<p>hey you guys, me and my brother where having this discussion earlier. We weren't demoralizing each others point just talking about it. While he was saying that having tons of ec's (like 10 or so) shows adcoms the diversity of a person and shows they are adaptable to many different environments i was saying that a few very meaningful ec's should be enough ( say 4 or so having been done for years each one maybe 10 years). I was saying that having a few meaningful ones shows adcoms a applicants discipline and willing to work and learn towards one thing. So i ask you which do you guys think impresses admissions the most. If you were an adcom would you admit the student with tons and tons of ecs or the student who has a few but has devoted time perfecting them spending ten years or more on each ec? ( assuming that SAT, gpa, recs and all of that are the same for each candidate)</p>
<p>PS. My brother did undergrad at harvard, and is currently at harvard law.</p>
<p>No question. You are correct, even if he did go to Harvard. I've worked in admissions and the scattershot approach is NOT impressive. Your take on it is absolutely right.</p>
<p>Agreed. It is better to show commitment to a few things and really delve into them than to spread yourself so thin that you don't make much of an impact with any of them. It's what you do with it, not how many. Quality over quantity any time.</p>
<p>What if you have a lot of ecs that you are really passionate about and that are all connected? What if you are a leader of five ecs that all have to do with community service on a national, local, and international basis becuase community service is truly what you care about? Also, what if in addition to those five ecs you play three varsity sports (fall, winter, spring)? These five community service ecs are ecs that you either founded or have been in since freshmen year and you have done great things in all of them and the sports you play are sports you really love? What if that's the case? You would have 8 ecs (5 ecs dealing with comm service and 3 sports ecs) but wouldn't adcoms really like this?? (My life is devoted to my ecs - why I'm able to do so much)</p>
<p>TECHY, it is like this:
Lots of meaningful ECs > A few ECs, yet shows commitment > Lots of ECs without any real passion or commitment > Few ECs with no passion > Zero ECs.</p>
<p>(Here, '>' stands for 'better than')</p>
<p>I went to MIT for a visit. The admissions dean (Marlene Jones) there pleaded with all the prospective applicants not to be involved in any EC unless they really love it. 'Don't do just for the college admissions,' she was saying and made us all take an oath to drop the EC we don't like! She was hilarious, but made some excellent points. Her point was that we should do whatever EC we enjoy the most and then see which college will take us just the way we are! That will work out for the best.</p>
<p>Okay good. People say that I'm involved in too much however I genuinely love all of my ecs. I'm almost always working on one of them and becuase they're all pretty much related, and I've accomplished a lot in all of them, I'm pretty sure adcoms won't mind that I do so much.</p>
<p>Techy -- the only problem you may encounter is someone doubting that you really did all you said. If you truly do 5 ec's and 3 varsity sports, someone could wonder just how you did it. The time commitment to school and varsity sports really is a great deal. Add on the leadership in 5 EC's and it sounds false. I am not saying you are lying -- I just want you to be aware of the possible perception. You will need to counter this by making sure that one of your letters of recommendation mentions your EC's and possibly making your EC's the subject of an essay (or mentioned in the essay).</p>