do anything because you feel like you are supposed to do it.</p>
<p>I enjoyed not being tied down to any organizations other than the professional society chapter I was VP of and just taking as many classes that interested me as possible. Then, free time was spent hanging out with friends I actually wanted to hang out with instead of feeling “Ugh, I’ve got xyz meeting tonight and I really don’t feel like going.” Was a nice change from high school where I had at least one club activity each night during the week and some days I really would have rather just gone home and napped.</p>
<p>Also, my doing clubs was back prior to everyone getting in a furor over making your app look as good as possible for colleges. I just did all of those clubs because I really enjoyed all of them. My parents were kinda surprised when I didn’t get involved with anything too deeply at college. Now that I’m at grad school, I consider the grad student softball summer league I just signed up for as a big commitment!</p>
<p>wow, i always thought that to get into grad school, it would make college feel like high school all over again and you would be forced to participate in clubs and ecs you didn’t really want to do. </p>
<p>i did tons of random things in hs, not b/c i liked it, but just b/c i thought it’d “look good”. it was nice to get involved, but they didn’t particularly do much for me, since i wasn’t really interested in them. i haven’t participated much in ecs in college, mainly b/c i didn’t want to do something unless i really liked it and wanted to commit to it. so far, the only thing i’ve liked and wanted to commit to are drama classes (too bad nobody really wants to rehearse! 
… ). i did a work study at NPR my freshmen year, and wrote for a local newspaper, but didn’t like it. Then I did a marketing internship and sold fruit at the farmer’s market. didn’t like that either, haha. now i’m at the library, going abroad this summer, and i have a production internship waiting for me after i get back. i feel like i might like production, and it might be something i’d want to do after i graduate. i’m a little lucky i stumbled upon it before it’s too late! i can get soo picky sometimes! </p>
<p>i guess what i meant was, how much is “enough” to get you that job everybody says internships and ecs should do for you?</p>
<p>ECs aren’t nearly as important as good research/internships. Sure, if you get “leadership” positions or that crap they might tilt the scales in your favor, but, like everything else in college, they’re really not worth bothering with unless you’re doing it out of personal interest.</p>
<p>it’s really just about getting relevant experience in the field you want to get into before graduating. usually that means getting internships for most college students, but you could also do it through regular jobs if you look around.</p>