<p>Thank you GeekMom! (: I’ll definately focus on them in my essays then. And decadence, what was the website for? That’ll probably change the answer a lot. Did you teach yourself programming or whatever to get it set up?</p>
<p>decadence: I’ve listed my pursuits in web design and development as an extracurricular activity. I’ve been designing/coding for over five years, though, and I currently have several domains and an “empire” of seventy-five websites and counting. 
If your websites are significant - and if you spend a regular number of hours per week on them - then list the activity.</p>
<p>what if i’ve dedicated myself so much to one EC that i don’t have any time to fit anything else in? would that be understandable to college admissions people or would they just think i’m lazy? because i dance for 14+ hours every week which pretty much leaves no room for any other activities. i am part of a few school clubs, NHS, and Key Club, but i didn’t do any of those things before this year (junior year) because of my busy dance schedule. if i won several regional and one national award for the dance competitions that i went to, would it make my single active EC seem a little more impressive?</p>
<p>Sophomore. Finally jumping on the EC wagon…</p>
<ul>
<li>Committee for the local Relay for Life (American Cancer Society)</li>
<li>Committee for Operation Smile fundraiser</li>
<li>Looking to chair and organize a fundraiser for PATH (transitional housing for families looking to live in shelters) with the help of NYC’s Department of Homeless Services</li>
<li>Journalist for my school’s chapter of MSG Varsity (a new local television channel created by MSG - Madison Square Garden, specifically for high school sports)</li>
<li>Student Council Executive Board</li>
<li>A capella choir</li>
<li>Mock Trial (Haven’t made the team yet)</li>
<li>Varsity Track (Haven’t tried out yet)</li>
<li>Applying for NEHS and NHS (probably won’t make it)</li>
</ul>
<p>Good start for ECs? I do have two more years of high school. I don’t have to save the world just yet…</p>
<p>I am interested in how you think top colleges would regard each of these ECs?</p>
<p>-United States Senate page for one semester junior year</p>
<p>-National Security Language Initiative in Arabic country for summer (full ride on State Department’s dime to learn critical language)</p>
<p>-full scholarship to attend american asian journalism (AAJA) camp for one week</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>What would be the ideal ECs for an undergraduate mechanical engg. applicant?</p>
<p>Anyways, even though mine may not be as good as others but i think they look OK. What do you guys think? any feedback or anything that is lacking
- I have two paid (summer) and one unpaid (school year) internship at automobile and industrial corporations and workshops.
- I am also a national level golfer (have come 2nd and 4th but never 1st)
- Also I founded my school golf team and am the captain of the team.
- Was one of the 12 chosen from India to attend a golf summer school in scotland.
- Have one year round community service for the past 4 years plus a summer community service for summer 2008.</p>
<p>how do these sound as ECs as I am now worrying about having too many in too many different areas.</p>
<p>National honor Society - three years - vice president
Student body - three years- vice president
Hospital Volunteer- over 300 hours, volunteer 4 hours weekly
Co-coordinator of childrens area for Polycystic Kidney Disease Walk
Co-coordinator of Fundraising part of states Tamil(a kind of Indian) society
First chair clarinet - wind ensemble for only two years, 9th and 10th
Teens Teaching program, selective, teach kinds in different elementary schools, 9th and 10th grade, over 200 hundred hours
Ski/Snowboard Club, snowboarder, three years, you have to in the Midwest
and lastly, most impressive, but its post-graduate: Internship at a university diabetes institute</p>
<p>I also work at a bakery, 15+ hours a week.</p>
<p>All these are currently except band, teens teaching, and research
Is it too all over the place?</p>
<p>shortnsweet3030-</p>
<p>the main thing with EC’s is to find 1 or 2 major areas you love. if you combined hospital volunteer with internship at diabetes inst. and co-ordinator of childrens kidney disease thing then you could build a strong message that you are passionate about the med field and devote your time to helping others through this field. </p>
<p>the rest of them such as NHS and wind ensemble you should list in the EC area of the commonapp just for fun. top schools wont pay much attention to them anyway</p>
<p>@ MissSuperFantastic</p>
<p>my eagle scout project was more than anything youre sorry ass couldd come up with. i renovated a whole trail, built a trailhead kiosk entirely from scratch, had to get permits from the town(my town is incredibly beaurocratic, making the process painful), etc</p>
<p>im sure there are plenty of half-assed projects out there but they are the minority</p>
<p>IMO for 3 years. enough said.</p>
<p>Northstarmom said that being on a school board as a student was a great EC. What if your on something like Student Advisory Board or are a class representative on the school board? Is that still outstanding?</p>
<p>Yikes. This thread scares me a little bit sometimes. How does anyone have time for all those EC’s…? o.0</p>
<p>Can it hurt you not to have a sport <em>at all?</em> A varsity sport is utterly out of the question for me (no athletic talent whatsoever).</p>
