<p>I'm currently a Junior in High School (and pumped up about college admissions). My Guidance Counselor recently had a meeting with me and we were talking about college etc. He feels I shouldn't blindly follow my passion and participate in ECs I love and feels I'll have a much better shot at college if I do a "name brand EC"</p>
<p>For Ex. I participate in Philosophy Club, he wants me to quite philosophy and join Model UN, stop participating in Political Forum and write for the school paper etc.</p>
<p>Till date I've only done ECs I really love (Debate, Philosophy, Political Forum, Student Govt., Math Team etc).</p>
<p>Is he right ? Would I look unfavorably to a college adcom if it were between me and a virtually identical kid who did Model UN, wrote for the paper etc ?
Should I follow his advice and start going after "name brand" ECs ?</p>
<p>since your a junior and this school year is almost over, you're talking about minimal participation in some new activities next fall before you send in apps. Don't think that will do you a lot of good.</p>
<p>Stick with what you're doing, try to win awards if possible.</p>
<p>Follow your passion. What "name brand ECs" are you missing? You're doing debate, poitical stuff, math team...those aren't off-the-wall activites! To drop your current activities now in favor of "name brand" stuff will indicate to college admins that you are trying to game the admissions decisions, not to mention you will not have enough time in the new activities to accrue any sort of leadership role.</p>
<p>Stick with what you enjoy -- a couple of your activities look like they hit some common themes or interests of yours, which you could develop in an essay. Don't stop being who you are. The GC's advice, as you've reportred to us, sounds way off.</p>
<p>Thanks, I was also thinking that running towards Model UN et all will alarm College Adcoms. CountingDown, What themes do you see besides Politics ?</p>
<p>THere is nothing wrong with trying something new as a Senior, many kids do, and won't alarm anyone, but do what you like or think you will like, and if that is model UN, why not? if its gardening, or dressmaking, or photgraphy</p>
<p>If you want to write a piece for the paper, fine, its all okay, but don't desert what you love doing</p>
<p>So keep doing what you love, and you can try something else as well, you don't have to put it on a application if you don't want to or you can</p>
<p>Colleges want passion, depth, growth, and a bit of variety, but you can experiment without having to quit stuff</p>
<p>ps- heard a stanford professor awhile back on NPR's philosophy talk, and how it is such a valuble field and he felt that most students should have philosphy courses</p>
<p>The thing is writing for the paper and Model UN actually conflict with my other ECs so I have to choose one or the other. I just wanted to know if colleges actually value the "famous" ECs or not.</p>
<p>Colleges want to see passion and dedication. You are obviously committed to your current EC's, and they do include some I would consider "name brand" (Student Gov, Debate). Your EC's demonstrate (to me at least) that you enjoy intellectual discussion, which I imagine colleges would love. Besides, as others have said, it's far too late to drop established EC's and try to recreate your profile by joining new ones. Trying new things is an excellent idea, but not if you must drop something you love.</p>
<p>Haha my ECs were almost exactly the same as yours and I got into my top choice. Colleges would rather see a few passionate ECs than a list of name-brand ones you don't care about. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>"Name brand" doesn't matter. Indeed, having a name brand EC may make you blend into the crowd. Far more important than your EC's name is what you achieve with your EC, what leadership you hold, and what impact you make.</p>
<p>Mochamaven, Yale right ? Wow and Congrats. The Leadership positions will definitely help I guess. I'm founder and president of one of the clubs and will probably get leadership positions Senior year.</p>
<p>BoredTeenager -- Stay with your actual passions. The notion that you should feign interest in something you don't care about that much and drop things that have special meaning for you is ludicrous. I agree that having long-term, non-name brand interests will be an advantage. Not to mention, it is very difficult to predict exactly which element of your application will clinch or hurt your changes of admission to a particular school. That being the case, go for the activities that are genuinely the most fulfilling. That way, during the stressful application process, you will have activities you find satisfying and enjoyable to help sustain you.</p>
<p>grateful, He was talking how Philosophy et all were "no-name". He wants me to write for the school newspaper, join Model UN etc. I participate in my current clubs at the expense of these more "Famous" ones.</p>
<p>OP -- yup, I'm still in shock :-)
I was in debate, founded a political-forum like club, and did some singing/writing...so don't worry about name-brand stuff, I'm not even sure why your GC thinks that matters, lol. I highly doubt colleges want "manufactured" kids...they want real people who have real passions, and it sounds like that's what you've got. Good luck!!! You sound like a great candidate :-)</p>
<p>Hahaha atleast your counselor is concerned. Mine? She could seriously care less about what we're doing with ourselves... It's really SAD.... which is why I'm contemplating getting a private counselor.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement and good luck at Yale :)</p>
<p>aquamarinee, I had a very similar counselor Freshmen and Sophomore year (I think I mentioned on a different thread on how the only contact I had with her was during registration!!!!). However she retired and the our new counselor is just excellent (in the sense he actually cares about us - never mind that it's sometimes unfounded).</p>
<p>We have a completely new administration at my school and we have four counselors, each assigned to one grade level. I hate the new system. Our old system was based on last names and I thought that was better because the counselors would get to know you throughout your high school career and not just when you're at a certain grade level. Plus, our junior counselor is new and CLUELESS and has to take care of 300+ kids so it's hard to get to know her.
But yeah like aquamarinee said, you're lucky to have an excellent counselor! good luck :)</p>
<p>I got into my first choice college (Wesleyan) ED, and my ECs contained no name brand activities, except for writing for the school paper (but no leadership there). Instead, I did what I loved – dance, my school’s ropes course, sci-fi club, GSA. Even when writing for the paper I only wrote reviews of books, TV and movies (my passions…I’m going to be a Film Major and hopefully work in television one day). </p>
<p>I’m sure your guidance councilor would have frowned on most of those ECs, especially since my school had Model UN, Debate, Student Gov, a really good Mock Trial team, etc. But I ended up being a student leader on the ropes course, and president of the sci-fi club...two quirky, unusual activates that all of my interviewers loved talking with me about. And believe me, I was a lot more engaging talking about my favorite sci-fi novels than I would have been had I been talking being president of the newspaper or something else I didn’t care much about, and I’m sure the same will hold for you and your passions.</p>