Will I be equally as valued as participants who started from the VERY beginning? I’m a 9th grade freshman and so far I have not participated in ANY activities. Will my college admissions be affected in a negative way because I didn’t start from beginning point in time of high school?
Yes to the first, no to the second.
You have plenty of time to start getting involved.
when I read the title I, thought that you were a junior or even a senior.
You are a freshmen!
You have so much time left, enjoy school, and do fun stuff!
And find something you enjoy, not something you think will look good on a college app.
Gosh, my kids started lots of things in high school. Lots of activities weren’t even available before that, but some were – they still did fine. Even if you start in 10th, that is fine, others have only one season more than you and some others will join later, too. Let’s see, for two kids here is a list of activities they started in HS:
Softball
Fencing (started 10th grade, top 5 finish in state tournament senior year)
Robotics (started 11th, no team before that)
Programming club (started in 12th)
Competitive speech (finished in top 5 at State 3 times)
Debate
Quiz Bowl (went on to top 5 individual in state)
Amnesty International
Creative Writing Club
High school is meant to be a time to try new things. People start & stop & change activities often.
Can you imagine what a world it would be if everyone was washed up at 14, if you couldn’t start any new activity once you entered high school? No new languages or sports or instruments?
Ditto to all the above posts. But I wouldn’t do a million EC to show off to colleges. It’s really not about quantity but quality. Find a few clubs you can become passionate about and become a major contributor to the club.