<p>Right now I’m a freshman, and I don’t expect to get into the Ivies, but my dad is a pretty active Princeton alumn and will definetely have me apply there. Obviously, this is just a careful estimate and not a total guarantee, but could you tell me if the following EC’s give me even the slightest chance at being accepted? (This is taking into account that by senior year, I will almost definetely have leadership positions in the clubs I am now participating in - they like dedication.)</p>
<p>EC’s:</p>
<p>Very active member of the Nation Forensics League at my school (very likely that I will be one of the captains by senior year)
Secretary of the school literary publication (will hopefully be rising in position every year)
Piano player (6+ years)
Member of Quiz Bowl (Academic Team) (leadership positions unlikely, but you never know)
Applying to the AMIGOS volunteer program to work in Latin American for 6-8 weeks during the summer following my sophomore/junior years
Library volunteer</p>
<p>If my EC’s basically DON’T give me any chance for Princeton, then would another top college (ie Rice University, WashU, Northwestern) accept me? Or should I work harder on making myself stand out?</p>
<p>A MissxSilverwing</p>
<p>focus on your grades for now. no point stressing over EC’s (or college) as a freshman. if you have excellent grades/SAT’s then you dont need super EC’s. right now your EC’s look fine.</p>
<p>hopefully your dad will be able to get you in Princeton. an active alumni parent can get you in harvard, i dont know about princeton</p>
<p>Hi guys~ I want to go to an extremely competitive university in Japan (think HYP). I have a strong A+ average… I’m going to study really hard for SATs and stuff. I still have some years to improve this list… but this is what I’m guessing what will happen:</p>
<p>Tennis - State Ranked + Varsity + Awards in Maccabi Games. Hopefully Captain by Senior year. [4 years]
Writing - Published in different magazines, websites, etc. + Alliance for Young Artist and Writer Award + Published in school literary magazine. Head of literary program in 11th and 12th grade. [4 years]
Guitar/Piano/Voice/Violin - multiple awards in various competitions
Drama - multiple plays and musicals, placed in competitions [4 years]
Japanese - Passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test 3, 2, and 1 (1 is basically fluent).
Dance Team [3 years]
Presidential Volunteer Service Award Gold - 250+ hours per year (1000+ hours total) [4 years]
Interact Club [4 years] hopefully President as a senior.
Culture Club [4 years] hopefully President as a senior.
DADYO Club [4 years] hopefully President as a senior.</p>
<p>Also… I love lots of EC’s. Tennis, writing, performing (acting, singing, dancing, playing guitar/piano/violin). Would this hurt my chances a lot? Even if I’m passionate about all of them? Do you think I would ever have a chance at HYP? Thank you!</p>
<p>Doing Charity work and of course making a HUGE impact in your community</p>
<p>@rayna</p>
<p>yes your EC’s look good</p>
<p>thank you pandafuzz!</p>
<p>I really appreciate it~</p>
<p>Selling bread,Making bread for a long time,it’s very impressive.</p>
<p>MissxSilverWing, don’t give up before the game even starts!!! First of all you have a huge opportunity being a Princeton legacy (if you do in fact want to go to Princeton). Grades and to a lesser degree scores are very important but I think ECs are critically important to differentiate between many, many bright talented students. Your ECs that you plan on for high school sound good but it is important to hit the main areas - Leadership, Performing Arts, Community Service & Athletics. You say you are not an athlete, how about Yoga and working towards certification to teach Yoga, Swimming, Lifeguarding and teaching swimming to handicapped kids, and I have seen many kids take up running because they didn’t feel they had a talent for other sports and become passionate about running marathons! Instead of applying to a program in Latin America to work for 6-8 weeks, find a local program volunteering at a local shelter or nursing home and create your own volunteer program sharing what you are passionate about. Most importantly have a job working for an employer (not a family member) and work hard at it, hopefully it will become something you enjoy. Many admissions officers value working at Burger King or a grocery store as much as any paid “program that you can do”, why ??? because it’s real! National Forensics League is great but take it further on your own. Participate in the National American Legion and VFW Speech competitions outside of your school program, became a lector at your church or participate in anything where you use your National Forensics “talent”. Help coach a middle school speech team. Take your writing skills to submit to national publications and competitions or even more simply, find younger kids who you can mentor, tutor or coach. All of these ideas help you develop your existing interests into PASSIONS. That is what the most competitive colleges are looking for.</p>
<p>I have another question. I don’t have any free clubs available to me - pretty much everything costs something and all I can afford is tennis for 1-2 hours/week so I’m trying to be imaginative with what I do - writing, programming, graphics & learning languages being my main extra curricular activities but if I prove I’m doing them with contests, portfolios & test scores will it be looked at as highly as someone who’s president clubs and such?</p>