I’m in my senior year and have done absolutely no EC activities all high school. Should I start showing school spirit now or is it just too late? If I was to take ECs is cramming in multiple major-specific clubs the best approach? (Biotechnology club for Biology major)
It’s looks like last minute resume-padding. AdComms are not totally stupid. Focus on schools that don’t give much weight to ECs.
Google “Common Data Set <>”. Section C has a table that describes how much weight the school gives to different criteria.
What have you done outside of high school? Any jobs? Helping with family? Club sports? Volunteer work? Those and others count as ECs.
@PetulaClark Had a job for 2 years but that’s literally it. I think putting nothing on my app is better than one thing yknow
I think working 2 years is a great EC. That tells that you did something better than travel lacrosse. Unless you are applying somewhere like Harvard or Stanford, ECs are not that important. My daughter is at NC State. All the admissions even looked at were GPA, SAT, class rank. Did not even want letters of recommendation. I would look at colleges that match your stats whatever they are. At any college the main factors are GPA and level of the courses you took. SAT matters at most, class rank at some.
I agree that you should list your job. Two years is dedication! Plus, if you just randomly join a bunch of clubs without actually caring about them, you won’t enjoy it. Think of any possible thing you could put down that you’ve done. Helping your neighbors? Sports you just do for fun, but aren’t affiliated with the school?
Working is an EC. And the poorer your family is, the more essential an EC it is.
If there is an area that you are particularly interested in or an initiative that you would like to start, go ahead and do it. Senior year it is about doing what you care about - feel free to join whatever you’d like but I would keep the work experience on there. I really don’t understand your logic - no EC’s at all is better than one EC? You put significant time and effort into your work, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t put it on there
@shawnspencer good point. And I’ve done extensive research and only 2 of the schools Im applying to consider EC at all so It doesn’t look like it’ll be as big of a deal as I thought it would be.