<p>I'm always worrying about my extracurricular works since I do not hold as many activities as other applicants in my school. But the things I do are what I like and what I truly put my heart into, and they are associated with what I want to study in university&college.</p>
<p>I just want to get a balanced view about how extracurricular is weighted in college admission. THANKS! :) </p>
<p>P.S: I'm an international student.</p>
<p>Only at the top 5% of colleges.</p>
<p>Like hmom5 said, only the top schools really only consider ECs but they do put a lot of weight into it because basically all of their applicants are academically qualified.</p>
<p>Stop worrying and start living. And let that show in your applications.</p>
<p>Colleges are trying to put together a group of interesting people who will co-habituate closely for four years - sort of locked together on a cruise ship. Would you want to be locked on a cruise ship for four years with jumpy, worried climbers who calculate their GPA daily to the fourth digit, or with people at ease with themselves, who are interesting and natural leaders: People with passion; people who bring something to the dining table; confidence. </p>
<p>Stick with a few passions, but avoid being one dimensional. “I do nothing but physics 24/7” = boring. You might want to branch out and find a hobby, not for college, but for yourself, to grow as a person.</p>
<p>Most of my ECs are about graphic design, and that’s what I intend to study in university.
Do AOs pay more attention to how your ECs are represented in your essays(say,how you learn from those activities or how they have shaped you), or the amount of ECs you did?</p>
<p>Thanks for hmom5,frutiaspice and toadstool!</p>
<p>The very few colleges that care about ECs care about: what you learned from the activities, how they shaped you, how good you are at the ECs, and what impact you’ve had on the EC. For instance, if you love graphic design, how you’ve used that love to make a difference such as getting paid for doing such designs, winning awards for your designs, or doing designs for clubs, etc.</p>
<p>Would the “top 5%” of colleges include top 50 colleges? I would assume so.</p>