"Those ECs are weak...."- So what's good?

<p>rather than doing things just for college, pursue what you are passionate about... and go an extra mile. colleges see your superficiality if you join a group for the name sake. but if you want to know.... "special" extracurricular activities are: crew, martial arts, acting (if you were in a famous film or something).... etc.</p>

<p>to respond to the value of eagle scout:</p>

<p>I myself am an eagle scout, and i can say that it was fairly easy to achieve this rank.
Dont take that the wrong way though, i put quite a bit of time into scoutng, and even now, after i have my eagle rank, i still participate quite a lot (im currently the senior patrol leader of my troop). BUT, as for the advancement aspect of boy scouts, almost anyone can do it.</p>

<p>So yeah.</p>

<p>Oh and for the record, just because I'm a boy scout, does not mean that I hate homosexuals, it does not mean that I'm christian, and it does not eman that I'm republican.</p>

<p>Im actually an extreme liberal Hindu.</p>

<p>An extreme liberal, Hindu, eagle scout, who would've thunk it?! =D</p>

<p>I just hope that the admissions officers at NYU don't think i hate homosexuals.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me which uni place great importance on ECs? Thx b4</p>

<p>Also, I feel it is better to do fewer activities and spend more time on those than a long list with little time for each. Colleges would rather have someone who is passionate about a few things than someone who is doing too many activities just to get into college. My college counselor said that colleges are getting more and more skeptical of people with a long list of extracurriculars...</p>

<p>Well thats good for me I guess. Most of my ECs are all within the same area.</p>

<p>Speaking as an Eagle Scout and a big fan of Scouting, I would just like to mention that I know of at least two Eagles that I worked with who were mentally challenged, i.e. they weren't even able to attend mainstream grammer, middle, or high schools. Needless to say, their Eagles will not be getting them into Harvard. I respect the heck out of these guys and love them dearly. I also know quite a few other Eagles who, while not mentally challenged, are barely making in through high school. </p>

<p>The point I'm making is that Eagle is great, but it's just another thing for the resume. It is not a golden ticket into the candy factory in and of itself. I can understand the anger of anyone who thinks it is and thus puts BSA down.</p>

<p>how signficant do you think being the sole student member of township school board is (although I don't have voting power)?</p>

<p>"Speaking as an Eagle Scout and a big fan of Scouting, I would just like to mention that I know of at least two Eagles that I worked with who were mentally challenged, i.e. they weren't even able to attend mainstream grammer, middle, or high schools. Needless to say, their Eagles will not be getting them into Harvard. I respect the heck out of these guys and love them dearly. I also know quite a few other Eagles who, while not mentally challenged, are barely making in through high school."</p>

<p>Ahh yes, I have seen kids like this as well. There's a program called Scoutreach, I think it's called that, but it's for kids like that. They don't necasarily complete the main requirements of Eagle, but do as much as possible. Either way, I don't see it as a BSA put down, and I've read this forum enough to ignore any future putdowns.</p>

<p>How strong exactly is Speech and Debate as an EC? Other than writing associated publications, some prgramming work, and Academic Honors its about all i've got. However, I do believe it is easily a 'passion', i do three different events and am good at all of them.</p>

<p>Depends on how good you are at it. Any regional/national events? awards? etc</p>

<p>Well, I just lost my shot at it last year, as a freshman, but plan to go this year. Regional just high placed awards in local tournies. </p>

<p>Reason im asking is, im only a Sophmore, but want to know if my EC's are to weak for either U of C, Berkeley, or Ivies of some sort...</p>

<p>it being nationals</p>

<p>Are certain ECs of greater value to certain universities? For example, will Wharton even appreciate the fact that I participated in TASP, a humanities-oriented summer program?</p>

<p>colleges wanna see that you have a PASSION!</p>

<p>Here's the thing. We all each contain 100%. If we spread that into 20% in this area, 20% in that, ... although we are able to reach all 5 areas, we won't be able to dedicated and focus 100% to ONE INDIVIDUAL AREA!</p>

<p>haven't u heard of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Renaissance Man" theory?</p>

<p>"Jack of all traits.. master of none."</p>

<p>That's the most common mistake kids make on their college applications. They're too busy wowing colleges with so many useless junk they've done that they miss the MAIN FOCUS POINT.</p>

<p>AMEN TO THAT!!!! </p>

<p>A friend of mine was talking to another friend (we'll denote this person by as Friend B) who was saying that she (being Friend B) didn't think I was as competitive as she was because I didn't have as many ECs as she did. Well the friend that clued me into this conversation is in fact in the know, and had to stop himself from correcting this person and almost laughing. </p>

<p>We must think logically: is there anything about doing many things that provides distinction? Let's be realistic, most all of the competitive applicants at competitive schools have either been doing as much or more than you have (at least that's been my viewpoint). So what you need to do is stay active in things that everyone else is not. Whether that means forensics, where you're constantly getting high ranks at the nat'l tournaments, or if that means you are this piano prodigy, or if you're doing some fun research. </p>

<p>A friend of mine who is at the top of our class was recently rejected from Stanford. Why? Likely because of his lack of dedication to any one activity.</p>

<p>That same friend asked me in the beginning of our high school career if I only did activities that would help me get into college. The answer is yes and no. I do activities because I love them - I don't practice my saxophone just because I know it will be helpful when applying but rather because my alto sound is so sweet! I do speech because I find nothing better than waking up in the morning, dressing up, and competing. BUT - the things I do, I work hard at and consequently do well. The hackneyed word, 'PASSION' is really what applicants need to demonstrate on their apps.</p>

<p>My biggest problem is that I definitely do a TON of activities (probably well over 20, ranging from sports to clubs to spots on committees, etc etc) but to avoid the issue of looking like I'm spreading myself too thin, my guidance counselor discussed that in her recommendation for me, mentioning how I absolutely love being involved and the main problem I have is not having enough time to do everything. Plus, leadership roles help, I should think--I'm the founding member of my school's MUN team, plus a two year captain in Mock Trial & Math Team, two year pres in another club, etc etc. </p>

<p>Oh, and I'm REALLY hoping the Girl Scout thing'll put me over the edge. I've been a GS since kindergarten, and am currently working on my gold award project, which I mentioned in the "other information" part of my application.</p>

<p>I started a business (2001-2004) that ultimately failed. Would this have a positive or negative impact? No bankruptcy, just out of business.</p>

<p>Company imported products by the container load from China to sell to dry cleaners in the DC metro area. 4-6 containers/month at a cost of $13,000-$20,000/container. 3 F/T employees, myself included, and a few temp guys I used to hire to help unload containers.</p>

<p>Also, what's the better of the following two:</p>

<p>Work 40-46/week (entry level, no leadership role, a step or two above janitor)
Taekwondo 10/week (2nd dan)
Maintaining 4.0</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>Same as above but forgo work for more EC's.</p>

<p>The easy answer would probably be to find a job that has a leadership role. The problem is that there isn't much choice out there that offers consistent hours during the graveyard shift.</p>

<p>what a clever response, stressed0ut. I second that.</p>

<p>I HATE the @#!^#%& e.c.'s. I have everything EXCEPT for the e.c.'s. </p>

<p>I wish colleges could just accept that some people don't have the passion or enthusiasm to spend hundreds of hours 'giving back to the community'.</p>

<p>Sorry - I've got a friend - he's got EVERYTHING except for the ECs, denied from Stanford early. Pick it up gurrrrl!</p>

<p>You see, it's the enthusiasm colleges want - it's just that enthusiasm is not very quantifiable. What is quantifiable is awards and .... (awkward pause) .... stuff.</p>