<p>I need some more ECs on my resume.</p>
<p>I'm a BIG poker player, and wanted to include that on my app somehow without sounding like a gambling addict.</p>
<p>I thought hosting a charity poker tournament would be a good idea. </p>
<p>Your thoughts? Would that look like a good, creative, productive EC? It would also just be a lot of fun :)</p>
<p>I think it’s very subjective. For me I think that it sounds like a gambling addict and now you also try to make others be gambling addicts.</p>
<p>It’s just my opinion though, please don’t be angry. I personally think that it’s very creative (and I would join since now I’m kinda into Poker game) but don’t think it’s appropriate to put on resume.</p>
<p>You do know that most colleges don’t factor ECs into admission? This particularly is true of public institutions – which mainly base admissions on stats and state of residence. </p>
<p>However, even most private institutions factor ECs at most for merit aid consideration. The exceptions are the very top private institutions – places like HPYS – which get such an overabundance of high stat applicants that those schools can pick and choose from among those outstanding applicants the ones who’ll most contribute to an active, diverse student body.</p>
<p>Have you considered that in most states, there are laws on the books about poker events and gambling in general? Gambling by minors? Hmmmm… think about it. (Not saying it’s not often done but is it legal…)</p>
<p>I doubt that a 17 year old can just “host a charity poker night” legally.</p>
<p>There are several easy ways to get around legalities of a poker tournament and gambling laws. 1) If you have a casino close, most will run the tournament for you. 2) Most areas have companies licensed to run charity poker events which you can hire. 3) The other more tricky way is to run it yourself and not give out cash prizes. You can give out raffle tickets to winners (the more you win, the more raffle tickets you get). Then you have a raffle. I have run several charity gambling events and not violated any laws.</p>
<p>Now… On a college application I think you should say you ran a Charity Event, and not specify that it was a poker/gambling event. I think withholding that detail would not be inappropriate, and it would look better.</p>
<p>I think it could be a ton of fun. You could have a Buy a Poker Tip table where a student “buys” a tip with a can of food for the food bank. If you do have a casino nearby, they might loan you an executive to talk to the crowd about “stupid behavior we see” that could keep kids out of trouble (I’ll never forget the kid who ordered a “Boilermaker” at a bar because someone told him it was a manly drink . . . a hard lesson was soon learned). </p>
<p>But you will have to do a lot of legwork to get this smelling sweet. I’d definitely look on the state websites on gambling. They probably have info on charity events – and then pick up the phone and talk to a staff member on the state gambling commission staff. Make SURE you understand the details on what rules apply. Be scrupulous on meeting every detail. Then you can not only convince your school staff that this is ok, you also have a strong story for your EC page. You did something daring but you did it legally and had a good time. </p>
<p>Good luck! (if poker doesn’t pan out, see if Bingo might).</p>
<p>I’m sorry Northshoremom, but that was the flat out most incorrect post I’ve ever read. Do you honestly think that? But really, Why are you posting if you think that only HYPS look at ECs? You remind me of Sarah Palin.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with Forkingjamie on that one. I do respect your posts and consider you a master on college Northstarmom, but I do think that ECs factor in a great deal for at least the top 25-50 colleges.</p>
<p>I gave examples of HPYS as places that care about ECs because that gives a rough idea of the quality of school for which ECs are going to be very important. Overall, I’d say that ECs are most important for schools that are ranked in about the top dozen because those really are the ones that are deluged with many high stat applicants that would accepted admission if those schools offer them admission.</p>
<p>I believe that if one has excellent stats, one has reasonably good chances of getting accepted to most of the other schools regardless of what one’s ECs are like. These include many schools that most people would consider to be excellent.</p>
<p>In looking at the OP’s stats, he doesn’t look like he has what it takes to get into the very top schools – HPYS, Wharton. He has well above average stats, but not HYPS stats, and I doubt that his creating an EC senior year would boost him into such schools. He could, though, get into most colleges in the country whether or not he has ECs.</p>
<p>"SAT
690 Math
640 CR
720 Writing
(2050 total) </p>
<p>Unweighted:
3.6 GPA combined"</p>
<p>there have been many kids who got into schools like Northwestern and Stanford that were rejected by schools like USC, UCB, and other schools in that line. Stats only bring you so far. If you look through the admissions thread, pretty much everyone who did not have decent ECs were rejected.</p>
<p>I think that Northstarmom’s point isn’t that ECs are unimportant, but that for all colleges except for maybe the top 20 - 30, extracurricular activities are substantially less important than grades and SAT scores. So unless you’re aiming for one of those schools who have to weight extracurricular activities heavily in order to discriminate between the thousands of high-stat students who apply to them every year, what EC you do should not be a major source of anxiety.</p>