My Extracurriculars

Applying to College
1

<p>To start off, I know my extracurriculars aren't great. However, I think my grades and scores are on par for many good schools, and I'm just wondering if my ECs are bad enough to keep me out of the top colleges.
Volunteering: I'm volunteering at a hospital this summer, which at the end should be 36 hrs, and I have ~10 hrs at the red cross
Sports: junior varsity tennis 2 years
academic clubs: science olympiad 1 year, trivia club 2 yrs, planning on doing it again next year (senior year) + 1 "varsity letter" in the trivia club
and I might get a job next year, but not very sure</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>What colleges are you interested in applying to? The best ECs are the ones where you demonstrate passion, commitment, and intellectual curiosity. Its best to be exceptional in one or two ECs than to have a long “laundry list” of ECs. Science Olympiad and trivia club arent bad ECs in themselves, but I dont see that youve demonstrated dedication or leadership. Volunteering is always a good thing, but in terms of college admission, there are lots of candidates who have 400+ hours of work with hospitals, the Red Cross, etc. (Which are fairly common). Getting a job could be a plus, but again you arent really showing commitment. I would try to get more involved with science/trivia clubs and try to get a leadership position. There will doubtless be plenty of colleges who will be more than willing to accept you for good stats/test scores and a challenging academic record. But as for the “top colleges”, I dont see anything that makes you exceptional. How will you stand out from all the other applicants with 4.0 GPAs and stellar SAT scores? </p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply, collegepenguin. For my trivia club, I think I have a shot at being the captain next year. As far as standing out from the other applicants goes, I can always work on my essay and get some good recommendations. But also, I think I’ve demonstrated at least some level of dedication in the trivia club; I got 2 hrs a week for every school week from the fall to the spring every year for several years, so that should add up to a lot of hours spent there.</p>

4

<p>Keep in mind that out of the 3,000 or so 4-year colleges in the US EC’s are important for admission at only a small fraction. Perhaps the most selective 100 or so. You can see what factors matter in admission at schools you are considering by looking at their Common Data Set filings. Most students worry needlessly about EC’s when they’ll play only a small factor or not even be considered!</p>

<p>The question about impressive EC’s comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says

You’ll have to decide for yourself where involvement in your trivia club, or being an officer if that happens, falls on this criteria.</p>

<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) I don’t buy into his underlying explanation of why they are impressive, but take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for talking about the Common Data Set, mikemac, and sorry it took so long to respond. The Common Data Set is actually really helpful-it has just about everything that matters about the college on it. </p>