<p>Here is a list of all the EC's I have in high school. I am a current junior and am wondering if there are too much or if they look disorganized and not specific enough. </p>
<p>Freshman year:
JV basketball</p>
<p>Sophomore year:
Varsity basketball</p>
<p>Junior year first semester:
Volunteer at hospital 6 hours per month</p>
<p>Junior year second semester:
Hospital volunteer</p>
<p>Paid position at local law office, created website for law firm, help explain legal motions in terms that other people can understand in the form of brochures, accompany lawyer on visits to court, etc</p>
<p>Co-created study website with friend, made 500 dollars that we donated to local charity, featured in local news</p>
<p>Varsity volleyball</p>
<p>Volunteer 1 hour per week for youth volleyball camp</p>
<p>Help local mayor with his upcoming election this fall</p>
<p>I am wondering if colleges will think I am not passionate because I am starting all my EC's basically my junior year. Also will they think I am not focused towards one thing. I am looking into going into law/business.</p>
<p>lifehack: the vast majority of colleges and universities out there do not put that much stock in EC’s, the important thing is you’re out there doing stuff you like to do rather than sitting on your butt at home all day. The emphasis on extracurricular activities on this website applies mostly to those who are applying to the uber-selective schools (ivies, Stanford, Duke, etc.) </p>
<p>When listing your ECs on an app you can clean it up a little like combining the two hospital volunteering things, and stuff like that</p>
<p>While that is certainly true, colleges that DO put a great emphasis on EC’s are looking for how passionate you are about your activities – whatever they may be. It’s NOT the number of extracurriculars, it’s your participation and devotion in each activity that counts – the number of years you spent doing each EC, the hours per week you spent on each activity, and any leadership positions you held. </p>
<p>Colleges understand that students taking a rigorous course schedule must spend 3 to 4 hours a night on homework. That leaves about 20 hours a week to devote to extracurricular activities. When you complete your EC list, college’s ask you to write down your EC’s in the order of importance to you – and they prefer students who are devoted to a few activities (4-5) rather than students who have a laundry list of activities that they spend 1-2 hours a week on. </p>
<p>Here’s a real world test: Spend a week adding up the time you use the bathroom, including showering and using the toilet. I guarantee it adds up to MORE than one hour a week. Bottom line: DO NOT list an EC that takes up less time than using the bathroom!</p>
<p>Or a high level of achievement in an extracurricular activity, which likely counts for more than the amount of time doing it. For example, if you play chess, having an Elo rating of 2300 will likely count for a lot more than playing chess all the time but only having an Elo rating of 1200.</p>
<p>Note that “extracurricular activity” is not necessarily restricted to what people usually list. For example, a student from a poor single parent family might show entrepreneurial drive by reselling candy to fellow students in order to earn money for school supplies.</p>
<p>Forget the word passion. Just forget it. The higher the college, the more it is about “vision” and commitment. That includes OP working at a law office, making concepts simpler (hey, that’s good) and the election work. These show he can make a connection between his law interests and his time. And pursue the experiences. </p>
<p>I know some kids commit to something they are, in fact, passionate about. But it is the sum of what you present. As a young poster once wrote- if it were all about passion, you could put down video gaming and all sorts of other non-college relevant things.</p>
<p>Can’t accomplish much in one hour/week at VB camp. Raising money for charity is often seen as “at a distance.” OP, in addn to the hosp, what’s another service idea where you can roll up your sleeves and get to work, make some difference?</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad: why should they think im not passionate? the summer heading into junior year i had varsity basketball summer league every single day, and also studied for the sat. i enjoy doing law so i think that doing something over the summer of my junior year is something will help me for my future career. why would they think im not being passionate?</p>
<p>@lookingforward: for the making money for charity what other ideas would you have for using the money that i made on my website. our reasoning was that if we gave it to charity we could get featured in the local news (which we did) , which would show how our website was actually successful. if we just kept all the money for ourselves how would colleges have known how successful our website actually was?
thanks</p>
<p>Those look good. Not too much or anything. </p>
<p>Yes there is such a thing as too much. If someone spreads themselves thin and does a great number of activities at a cursory level, it looks like they are just doing them to put on paper and don’t actually care.</p>
<p>@mandalorian @lookingforward the reason i did volleyball was because its right next to my house so its convenient and its only an hour long to start my day off on a saturday. do you think its not worth doing because it doesnt really show anything interesting or valuable about me for my college app? thanks</p>
<p>@studytroveceo: I recall you’re an academically accomplished student. You seem to enjoy a variety of ECs. What you don’t have to do is to subvert your own judgment and preferences in order to fulfill some perceived archetype of the “top college applicant”</p>
<p>Have enough confidence in your choices, reflect on what makes you excited, write about those things in your essays. I agree with lookingfoward. Eliminate the word “passion” from your vocabulary for the next two years.</p>
<p>Substitute it with the pursuit for BEING GENUINE. If someone had looked at me as a Jr or Senior who would eventually go on to receive no college rejections, eventually picking an HYP college, would the word “passion” have been in the top 50 adjectives to describe me? I think not. I was clearly an active learner and I didn’t care what anyone thought. I was a leader because I was one, not because I chased some titular role on a list of clubs. Didn’t accept NHS nomination BECAUSE I WAS TOO BUSY. I got Bs in 2 semesters of honors Chemistry, enrolled in AP Chemistry as a Senior and told every college I was going to be a Chemistry major. I was content as a cat lying in the midday sun. </p>
<p>Do your thing. A college or two may reject you. So what? Do you think you won’t be rewarded for your labor by having a terrific college career? Screw the archetype. Be yourself and content. </p>
<p>OP, don’t dilute by telling us VB is next door and easy. Or that you could get a reporter’s attention or at least you didn’t keep the money. </p>
<p>Tons of kids make web sites, start blogs, hold a fun event that makes some money. It’s not uncommon for kids to do a little something based on school requirements or club ideas or that it’s fun with friends. An easy ‘feel good.’ I asked you what ideas would take you deeper into service. </p>
<p>T26E4 is right. But many great kids don’t naturally get it. So, sometimes, we try to get them to pull a little more out of their hats. Think on the next level. </p>
<p>This is not a particularly long list. Both my kids had a lot more stuff. They did put most of their items on their apps, left off a couple of things they only did briefly because they had a lot of other items. Your list is fine and you should include them all. If you are worried about depth, pick your favorite activity and spend more time on it (or something related to it) this summer.</p>
<p>Passion plus cmtmt plus vision. That’s a trifecta. Working at the law office and showing productivity improvement is great. I think ECs whether used heavily in college aps or not are beneficial to you as a person regardless. And as for them being overrated, guess that depends on your goal. If you are looking to apply to top level or get a full ride at a mid level, from my standpoint of having 2 in the process right now and a ton of interviews underbelly, I’d say they sure do make the interview easy. Every interviewer has commented on the ECs first. When competing w other NMFs and top score kids, it’s what sets you apart. But my girls ECs were done bc they wanted to do them. I don’t have a problem we the word passion. I’m thrilled my kids and youth today have passions. </p>
<p>I don’t think you have too many. I think you look well rounded and focused at the same time. Stop selling yourself short. Think about what you’ve done and how it makes you happy. A happy proud student is a winner. </p>