<p>Hey I've seen some AMAZINGGG extracurriculars on lots of posts and after reading a ton and feeling depressed I just decided to ask--how important are extracurriculars exactly? I'm in honors clubs and have a few awards, do volunteering work, play piano, etc like the rest of you but I don't have anything HUGE like world...world conference or something or national ____ or any of those really really prestigious awards like some of you guys have. How important is it really?</p>
<p>EC's make you shine, set you apart from the pack. They define you, they are the heart of your application. Without them, you're reduced to a bunch of numbers.</p>
<p>If you don't have great EC's try and compensate with stellar recs and essays in order to show that you have passions, something test scores/grades can't always show.</p>
<p>hmm I see....I DO have some extracurriculars but nothing that screams 'WOW'...will that really hurt me?
XP Will numbers compensate a little for ecs?</p>
<p>If you applied to a college that wasn't as selective or good as Rice, yes, numbers would compensate for lack of EC's. But at colleges like Rice, where many applicants have great grades and test scores, admissions counselors will see no reason to admit a 4.0/2300 over another 4.0/2300 (both of whom have not invested much time in ECs, but have some nontheless). They will, however, admit that person who has similar numbers in addition to great ECs, recs, essays, etc.
So no, lack of ECs won't kill, depending on the applicant pool, but good ECs can surely get you in...</p>
<p>My son got in without a huge number of EC's, and without any local, state or national awards.</p>
<p>yeah medhopeful i'm in the same position as you. got great stats, not so "exceptional" ECs.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that you haven't won any national awards or anything. What really matters is that they somehow see that you've been involved and really worked hard for your ECs. I had no national awards or anything in my application, but I was able to demonstrate that thing things that I was involved in (editor of the school paper, school orchestra, etc.) I had actually put a lot of work into and done well in.</p>
<p>i had no outstanding ECs and got a likely letter to rice</p>
<p>None of my ECs screamed wow, but I still got in. I think the other parts of my app really helped.</p>
<p>ok thats good...for now. 40 minutes until they're up.</p>