My EC's seem so hopeless :(

Applying to College
1

<p>I see all these "Chance me" threads on here with EC's spanning like two pages, full of all these "distinguished academic awards" and tons of club presidencies... I just can't seem to find any big notable awards to win, and I can't win any popularity contests out of my school of 5,000 kids to get all these club presidencies... Hell, I even see a lot of people on 4 different sports teams at once, and varsity in all of them. WTH. It took me 2 years to even make varsity for my only sport since there are SOOO many people in my school. </p>

<p>These are all the somewhat decent EC's I have right now- </p>

<p>Eagle Scout (my biggest... sad, i know) </p>

<p>Weightlifting Team 10,11,12 (Varsity 11, possibly 12 (it's iffy, because someone could take my spot) </p>

<p>5 Mission Trips for Katrina Disaster Relief (Church working in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity)- 1 week per trip/5 trips- Around 400 hours CS. </p>

<p>Volunteer "BINGO" manager at nearby nursing home- 120 hours, will have 200 hours by the time apps are in. </p>

<p>Volunteer ESE tutor at diff. high school- 250 hours, will have 350 by time apps are in. </p>

<p>That's IT- No big club presidencies, no big "academic awards"- At all. I'll get National Merit Scholar, but that's about it. I'm in 2-3 clubs, like NHS, Spanish Club, etc... but I can't seem to win popularity contests among a hundred other classmates. All I have is Eagle and around 1000 hours CS, which anyone can do. </p>

<p>Am I hopeless with EC's? (I'm only a junior, so I have one more year) </p>

<p>My SAT's and GPA are good (1580 CR+M SAT, 3.96 UW GPA in IB Program, taking hardest classes offered)</p>

2

<p>You show commitment to a cause (community service), that's GREAT. Don't worry about it. Just be sure to demonstrate your passion in essays, etc.</p>

3

<p>Eagle Scout is pretty impressive, just so you know.</p>

4

<p>According to NSM who is a frequent poster on this forum and a Harvard alum interviewer, Eagle Scout is an excellent EC. See <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Well, that's just ONE thing; a lot of people have like 5 club presidencies here, which for the love of God I can't seem to get at all. </p>

<p>How much is my community service worth? I know it's nothing special, but I've worked a lot of service, and will have easily accumulated over a thousand hours by the time my application comes in. The majority of it comes from 5 mission trips for Katrina Disaster Relief (building houses with Habitat for Humanity)...</p>

6

<p>mowmow: I know it feels hopeless, sicne you are comparing yourself witht he rest of the CCers. But you have done few but good ones, and that counts.
don't give up, and apply to the school of your choice</p>

7

<p>I know that seeing kids who have published novels and international recognition for their mathematic achievements is daunting, but your list is nothing to belittle. In fact, it's definitely noteworthy to me, as it's quite apparent your passion is community service. Others struggle for that consistency.
Don't let your perception of them from applying wherever you want =)</p>

8

<p>Haha your right hanging out around this place definitely isn't doing my confidence any good. I was so proud of myself when I got a 1580 CR+M SAT, and then when I got in here seems like that's an average score :) </p>

<p>I'm still not happy about my EC's though... they just seem so... minimal and mediocre. Probably that's just a bad perception, since it is a really small, concentrated list.</p>

9

<p>There are people who have multiple club presidencies and are able to do that because their clubs are clubs in name only.</p>

<p>The colleges that care about ECs (and the majority of colleges don't care that much about ECs except perhaps for merit aid) also care about the quality of the ECs, particularly what the student accomplished while doing the ECs. The evidence of accomplishments is determined by the student's essay, recommendation, honors, awards, and interviews.</p>

10

<p>You have the opportunity through your essays and personal statements to make those volunteer hours "pop" off the page. Stress the longevity of your community service, and the high points. It is not just the eagle award that you should highlight, they will see that. But what of the project for it? You have dedicated yourself to various causes- I'll bet app readers would respond to a genuine display of passion for these experiences. What have you learned in these experiences? Perhaps some schools will not value these accomplishments as much as you would like, but there are certainly many out there that do value such dedication and service.</p>

11

<p>your ECs sound fine. it seems like you enjoyed each activity and they reflect something about your personality. most people in good colleges are like you; only a handful are rock stars and olympians. cheer up.</p>

