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

<p>How about Model UN as an EC? I really love it, so , how do colleges view it?</p>

<p>I am a swimmer and practice 2.5 hours per day five days per week. I swim for my high school team and a USA club for the rest of the year. I also have been swimming at my pool club since I was 5. I have been to zones and sectionals (junior national cuts are just below sectional cuts). This is a time consuming sport. I really have no free time. I swim throughout the summer. Last year I traveled to Penn State and Buffalo for meets where I made the cuts. Most swimmers who swim in college do not have junior national cuts. This is my main EC. I also am involved with my church youth group and have been on two really good week long mission trips. I plan to join the Literary magazine or the yearbook.</p>

<p>Do you think these are good enough ECs? I am definitely not all over the place. I don’t have the time!</p>

<p>Omg I love you.
I am freaking out from reading this site! :@</p>

<p>kinda freaking out over ecs
 used to think mine were good but nothing compared to some posted!
guitar for 10 years, dance for about 8, martha Graham program at the school, neuroscience internship(looks so out
of place haha)
I’m only gonna be a jr so i have time 
 do you guys think I need more???</p>

<p>oh and musical theater camp for 4 years, do musical at school (planning on doing it the next 2 years as well)
gahh</p>

<p>I love all of my ECs, but they are all very different from each other and I’m concerned about how they will look to admissions officers.
I’m part of my school’s orchestra (I’ve been playing the violin for 4 years), part of the stagecraft club and work on all of the plays/musicals, part of the robotics club (I’m in charge of driving the robot and help build it), and currently secretary of the ERASE club (which i will most likely be president of at some point).</p>

<p>Those aren’t all of my ECs, but they’re the most important ones. Should I be worried?</p>

<p>What are you doing in those clubs? Being a member or even officer of a club means little without some accomplishments of substance behind it. This could mean anything from organizing a fundraiser from scratch to making All-State orchestra–just know that a club membership without any effort/creativity behind it is fairly meaningless. And often, to accomplish something meaningful, that means dropping “filler” clubs (though there are the rare superpeople that can balance remarkable amounts of work).</p>

<p>honestly, anything you do that you’re passionate about is pretty good.
you don’t need long lists of amazing things, just a few that you’re passionate about.</p>

<p>i was in this scholarship competition and met this girl kennedy. when she was SIX, she started a volunteer program called kisses for kaeden. she’s thirteen and has raised $92,000. this is the one thing she loves to do and doesn’t do anything else. honestly, doing one amazing thing is good too. you don’t need to be doing a lot, just what you’re passionate about.</p>

<p>1) Have lots of leadership positions.
2) Have more than 1 or 2 years in an EC
3) Make your EC’s cohesive and pertain to one single passion. ex: quality vs. quantity</p>

<p>Is a high school honor board “unique”?</p>

<p>Two kids from my high school are going to UVA OOS. I asked both of them for advice. They basically did normal high school ECs (one was class treasurer). Neither of them started their own charity or club. They had mostly As (not all) and did not recommend taking 15 AP courses. One had 2150 on SATs and the other over 2200. They were probably in the top 5%. What helped them is that our high school is highly ranked and even our mediocre kids are really well prepared for college. Colleges know that not all AP courses are “true” AP courses and your that the rigor of every high school is different. Some of the advice given on CC might apply to those who apply to HYPSM, but admissions officers see through the resume padding.</p>

<p>The UC Davis system is just stupid. First of all, how does having your peers elect you make you a leader??? I’m a better leader than almost anyone else at my school, but I’m not popular so I don’t get elected to anything. And honestly, 3/4 of the things on that list are not even available at my school! Maybe they should come out with new criteria for people who don’t go to rich East/West Coast prep schools. And finally, why is winning dance awards on there? The competitive dance teams I know are trash. REAL studios don’t compete. This is all bull****.</p>

<p>I am entering my junior year and don’t have any ECs but for the last 2 years of high school I am going to work hard at it. Anyone think I still have a chance or am I screwed?</p>

<p>^You literally have done nothing besides school? ECs can be more than sports or school clubs.</p>

<p>Ive been taking piano and been going to a church youth group since freshman year but I dont think those would be worth mentioning on my application. Im not good enough to play at carnegie hall or anything.</p>

<p>Btw, how would a student join the school board?</p>

<p>^ At my school there are elections for it once a year. I bet if you ask a teacher though, they’ll tell you where to get your forms. You’re talking about SGC right (student governance council). </p>

<p>How does a year-round (Junior and Senior) internship up at a Space Museum with planetarium and things look to colleges? For someone looking into Astronomy etc.?</p>

<p>Obviously you should mention a year-round internship. Colleges want to know that you used your time constructively, but also that you spent your time where YOU wanted to, not where you thought colleges want you to. Pretty much, they want to see a complete person who has interests that they pursue passionately, for fun.</p>

<p>After reading endless stressed students chance-me’s, I am posting my advice for extracurriculars. Don’t try to outsmart them - they see through the person who is the “treasurer” in a million clubs, started their own charity that raised $100, etc. Instead, show them that you have a reasonable number of interests that you are truly interested in, and that apply yourself to these interests. </p>

<p>For example, I have played piano for my entire life, and have picked up a few other instruments along the way. I know that everyone plays an instrument, but I also won state level jazz piano awards, taught piano lessons during the school year, worked at a jazz camp as an instructor, play gigs at dinners and parties, and the majority of my community service was playing at benefit concerts. Despite “constructing” a large part of my application around music, I also made it very clear that I play music first and foremost for fun; playing in a band with my friends isn’t curing cancer, but it’s how I spend a lot of my time and I find it rewarding. They want to see you apply your interests multi-dimensionally, and don’t want to see a laundry list of honors societies.</p>

<p>Not only should this look better on your application, it will be very relieving to not have to do so many activites and get to focus on things you enjoy doing. Working and doing community service is very fun if it incorporates activities you enjoy.</p>

<p>The school board/board of education is different from ASB, it’s district wide and made up of elected officials but there are also student representatives.</p>

<p>let me make something relatively easy for you, that is achievable:</p>

<p>extracurricular:
president& founder of asian american club for 2 years.
president of YMCA of Greater New York Leaders Club (international) for 1 year, and two years of membership
school’s middle school ping pong team captain, citywide champion.
Mentee of Minds Matter (national program), grouped with high achieving students who will be sent to prestigious summer school. 3 yrs
volunteer at CPC, biggest chinese american volunteer organization at the States, will have 400 hours, 3 yrs
facilitated the first annal Career Day in school with 6 panelists who are: doctor, lawyer, wall street journalist, marketing director, computer science engineer, finance worker from wall stree x2.</p>

<p>^Huh?</p>

<p>To the person asking about school board: On many school boards there are opportunities for student representatives. If your school board doesn’t have such a position, it’s possible in many states to create one (legally, in a lot of states, there is a right to a student rep).</p>