<p>I am sick of it. Recently, my IB companions created a Math Club. They compete and tutor. Only problem? We already have a tutoring club no one goes to and a Math Tutoring Lab after school. There is now a second Debate club for a different tournament. There are clubs for Psychology (what?), and clubs for practically every single community service imaginable... overlapping. Everyone is anxious to be a president of a club, even if they barely do anything in it. And NHS? Everyone is in it the point where they are surprised that I am NOT in it. And they don't do anything. </p>
<p>Should I just keep Quiz Bowl (captain) and Film Club (not created, trying to see if there is any interest) as my two clubs and get my community service outside of school? Is there anything you do that is interesting? I join clubs because they are fun, not for my application. Please respond below.</p>
<p>This whole EC thing has gotten completely out of control.</p>
<p>Thirty years ago, probably one kid volunteered at a homeless shelter and the word got out that some college considered that to be interesting, and now, it seems that everyone is racing to pad their resumes with ECs.</p>
<p>I often see a post on CC where a kid is asking for suggestions on which EC he should participate in. Which one would “look” better.</p>
<p>I think by now that the colleges are seeing through these questionable ECs, and are able to identify truly impressive ECs----concert pianists, captain of the football team, etc.—and probably don’t pay too much attention to the type of ECs that you mentioned in your post. </p>
<p>I got into Cornell 35 years ago, with ZERO ECs.</p>
<p>My friend got into University of Wisconsin. His only EC was being a minor player on the soccer team.</p>
<p>To me, ECs are sometimes being used by colleges as an excuse to fill their informal quotas.</p>
<p>For example, Bill may have an A average and Harry only a B+ average, but the college wants to admit Harry because they need more of his race, or his or her gender, or his geographic location, etc., so they point to some activity that Harry is engaged in and uses that as a pretext to admit Harry over Bill. </p>
<p>Since when has it become a “bad” thing in America for a kid to simply concentrate on his studies and therefore not engage in ECs ???</p>
<p>@floridadad55: Just a heads up, the admissions playing field is much more competitive now than it was 35 years ago.</p>
<p>But yeah, I agree with this thread. I find it a bit annoying… I mean, sure, go ahead and start a club if you have a genuine interest in that subject field, but don’t make it if “OMG I NEED TO GO TO HARVARD”.</p>
<p>YES! I am so sick and tired of this. Creating clubs at my school is so easy - basically you just need to sign a piece of paper and get a signature from a teacher. All of the kids who are presidents of said clubs have “leadership positions” but they do a lot less work than kids who are just regular members of other more functional organizations.</p>
<p>I hate that the EC thing is such bull in the sense that some people focus on a few things they are passionate about and throw their heart and soul into it, regardless of getting “leadership positions” and others just spread themselves out and look as if they are leaders in everything when really they do no work. They can lie on the activities sheet and make themselves look better than they actually are, leaving the people who ACTUALLY do a few things they care about to look pale in comparison.</p>
<p>I completely agree that it’s gotten out of hand. Half of the clubs at my school are just for leadership. I’m only in two clubs: one is actual service, and the other I’m in just because I have fun in it.</p>
<p>What do you think adcoms think when a kid founds a club and can’t describe any impact? Or, puts down a string of clubs that are do-nothing? That’s the “pie club” reference. It can be so empty to just focus on the title. One of the ways adcoms view ECs is to see if you really get what’s significant, if you can make more of an effort than just showing up and being there. </p>
<p>You don’t have to be president to show leadership and responsibility. But, you do have to get out of your comfort zone.</p>
<p>Pick a college that’s only about studying, if you can find one. Most of them are pretty concerned with your ability to relate and be engaged in activities in and out of the classroom. You can always do some online program if you don’t want to interact. Kids show a lot about their interests, drive and perspective through the ECs. Not just the stuff that takes place at the hs.</p>
<p>Dude I would be lucky for you, my school only has like 15 clubs that are premade by the school administration. There are no clubs made by students which sucks…</p>
<p>My school is huge (2500 kids) but we don’t have a huge amount of clubs which is sort of surprising. I don’t think there’s anyone who holds more than one leadership position.</p>
<p>I don’t know what’s all the complaining about, many people choose to make clubs for the fun of it not for EC. I’m right now the founder of 5 clubs and made them to have fun since my school didn’t offer any, so I wanted to be more creative for the school.</p>
<p>About 30% of the clubs at my HS had huge numbers of students, with 20-50% of the student body participating. The other 70% of clubs probably had under 10 members (only 200 students total, but still, any club with that few members shouldn’t be a club). These lame clubs went into 2 categories:
Clubs made by upperclassmen looking to pad their resume with leadership positions, making lame clubs like Banking for Beginners where there is 1 senior in charge and 3 freshmen that signed up as a last choice/by accident.
Goofy clubs made by an upperclassmen for them and their friends, like Informal Dance and Board Games Club, that had no real purpose other than as a glorified hangout.</p>
<p>I agree with you, yet I also do not. See, my school sort of has the same problem, but it also sort of does not. Yes, we have a lot of clubs made by students trying to be a leader, but we also do not have a lot of clubs that would be great. I know EC’s are not for everyone, but for me they have to be one of the best things I do. Although I am busy almost every second of my life, whenever I have free time I go insane and end up studying more or teaching myself stupid things. Many colleges do not even care what you did for community service, just how much of you it did.</p>