<p>A lot of my ECs are focused on film, dance, and human rights. Those things are my favorite things to do, despite my parents' disapproval. However, I'm also in the school orchestra & chamber strings and shoot some arrows in my free time (meaning, I'm not doing archery professionally). I'm also in the Key Club and volunteer at a hospice (this is important, so).
I'm afraid that my ECs are all over the place. I personally enjoy doing all of them, which is my problem. I don't really want to drop any. On top of that, I've heard that it's good to have a little side thing (like music, sports) besides your main focus in your application.
I take leadership positions & am an important contributor in film, dance, human rights, and the school Key Club. Does this mean I should drop the rest? I don't want to be overwhelmed by the great multitude of activities in junior year. What are your opinions?</p>
<p>Less is more.
Admissions officers are skeptical of a dozen EC’s. That was directly from an Admissions officer.
Orchestra is not an EC… it’s a class you get a grade for. Same as chorus.
Band on the otherhand is EC because they do weekly football games, competitions, etc.</p>
<p>You’ll need to order them so that they create a coherent profile. You’ll have 10 spots on your CommonApp.
Key Club and volunteering would probably go along a concern for human rights and human dignity in general.
Archery should go among the last on the list since you do it for enjoyment but don’t have medals or regional recognition in it. If you do, it can be ranked higher.
Film&dance should be among the top EC’s since you’re an important contributor.
Colleges don’t want lots and lots of clubs that meet once a month and where you’re just a member. They don’t want you to dabble in 15 different things. They don’t care if you do, provided you show you can contribute to 3-4 activities of your choosing.
It’s thus very good to have leadeship positions and have recognizable contributions to describe.
However doing 15 different things shouldn’t come at the expense of leadership involvement. Colleges want to see depth. As long as you can show depth (ie., you’re not just a member of 12 clubs, you’re an active contributor to 3 or 4 of them, the founding member of one, etc.) and can demonstrate in concrete terms what you accomplished then it’s fine. But if you feel overwhelmed, then drop some.
BTW, colleges don’t want one specific type of activity vs. another (ie., sports). They want to see what you’re able to do when you give yourself 100% to a cause or activity you chose and are committed to.
Dance is typically highly viewed because adcoms know how much time and dedication goes into dancing at a high level.</p>
<p>myos, where did you read she is a dancer?<br>
Being in the school play every year is a good EC but I don’t even see that. Some schools have 3 plays/musicals per year.
The list provided is mediocre at best.</p>
<p>I do dance…I’m a guy, btw. Our school doesn’t have plays…I dance professionally outside of school (I lead a youth dance group). I’ve dramatically oversimplified my ECs (last time I was on CC one of my friends recognized me) to be as vague about my identity as possible</p>
<p>OP, in your school are orchestra and chorus classes or ECs?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that out of the 3,000 or so 4-year colleges in the US EC’s are important for admission at only a small fraction. Perhaps the most selective 200 or so. You can see what factors matter in admission at schools you are considering by looking at their Common Data Set filings. Most students worry needlessly about EC’s when they’ll play only a small factor or not even be considered!</p>
<p>The question about impressive EC’s comes up regularly on the forum. There is a thread with several posts by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html</a></p>
<p>As you will see from that link, at the most selective colleges they are looking for depth more than just participation. Stanford, for example, says
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