I hear about how colleges prefer "depth, not breadth"...

Applying to College
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<p>in reference to ECs, I mean.
My problem: I have a wide variety of interests, and a very broad-looking bunch of ECs:</p>

<p>-I'm in the Audubon Society
-volunteer at a local nature museum
-volunteer at an anti-racism organization
-in my school's Drama Club (member of the International Thespian Society)
-Gay-Straight Alliance
-Science Olympiad team
-Environmental Club</p>

<p>The thing is, I don't do these things just to look good for college, I just thoroughly enjoy all these things. As for careers, I'd like to be an English teacher overseas for a few years, and then come back to America and teach French or ESL and eventually be a school admin. My school has a French club, but it's sole focus is the annual trip to Europe. As for tutoring kids, my local library doesn't really have volunteers, and my guidance counselor just told me to do NHS (I'm a rising junior). I would absolutely love to do some kind of volunteer thing abroad but my family just doesn't have the money.
So, my question is: will it look bad to colleges, having a whole lot of unrelated ECs that have nothing to do with what career I want to pursue, even if I didn't join them as a senior and really like doing them?</p>

2

<p>They do prefer depth. They also prefer that the depth comes with a great GPA & SAT.</p>

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<p>Most colleges do not care about ECs at all. You will have literally thousands of colleges to choose from that look just at scores and grades. Now if you’re interested in one of the very selective colleges (top 150, say, in rankings) that DO care about ECs then what you have is member of this, spent time on that. Which is not what they are seeking. </p>

<p>The question about impressive ECs 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) While I don’t agree with his underlying explanations, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your advice! XD
If it matters, my unweighted GPA is 97.64, I got a 193 on the PSAT, and the college I really want to go to is Macaulay Honors (9% acceptance rate).
Anyways, I have an idea for doing something really “impressive” that I’m just starting to make big, but my main question is: will having my current ECs be detrimental to my application. Once again, its not like I’m a senior who just decided to join a bunch of clubs in september, I thoroughly enjoy these things I do and really don’t want to quit them.</p>

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<p>Being involved in a variety of things is in no way detrimental. It may not give you a wow factor, but it will not be viewed negatively at all. Those are fine things to be involved with.</p>

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<p>I think it depends on what you mean by “colleges.” Obviously if you are aiming for the Ivy Leagues or other similar top schools, not only do they want involved students who have high GPAs and test scores, but they want someone who is “deep” in a particular area of interest. But I am a graduate student at Columbia, and not all of the students here have “depth” in one particular area - most of the ones I know are just well-rounded kids who did a lot of different things in high school.</p>

<p>And then if you are aiming for good but not necessarily top 10 colleges, your ECs are fine. You don’t need to be a virtuoso to get into the vast majority of places. And most high school kids have interests in a lot of different areas - it’s kind of silly to expect all of you to develop a deep and relentless passion for something at 14 and keep it the same until you’re 18.</p>

<p>So continue to do what you want to do. Make sure that you are more than just a participant; you want to get involved on a level that makes it easy to talk about in an interview or an essay. Not just for college admission, but because that’s the best way to spend a really rich life. But if you want tot go to Macaulay Honors, I’m pretty sure your ECs are just fine.</p>

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<p>Okay good that I was hoping to hear (err…read). Thanks to you too.</p>

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<p>For the vast majority of schools, breadth is great, as much of the applicant pool will have neither depth nor breadth.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t say you have a bunch of unrelated EC’s. What I see are three areas: environmental/science, social justice and drama. The only thing that’s missing is mention of what kinds of projects you might have worked on. For a really selective school, they want to know that you made a significant, proactive contribution. In any one of these areas would be fine. So stick with what you love, that’s always the best path. Just add some form of leadership to any of these areas and you are good.</p>

<p>It’s not just what you’ve done, but your presentation. If you see each of your activities as separate I think you weaken your case. Look for the similarities/links and then articulate them. That will make for a very strong application.</p>