I always hear people say that you should dedicate yourself to one or two extracurricular activities to show dedication, but I have a few extracurriculars that I love and am dedicated to! Will this hurt my application and make me look like I am doing ECs just for my application (because I am not)?
Also, is it bad if I haven’t done all of them since freshman year? For a lot of stuff I didn’t get involved until sophomore year because freshman year I did sports all year round and didn’t have time for much else.
Thanks!
You are fine. The admonition to focus is not about ‘showing dedication’. It’s that if you are applying to super-selective schools, it’s very difficult to demonstrate the high level of achievement in any EC that they expect to see if you are spread too thin. As you know from your freshman year, if you do sports year round, you don’t have time for much else. The same goes for any very demanding EC. Excellence usually requires an extreme level of commitment. People with 10 concurrent ECs are generally spread too thin to accomplish very much. That said, one point of ECs is to discover what you like, so trying a few is a good idea. Doing one EC intensely for a while and then dropping it is just fine (like your sports). The point is to not pad your resume with lots of superfluous ‘president of this’ and ‘captain of that’ and ‘member of something else.’ If you enjoy something, then do it. Otherwise, spend that time doing something you like more.
By the way, most schools, don’t care what ECs you do - just show that you aren’t a couch potato and will contribute to the campus. If the school is somewhat selective, then just the usual level of engagement - a few ECs with some leadership or creativity or whatever, is going to be enough. It’s only the super-selective schools where this comes into play as a way of differentiating yourself from all the other kids with top grades, test scores and LORs.
I listed four ECs, and I was admitted to multiple schools as an aid-seeking international student. Depth in ECs matters, and also how you present them. I made a lot of decisions as to what to cut during my application, like useless stuff like the president of a photography club that did nothing. I also condensed some of my seemingly different ECs to make it sound better.
Okay thank you all! I just do not want to be labeled as one of those students who just choose some clubs and activities to do just so I can put it on my application, because I truly am passionate about the activities I do. Thanks again!