<p>Will dropping out of a nationally known club actually HURT you in the admissions process? I was in this club sophomore year, was really active in it, yet I cannot join this year due to schedule and time issues. (I truly cannot join, but I had every intent of joining... shucks) Some say that it won't make a difference but others claim that it'll hurt me. Also, if I do not list it on my college app, it would seem like such a huge waste of time and blow to me considering I received an award and dedicated so much time and effort into it. I'm just really puzzled. Help?</p>
<p>Presumably you are now involved in other things, which will also appear on your application. I'd say, go ahead and list it, plus the award, and show all the other things you're doing in junior and senior year as well. If you've had to cut back on ECs because of holding down a job, explain that. </p>
<p>It wasn't a waste of time, you got something out of it, if only the satisfaction doing whatever it was well. :)</p>
<p>It doesn't matter. Follow your own inclinations and list everything that is important to you. On the college applications, you will be asked to list your ECs in the order that is most important to YOU. You should have 2 or 3 things to list; whatever is at the top of the list should be something you are currently involved with (unless there is a very good reason that you can't be -- such as an injury that temporarily side lines you from a sport). </p>
<p>The club that you have dropped will be on the list but lower down. You won't write any essays about how much you love that club... unless it is relevant for some other reason and you also mention how sad you were when you couldn't continue. The colleges will be looking at the top of the list... they will assume that the various activities in the middle and bottom of the list are evidence that you are a well-rounded individual, but that as you matured you also became more focused in your interests and began to concentrate on other things. As long as you are busy an involved in something, dropping a club isn't going to make much difference in the long run.</p>
<p>It was well worth it, believe me. Where can I explain the situation on my applications? I really don't want to write it on my essays, so is there like a Note box or something? (I'm a junior so I don't know about these things..._</p>
<p>EDIT* In response to the post above, the club that I joined sophomore year relates to what I will be majoring in in college, but so are my other clubs so... I don't think the officers will see that I changed my mind about my passions... yeah this is another thing that's troubling me</p>
<p>I think you could just add a little note on your EC document, and/or on the EC form required by the college.</p>
<p>If the activities are related to your major, you may want to lump them together on a college resume. For example, my daughter participated in musical theater her freshman year but did not continue; she did continue with dance and choreography. So on most of her college apps, the theater role was subsumed under the bigger heading relating to performing arts (such as "Dance & Theater" - though I honestly don't remember how she titled everything - a lot depended on how much space was available on various forms).</p>