<p>I'm a junior in HS and I moved a lot my fresh/soph yrs so i never really got a chance to become an active member of any clubs/sports. I mean I joined some but then i moved like a week later so I never got to participate. Do hobbies count as extra-curriculars even if I never won awards or was a part of an official ''group?'' For example, I love to play sports with my friends, I play with them basically every afternoon for an hour or 2. I play guitar and piano(self-taught 4 years ago) and I love to draw and try to figure out math problems like ''Why is 0/0 undefined?'' in my spare time. I also like to write and teach my younger siblings/cousins how to play the piano. I volunteer tutoring children and in an office for a Hospice care center. Do any of these count as extracurriculars or are they just hobbies? If I join sports and clubs this year will it look bad to colleges since it will only be for 1 or 2 years?</p>
<p>Volunteer counts as community service.</p>
<p>Have you participated in a musical organization?</p>
<p>Some extracurriculars are better than no extracurriculars, so join the clubs if you want to for your junior year.</p>
<p>approx 90% of US colleges don’t evaluate a single EC for admissions purposes. Those that do, are the most selective ones where they use ECs to distinguish between 1000s of super qualified applicants. What sorts of schools are you targeting?</p>
<p>Your EC anxiety may be for naught.</p>
<p>If u move constantly, then ur not expected to do much. Plus, anything u do is an EC. It doesnt have to be with the school. Anything u like to do in ur free time, so yea, hobbies count</p>
<p>Playing guitar & piano count . . . and it’s cool that you taught yourself - that could be an essay! So does teaching piano - even if you’re not paid. Both demonstrate a commitment to and genuine interest in music.</p>
<p>And your two volunteer jobs definitely count - they’re wonderful!</p>
<p>And if you play a sport (or sports), include that. You don’t have to be in a “club” for it to be worth mentioning. (Really, how would that change things? “Soccer - 7 hours/week” . . . it’d be the same regardless of whom you’re playing with!)</p>
<p>Your interest in math probably doesn’t count as an extracurricular - but it might also be a good topic for an essay!</p>
<p>You sound like an interesting, well-rounded kid who makes a real commitment to what he/she is interested in, and follows though on what he/she starts. (That’s actually much better than the kid with 17 different activities who doesn’t really care about any of them.) Just make sure that comes through somewhere in your application.</p>
<p>It depends on which colleges you’re applying to. If you’re applying to lower tier colleges, then you don’t need to worry. They don’t factor in EC’s. If, however, you’re applying to the top 10 or 20 colleges, EC’s are a major factor. However, on the common app, there’s a place to put additional info about your circumstances, so you could try to explain why your EC’s show no focus.</p>
<p>EC’s are not limited to high school clubs and sports. It’s what you do outside classes. In your case, music stands out as well as working with children. If anything, you show quite a bit of self motivation and leadership (teaching yourself how to play an instrument and then teaching younger children is a great illustration of this) in your activities.</p>
<p>Your hospice work also counts as an EC, though maybe not as a hobby.</p>
<p>Do what you truly feel is interesting and fits your style. If you like math, join the math team in school or a math circle outside school.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!! I am definitely going to join math club this year! I wanted to join band but it doesn’t fit in my schedule:/ The colleges I want to attend are mostly small LAC’s like smith and occidental, but I don’t care about ratings mostly student retention and reviews from students that currently attend. My dream school is Rice but I realize that’s a very very far reach, I just feel it’d be a perfect fit for me. I’ll start looking into more safety schools that don’t take EC’s into consideration. So far the only ones I can think of are UC Riverside and the CSU’s, but I’d rather stay away from them if I can.</p>
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<p>Not necessary. Really, your EC’s are fine, and say a lot about who you are as a person. I wouldn’t change a thing!</p>