12

<p>That is a very nice list. You sound like a caring person.</p>

13

<p>Personally, I would give you high marks for bingo manager. I have done a turn on the nursing home circuit myself, and I know that this is special. I would google anyone who says that they published a boo or were an olympian to see if I could confirm it. Not too many people can do such things. You seem "real", and that is not nothing. Colleges need plenty of people to work on student activities committees etc.</p>

14

<p>I think your ECs are great. Being Bingo Manager is awesome (but I may be biased since I volunteer at a nursing home, too, haha. I play piano in the Alzheimer's ward 8D) And like others have said, Eagle Scouts is a really strong EC. Don't worry.</p>

15

<p>You have a ridiculous amount of community service- which is impressive. I'd also say that the Eagle Scout is pretty impressive.</p>

16

<p>Well, thanks guys. I was expecting to get torn about about my (lack of) EC's... Yeah, I do love community service, since I'm a devout Christian... Hey, it's better than sitting around at home?! Right. </p>

<p>Anyway- I have one more summer, where I'm probably going to be working full time in the retirement home... I talked to the manager, he said that would be great if I worked summer from 8 in the morning to around 6 in the evening (like a full time job, but volunteer!) So like 600 more hours and a summer spent doing what I do best :) </p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for the encouragement guys, I'm not applying anywhere HYPSM (although I will give Duke U. a shot)</p>

17

<p>Would I have a chance at highly selective schools? (I am applying for financial aid) Given my mediocre EC's. </p>

<p>*I forgot to mention I'm a member of Mu Alpha Theta for 4 years, probably going to have a position next year, and I've been an active member of my church for 4 years... If that helps at all. </p>

<p>Schools such as-
Davidson
Duke (Yeah I know...Impossible. Hey, we can all dream)
Wake Forrest
Cornell ()
UNC (Chapel Hill)
University of Florida -My "Safety"</p>

<p>Just a quick rundown of my stats- Chinese- From Florida- Can speak Chinese.
3.9+ UW GPA (Two B's Spanish Freshman Year... Sigh, all A's since and I'm going to get all A's even in senior, I was lazy freshman and didn't care. )
Rank- Top 10% For Sure, School doesn't go further than that. School is highly competitive, ranked like 91st in the country. (There are 4500!!! kids in my high school, Jesus it's impossible to get varsity/club presidencies)</p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:
IB Spanish 5, IB Calculus HL (Calculus II, in other words), Biology HL, Chemistry HL, US History II, English HL. Basically, I have the hardest curriculum possible for an IB student in my school. </p>

<p>SAT I's (Scores just came back, my first time taking) :)
800 CR (Woohoo!)
780 M
650 W (BOOO!) :( </p>

<p>EC's-
Mentioned in the first post, a quick rundown here.
Eagle Scout, 3 Years Weightlifting Team (Varsity for 1) 10,11,12, 4 Years Mu Alpha Theta (Officer Senior Year, most likely), Dedicated Member of Church Youth all 4 years, NHS, Spanish Club Junior/Senior(Served on Board of "Activities" 1 Year)</p>

<p>Service (Yah!)-
5 Mission Trips to Gulf Coast- Hurricane Katrina Relief (400+ hours)
"BINGO" Manager- Nursing Home (250 hours)
ESE Tutor- Different High School- (350 hours)</p>

<p>I just talked with the managed of the nursing home I work at- He will let me spend the summer doing volunteer work full time, reading to the elderly, arranging entertainment, etc.... generally just making their last few years more bearable. So that's another good 400-500 hours there! </p>

<p>So do I have any shot at all for any of those schools?</p>

18

<p>Being an Eagle Scout is 10X more prestigious than a list full of club presidents, and other stuff.</p>

<p>I'm working on my project right now and it takes a lot of dedication.</p>

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<p>i totally get where you're coming from. i'm not president of anything big, i tried and ran and lost every time (my schools one of those diehard cutthroat ones where everyone is scheming for that coveted spot). all of my ec's are questionable... anyone could do them; there's no merit whatsoever. i think that you're fine though, because colleges know that it DOES take hard work to become an eagle scout.</p>

<p>also, remember that this is collegeconfidential, not real life. also, remember that many people on CC may be lying.</p>

20

<p>I would love to be a Bingo Manager! We don't even have a nursing home in our area DX It's very admirable that you can organize all of that and make the senior citizens feel more comfortable - that's a hard feat for a lot of people.</p>

<p>I think club presidencies don't really mean much unless you do quite a bit of intense service involvement, so I really think your application shows you're quite human. Please don't worry :D</p>