<p>I'm pretty short on extra curricular activities, which is something that I wish I had focused on just a little bit more before the impending stress related fiasco that is to be the endless tirade of college rejections...but I digress.</p>
<p>In any event, my activities are as followed:
* Literary Magazine (11, 12)
* Newspaper (11, 12)
* Quiz Bowl (12)</p>
<p>I play the violin and piano, but these are lessons that aren't associated with the school, and I'm not entirely sure how to incorporate these lessons into my application (just to give it a slight boost, wherever possible) without having to use it as a topic for my common apps essay. </p>
<p>And then there's community service and my job but those are obviously separate categories.</p>
<p>In any event, I know that a lot of seniors hastily join thousands upon thousands of extra curricular activities during the start of senior year to give their applications a little boost, but doesn't that seem slightly desperate and rushed? Will colleges care at all if I did that?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Your music lessons (or any other activities) don’t have to be associated with the school. Just put them down like any others. If you have a job, community service, two writing activities, and play instruments, that’s enough.</p>
<p>And in most cases (I’ve read), the schools don’t care about your ECs that much anyway. The tippety-top schools care because they need to differentiate between ten times too many highly-qualified applicants. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>It’s not always about having a variety of extra- curricular activities, but rather showing focus and uniqueness. Be sure to discuss your achievements and how you really helped out in the clubs you are in. </p>
<p>Good luck! You may have few extra curricular activities, but they sound like activities that take good dedication!</p>
<p>Honesty, I think clubs are really overrated. I haven’t been in any clubs at my school, and at first I thought it would hurt my chances but after I while I realized it was because there weren’t any clubs that interest me. Computer club and Spanish club and quiz bowl are nice and all, but if you are just simply showing up every meeting, they aren’t very noteworthy ECs. You’ll hear this a lot on CC, but here goes again: multi-year commitment to one or two ECs that you are passionate about (in your case music and Newspaper) is a lot stronger than joining a bunch of clubs and not really doing a lot. Unless they are community service clubs, but it seems you already have your community service elsewhere.</p>
<p>What kind of colleges are you applying to? But yes, length of EC’s matters a lot, but it’d be worth joining a club if there is a possibility of winning an award or gaining a leadership position.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t really mind if you don’t have a long list of ECs. Just choose something you are interested in and pursue it beyond what others would.</p>
<p>The relatively few colleges that factor Ecs into admission care far more about depth of the ECs than the length. They would rather see achievements, impact in a couple of ECs than to see a laundry list of memberships that seem obtained only to fatten one’s resume.</p>
<p>Truth is that in general ECs matter far more for students than for colleges. ECs are ways for students to develop and discover their talents.</p>
<p>What schools are you aiming for? Most state schools are much more stats-focused, and your SAT/GPA will matter a hell of a lot more than your ECs in that situation. And unless you’re aiming for the tippy-top schools, ECs matter a lot less than kids on CC make them out to.</p>
<p>If you play instruments, make sure list them and all the awards, certificates associated with it. My cousin got into Cornell, in addition to her good grades, she won many State and Regional Piano contests for years in MS and HS.</p>