<p>I thought I had a few, but everyone said that they "aren't worth mentioning,"
(instrument for 7 years, quit during freshman year, etc. etc.)</p>
<p>All I have is a part-time job and some volunteer hours; I didn't join extracurriculars from 10th grade on because I moved schools and at the new school, they don't offer transportation back home after meetings. My parents always worked and I didn't have my own license, so I could ever attend.</p>
<p>What do I do? :(
The schools that I'm applying to include University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State, University of Miami, University of Michigan, NYU, and others.</p>
<p>IMO - the large state schools don’t care about ECs. The schools that do care are the Ivy’s and Ivy-like privates, and LACs. U of M MIGHT care for OOS, and I know nothing about Pitt - and not sure if you are referencing Miami of OH, or Miami FL, but both would like to see EC’s. If you can get your license at 16 and drive as a Jr, you can still commit to clubs, and a little out-reach to kids in your school might get you back and forth to after school meetings.</p>
<p>Nugraddad is completely off: The ECs don’t count as much in certain state schools, but they definitely boost your chances up. Even if ECs are not used for admission, they are almost always used for scholarship consideration (used to compete between accepted students). Extra Credits are basically a mandatory part of college acceptance, commitment to a select few activities over “jack of all trades” is much preferred.
Reasoning: know about a dozen valedict/saluta (1st/2nd rank) who were deferred from Ivys or 2nd tiers for no ECs/hobbies. Heard of scores of similar cases online</p>
<p>How do you know so many vals/sals? Is there a secret val club I’m not aware of?</p>
<p>For all large schools (I’d say 4,000+ students per class), you can get away with very little/no ec’s. As long as you have SOMETHING (i.e. a few clubs or after school activities) you should be fine (assuming all scores and gpa checks out). As other posters have noted, once the school becomes more competitive (e.g. Umich OOS) you will probably need more meaningful EC’s.</p>
<p>A student who is prevented by circumstances from joining clubs or playing sports is not going to be rejected for that. A young girl was recently admitted to Harvard and it was all over the news: she was homeless and worked as a janitor to clean her school. Do you think her resume was full of ECs? </p>
<p>Admissions people are looking for a strong work ethic and for people who have a drive to succeed. Explain the circumstances. You could probably write about what you would have liked to do if you had transportation. Good luck.</p>
<p>If you have a compelling story, explain it in an essay. If you’d rather not “use up” an essay, you can mention your circumstances in the Additional Information section of the Common App.</p>