Most of my activities are not year long.
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Is it what you actually do? Then it is realistic.
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It does sound like a lot. Sports tend to be one of the more intensive. That usually runs between 10-15 hours per week in season.
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Music can be at least that much depending on the level, same for sports on a level beyond school. Theater also if performing in performances and some kids actually work that many hours a week.
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Really? My son has 60+ hours of activities/week. Granted, he is homeschooled, so he doesn’t have 7 hours/day in a school building, but 27 doesn’t seem like an over abundance. That is less than 4 hours of stuff per day (besides school work). Or 8 hours on each weekend day, and another 2 hours/day on week days.
Now you’ve got me worried schools won’t think he’s telling the truth. But we tracked it and it really is true.
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There are 168 hours in a week. 8 hours per day sleeping is 56/week. School (classroom +homework) of 7/day is another 35/week. If you have 60 hours of EC’s, that leaves 17 hours per week (about 2.5 per day) for everything else. That likely isn’t healthy. Also, it isn’t the quantity of EC’s, it is the quality.
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Agreed, it depends on what you do. My daughters were in a private, per-professional dance program and averaged 20-25 hours/week for eleven months/year throughout high school. They also found time for a few honors societies and morning clubs. They went to a public school.
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I have seen many Activities that are 25 hours per week, which can be accurate as the posts above show.
Many students have family obligations (babysitting, driving siblings, caregiver, meal preparer, etc) that easily total 25 hours per week and can be higher.
OP can you clarify what you are asking about…is it one activity that’s 27 hours per week? If that’s true, then put that down.
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No I do more than one activity. All my activities together total up to 27 hours a week
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Deleted, wrong thread
When we totaled up my musician’s hours, we were shocked to find that it had been over 40 hrs/wk all through high school. So yes, 27 hrs/wk is definitely possible, especially if your ECs require many weekend hours.
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i had two kids who both did competitive marching band and cross country in the fall. B1 - 3 yrs; not Varsity. B2 - 1 yr; V XC. on top of that 7 classes at school; including some AP classes so studying well into the nights and weekends. Probably 20-30 hrs a week for those activities and it was grueling, exhausting and intense; their bodies needed rest and nutrition as well. If i saw a kid had 60 hrs a week on activities, I’d think their education was taking a huge hit, because it takes time and practice to learn, read literature, write, experiment, analyze and think critically. (and yes, i worked in a school and know there is a down time, and things could be much more efficient). i’m not trying to second guess your kid or methods; but it doesnt compute to me.
I agree, 60 hours a week would not be reasonable. OP is asking about 27 which if that is what they did is not unreasonable esp if they doa day on the weekend. My S does 9 hours as a full weekend day and 2-3 hours daily on the other days, making about 25 hours a week on an average non performance week. He has no issue getting his other stuff done, sleeping 8 hours a night, family time and hanging out doing nothing. But I am sure that 60 hours would be a red flag for any AO.
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Ugh. My son spends less than 20 hours per week on schoolwork. (He is a ridiculously fast reader & writer. He learns new concepts very easily. But he isn’’t…a striver. So he hasn’t ever tried to take 12 classes, or do independent research, or whatever, like some people I see on here do.)
He works 30 hours per week (4-6 hours, 7 days per week), as a health aide to his younger brother (so doesn’t have to leave the house for work). Because it is in the house I guess there is some double time here (eg when he is feeding his brother, he also eats).
He practices the guitar & composes music (scoring, recording, mixing) 20 hours per week.
He does D&D (actual playing, and researching and writing original adventures) at least 10 hours per week.
He has another ~5 hours of church related activities (weekly worship team, youth group, volunteer projects).
That is about 85 hours of activities & school per week. Sleep & ADLs are between 60 & 70. And… an hour or 2 each day to goof off. That’s pretty much his life. It is accurate. But maybe I should suggest he underreport music & work a bit, to seem less unbelievable (even though it is accurate).
If a kid is doing something- then it’s realistic. Just be transparent about it.
If you ran a fundraiser during the summer which took 20 hours a week for a month, that is NOT a 20 hour a week commitment for your entire junior year.
don’t under report accurate hours, he should report everything he actually does.
30 hours a week as a home health aide is the driver of his hours, so it will be believable. I’m more concerned that that is a lot of hours for a young kid. I assume it’s something he has to do to help out with the family, which is commendable, but it’s a lot for a young person to take on.
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I would say it depends on what you do. It’s less about the hours counted and more about what you are doing with that free time outside of school. Colleges will be more interested to hear about what you have become passionate about and what has helped shape who you are over how many hours you dedicate to extracurriculars. Of course, having extracurriculars on the application is important, but I think the quality over quantity rule applies to this.
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Just be honest about the hours and how long you do it each year. Some schools will check if they are suspicious by calling the organization, checking out their websites, and asking the counselor.