My ECs = too weak

<p>Hi I have noticed that a lot of you guys have pretty incredible ECs. I am a junior now. My ECs are (the grades i did it in are in parentheses)
Marching band (10th and 11th)
GSA (10th and 11th grade)
Band (4th - 11th grade)
Many mansions volunteer (9th)
Junior counselor at a sleep away camp ( summer between 10th and 11th)
Relay for life (participant 9th: captain 10th)
Karate (11th) idk if that counts</p>

<p>I'm sure these are pretty weak so I have been thinking of other things to do.
I emailed about volunteering at the botanical gardens.
I may participate in the online model UN (there isn't one at my school, someone tried to start one last year but it failed)
I will run for historian in GSA
I will run for concert representative in band (makes announcements and attends meetings)
I may try to start a film club
I have been working on making short films
I applied for Camp CHLA last year but didn't get in, I will try again this year. ( it is a job shadowing camp at the children's hospital)
I want to do some sort of international summer program
I am interested in all of these things.</p>

<p>What do y'all think if my ECs and potential ECs? What else would you suggest?
Would it look bad to start so many and such varied ECs junior year? Like I'm just trying for college?
My academics are pretty good. 3.93 u/w GPA, 4.45 w GPA. 4 on AP euro last year. Taking 3 APs this year. Plus possibly self study on one or two others (would you suggest self studying AP's)</p>

<p>I advise against adding all those things and doing them for the sake of doing them. Continue what you are doing and add two more that are related to an area you would like to major in.</p>

<p>Well I am interested in all of those things. And honestly, I am interested in so many areas that i am not sure what I might want to major in. I won’t do all of those things then, I’ll try to pick a few.</p>

<p>There are very very few colleges in this country that expect you to have done something astounding in high school. Most don’t care one iota about ECs if you have the grades and SAT scores. For the few that do, most ad coms just want to see that you’ve done something in high school besides take the required courses. Additionally, how you present your extra curriculars is far more important than what you specifically did. </p>

<p>Ok, so do you think mine are okay? And what, of the things I listed, might look the best to colleges? I don’t intend to do anything solely for the purpose of looking good for college, but, I would like opinions on what I should do, if I end up starting something new.</p>

<p>this is all comparative: too weak for which schools? are yours too weak for ivies? probably nothing here that says passion and unique, but maybe not. for your own state flagship? certainly not, if your scores are upto their standards. These are really good ECs, and most schools won’t care a fig if you have the stats.</p>

<p>Well, I have been looking into the UCs (instate) UT Austin, Nyu, oberlin, chapman, northwestern. How about for schools like those?</p>

<p>sorry, I meant to write “most schools don’t care a fig for ECs.”</p>

<p>I’m with @AnnieBeats‌ on this one: don’t add more than one EC. you have some nice ones already. I like the band dedication. Focus instead on writing your essays, your GPA, and preparing for the SAT/ACT. There’s still time to affect your GPA and PSAT and standardized scores.</p>

<p>UCs focus on GPA, and if you don’t have that your ECs won’t help you. Austin expects you to be in the top 7% of your class; if you don’t have that, ECs or anything else won’t matter. NYU, Oberlin, Chapman, and Northwestern will like your ECs but not find them exceptional. They probably won’t hurt you but don’t look for a lot of help from the ECs. </p>

<p>A more important question than the value of your ECs is the affordability of these schools. Unless you’re full pay, you should run the net price calculators at each school and see if your family can afford the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Nothing matters more than this.</p>

<p>Out of your second list, the one that stood out to me is “I have been making short films.” This is something you have already been doing on your own time? If nothing else, assuming you spend a few hours a week on it, you can list this as an EC. And if its something you really enjoy spending time on, by all means keep doing it and see if you can also tie it in at school (like the film club? Or volunteering your film experience for a class or club project?) or with some other type of volunteer work. </p>