<p>I have 3 EC's that I did all four years of high school. However during Junior year I wanted to attempt more of the clubs at my school so i joined student council/ student senate/ stage crew/ SWAT/ student court/ and FBLA. Would it show that I have no commitment that I only did these for one year(Im not doing these senior year)? Or would it show that I was willing to try new things? </p>
<p>Also I play paino frequently and have done so all four years, but I never entered competitions or participated in school. Include?</p>
<p>I went on a mission trip/internship this summer to a hospital in Cameroon. I know colleges find the mission trip chiche. Include?</p>
<p>I have 10 spots in the common app for EC's. Should I include all of these?</p>
<p>You have a lot of things, so you have a chance to be strategic in how you present yourself and create a portrait that shows your strongest self and your most passionate interests.</p>
<p>You can just join student council/senate/court, you don’t have to be elected</p>
<p>Include the clubs that you most liked and are related to your major. You could group them under one slot if you don’t have enough slots. I would include the mission trip if you have room and if it relates to your major or was personally meaningful to you.</p>
<p>I would make a list of all of your possible ECs, mission trip, piano, etc. Then number them in order of importance to you. Then think about how you want yourself to be “packaged” (think marketing) by your guidance counselor and teachers…how do you want the colleges to which you are applying to see you, to picture you? Then go back to your list … which of the items on the list contribute/make sense to the “package” of you?</p>
<p>Sometimes you can combine several items into one (e.g., Community Service) and then list several different things you did that fall under community service. But just being a member of a club for one year if you had no leadership role and/or no award that was won, etc., – I would place that lower on your list unless it directly applies to your potential major and/or “your packaging.”</p>
Trying new things sounds like the kind of thing that should matter to adcoms, but as it turns out for colleges that care about ECs “trying new things” is not a plus factor. Selective colleges turn to ECs to find kids that have demonstrated leadership and/or achievement. As Stanford says in its FAQ
Adcoms refer to kids who have a laundry list of clubs as a “mile wide but an inch deep”. That is not a compliment. In an ideal world you would have used your willingness to sample many things, a laudable trait, to find something that really captivated you. And then gone on to really dedicate yourself to achievement and leadership in it. As per the Stanford quote above.</p>
<p>There is some good news, however. Out of the 3,000 or so 4-year colleges in the US EC’s are important for admission at only a small fraction. Perhaps the most selective 100 or so. You can see what factors matter in admission at schools you are considering by looking at their Common Data Set filings. Most students worry needlessly about EC’s when they’ll play only a small factor or not even be considered!</p>
<p>So What should I do? Just leave them out? Or Group all of the weak ones into one or two categories? and I did find 2 clubs I really enjoyed junior year and now participate heavily in.</p>