How to convey an interest?

Applying to College
1

I am a junior looking to apply to top-tier schools. I have read on this site about how those types of schools look for a student with deep passions and interests. Well, mine is photography, and I have been taking photos since I got introduced to a basic camera phone at 5. It is the one thing that lets me express my creative and analytical side.

However, it is more of an after-school activity/hobby. There isn’t a photography club or any studio or anything in my town (my school is very rural and basically the only clubs we have are the generic NHS, Interact, FBLA, etc). I didn’t really worry about my application in terms of ECs until recently. I did photography and some other things because I liked it, but I have now discovered that I would need a way to show my interests. How would I convey my interest in photography to colleges?

I was thinking about possibly interning at the local newspaper as a photographer, starting a photography club, or just anything in the community involving photography. Would colleges think I am just doing last minute things like this to help my application, since I’m in the middle of my junior year?

2

It’s better to start now than never. Honestly, if you’ve shown continued interest in photography, colleges won’t be surprised if you started a club or joined the newspaper during junior year. When you apply to colleges through common app, you literally put an activity down and describe everything you did and your accomplishments. Unless you specify (but there’s a word limit) or put in your essay, they won’t know too many details about exactly when you did ____ activity.
They won’t hold it against you especially since photography has been your hobby for a while now…

3

In our rural area, it is possible to get involved with photography activities through 4-H. You could also look into entering photography exhibitions/competitions at the county and state fairs.

4

You can put photography on your Common App as an activity even if you don’t start a club.