For example, one might do 2 hrs of Church comm. service / wk. Sounds little huh? For CCers, it pretty much sounds very little. But if one is passionate and wise enough to get the most out of it, he/she might extend his/her passion on church comm service (being part of clubs - leadership pos. a plus, attending missions, getting recommendations from pastors, etc)
Yes, I agree.
Hi, I have a question-- I maintain a photography website but it hasn’t won any awards or anything like that-- it’s just a gallery of my work, some of which is half-decent. How would I put a thing like that on my app, if it is even worth putting on my app? It’s fun, and I do it in my spare time. hehe.
Well, Im not sure about that thepapercrane, but that’s no different from someone who likes collecting rare-find coins or something. You might write it on your application if you really think you got SOMETHING OUT OF IT.
Taking photos can be your hobby, or prob. your passion. If your burning passion toward taking pictures is a big one, try writing about it in your essays. How has taking pictures shaped you as a person? Has something you thought about changed? A particular photo you took that impacted your view on something? See what I’m getting too? Though a simple activity, some people do get important things out of these simple activities, and not necessarily from going to the Galapagos Isl. with a prof. on research about turtle eggs or digging wells in the middle of Africa or taking an intern at Googleplex, Mt. View.
The two main sports where I really have something to show are golf and swimming. But would it be enough or worth mentioning???
In golf I have won tournaments (these are tournaments that take place all across germany and are organized by the DGV or german golf association. The thing is though, they’re open to every1, ie: no qualifications or anything). I’ve won about 3 of them.
In swimming, my team has gone to the European Swim Championships twice. This is a championship for americans situated in europe, ie: Army Europe: AE. (So every base in europe has a team, and the best teams who also have to qualify get to go to this championship).
Is any of this worth mentioning? Would it impress the adcoms? Thx. 
first, this will probably be better answered in a THREAD OF YOUR OWN! (
but if you had to qual against everyone else, that’s pretty impressive. The thing with ECs, is you need to SHOW that you can do, and have done more with your time than just getting A’s. You need to provide a reason for colleges to choose you over everyone else. Be hard on yourself - remember that your competition is tough and use that coupled with the joy of the activity (which is always amazing) to motivate yourself to practice hard and enjoy yourself.
Yes, that is worth mentioning, the latter would probably impress adcoms.
College Confidential needs more emoticons. I also like muffins.
[you responded somehow to my randomness - admit it!]
Not sure if this is the right thread to ask this in-
Another CC member claimed that colleges are tired of seeing activity resumes, and instead- to resort to condensing your activity list to the chart given in the application.
Can anyone verify?
do these EC’s show any passion?
• Volunteer at hospital: 75 hours currently
• Volunteer at Library: 20 hours currently
• Math Club (tutoring): 3 years, Mu Alpha Theta award
• Sunday School: Attended 6 years; Teacher’s Assistant: 1 year
• Religion-related Activities: 11 years, 5 hours a week.
• Student Council: Active Member 3 years
• Art Classes Every Saturday morning for 4 hours: 1 year
• Visual Art Society: 1 year
i joined more clubs but those were just random ones for which i wasnt passionate like NHS, spanish honor society etc.
what im trying to show through these ECs is that im a very strict religious person who dedicates a lot of time to that. and also to community service (volunteer, StuCo, tutoring), and in free time i like to do art work (purely outside of school). the artwork that i did was related to religious activities though because all of my work was somehow related to my religion. and community service is sort of part of religion 'cuz we should help others in need.
now im worried that its not enough considering what other people put down 
what do you guys think??
i think my academics are pretty good, 3.96 unweigted GPA, 11 AP classes, good SAT score.
im a senior btw.
Yes, that is great - you may want to consider writing one of your essays about your out of class commitments. Just to give more clarification Probably the short answer essay would be best. Your longer essay should be about something unusual about you. Posssibly an incident that changed your life, something very personal beyond your ecs.
You have to show you are your own person in your app. Convey you!
For instance, my son was assaulted in the beginning of his senior year and he wrote his long essay about the incident. It was hard on a level (easy on another because it was all so real and life changing to him) - it was racially motivated - like a mob attack. But he experienced something he had never had happen to him but knew these kids were probably discriminated against much of their lives. He wrote how he grew from the experience - not a bitter person but a person who wants to make a difference in our pretty much racially divided community and wherever he ends up - in college and beyond. A heartfelt essay that I am sure made a difference.
Point being - give great thought to your whole package. This is what admissions love and makes you stand out, which you already do. Good luck!
hmm thats good. im a muslim so maybe i could somehow tie in 9/11 and some incidents that changed me regarding that.
thanks!!
dont u crap like that ^. its obvious ur trying to use conventional “racism” topics in america…
I already have an intended major, but my two essays won’t be related to that major. I also have many other EC’s equally important to me as the EC in my intended major area, so that EC doesn’t particularly stand out.
Basically I’m wondering if you declare a possible major, you need to write your essay on related subjects and have credentials that overwhelmingly indicate your ability in that area.
There are many people that are able and pursue activities related to their majors. Though keep in mind majors might change anytime, no one knows. And who ever said that your activities had to dirrectly relate to your Major? Man, One could be interested in global warming and the environment and plants trees, does regular beach clean ups, and cleans trails. Though does that mean the person SHOULD pursue and Environmental Studies major? Not necessarily.
Hey, hope you guys don’t mind me just just jumping in.
I’m Editor-in-Chief of both the yearbook and the newspaper, as well as an editor of the literary mag. The literary mag is part of a club, and so is the newspaper. However, the yearbook is part of a class. I know this won’t count as an EC, so how do I list on my application that I was EIC of the yearbook? I’m also a photographer and on the design team. I’m going to be a journalism major so I don’t want to leave this one out.
would qualifying for USAMO all 4 yrs (never made any higher level like MOSP) and taking partial differential equations in my junior year be a hook at HYP? (i’m an asian)
for standard activities like boy scouts, nhs, debate, etc, is it really necessary to attach a resume that explains them in detail? like if you just list Yearbook; Editor-in-Chief, 8 hrs per week, that should suffice right
yes
Also, is it a good idea to indicate that you have indeed been killing yourself to get everything done? I definitely get much less than the ‘recommended’ amount of sleep to finish everything - should my hours indicate that?
yeah same here. I cut down on sleep so much during my junior/senior year 
This is somewhat unrelated, but in your essays rather than talking about one of your ec’s in detail, could you simply talk about any event/experience that perhaps gave you insight or changed you in some way?
It is stated in the first post.