<p>either use the extra space or chose 3 u like most (better idea)</p>
<p>Ah. that's going to be a horrible choice. :/</p>
<p>Do most college applicants include a resume in order to elaborate on everything since the Common App does not leave much room to do so?</p>
<p>no; they advise you not to. so i suggest you somehow limit everyting to the what? 5 characters they give u on the common app? LOL.</p>
<p>honestly i wish i could talk about everything i've done in great detail. but there's always the larger paragraph to elaborate on ONE of ur ECs lol =P</p>
<p>Colleges would prefer that you are extremely involved in a FEW extracirriculars then trying to get involved in everything because they know people do that to make their applications look better.</p>
<p>Class of 09-
My D was in a similar situation as you- with the violin. She listed violin lessons, Orchestras, Chamber Music. In addition, she listed Composition Club, NHS, SPNHS and a few other clubs that filled out all the spaces. She thought it was important to show the level of music commitment in these spaces. She also submitted an arts supplement. After all, music was her major EC, and will continue to be in college. Even though there are often no direct "leadership titles", particularly for the pianist in the orchestra, it shows major accomplishment and self- discipline.</p>
<p>There is no magic number... but I think a general rule of thumb to keep a well balanced application is to not devote too much time and effort to one bit of the application if it's going to seriously degrade other bits of the application. </p>
<p>If staying involved in X number of ECs is taking up too much time and thus causing a noticeable negative effect on GPA then it would probably be advisable to cut back on ECs. I'm not taking about a minor grade here or there, but I'd certainly accept someone with a 3.95 GPA and 3 strong ECs over someone with a 3.5 GPA and strong 6 ECs.</p>
<p>One thing colleges want to see is that you can effectively manage your time and resources across multiple demands. A lot of people might read a statement that says "my GPA is low because I did lots of ECs" as simply saying "I wasn't able to effectively manage my time and available resources across a number of potential different demands."</p>
<p>Also as previously mentioned it's much better to have an influential position in a small number of ECs vs. a minor position in a whole bunch of ECs.</p>
<p>As long as you're honest with what you put down, I don't see whats wrong with listing them all..if you're <em>actively</em> involved in 7-8 things, and some kids are, then you should receive credit for it. At our school the college counselor reviews what goes on the app and students who are stretching the truth are called on the carpet. And thats fair.</p>
<p>^hmm i wonder if they do that at our school</p>
<p>go for it. president of 3 clubs is actually not that rare among CCers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>not always true grade inflati0n</p>
<p>i am
president of class
secretary of student council
treasurer of national honor society
vice president of leo club
editor in chief/copy editor of school paper
captain of mock trial
secretary of school improvement team.</p>
<p>there is no such thing as too many leadership positions. in fact, it will impress the admissions officers if you do all that and have good grades (which i assume you do)</p>
<p>Personally, I'd say more than 3-5 and you're not sane, but that's just me.</p>
<p>premed,
Yes there is such a thing as having too many leadership positions: Too many is when you can't do your leadership functions (or don't have any because the position is only for resume dressing) or can't do them without impairing your health or gpa.</p>
<p>I am an alum interviewer for Harvard, and always ask students detailed questions about their roles in their ECs. This includes finding out what projects they've implemented and suggested as well as what exactly they do with their ECs.</p>
<p>It's very easy to discern who is really doing something substantive and people who are simply trying to boost their resume. There aren't too many people who can handle several leadership roles while also being strong contributors to the organization and maintaining a good gpa.</p>
<p>If you take any leadership position seriously -- which means finding additional projects to take on to make your organization better -- you will spend a lot of time and effort in it. If you're in a position that isn't taking much time, then either the position is a sham or you aren't really doing your job or aren't taking the position seriously.</p>
<p>Secretary of school improvement team? That's a new one.</p>
<p>I just read this post written by an admissions consultant and they claim that schools would rather see students that have reached a high level of leadership within a few extracurriculars vs. a student lightly involved in a ton of extracurriculars:</p>
<p>Top</a> Ten Ways To Get Into the Ivy League | myUsearch blog</p>
<p>erm. so its GOOD to leave spaces blank?
what if all or your 7 clubs or so are in the same area =]]</p>
<p>Very good answer, northstarmom. My D found that several alum interviewers did what you did. Fortunately she was very involved in all of her positions listed. Thats a good way to separate it out, but lots of colleges don't want/require/offer the alum option or do interviews themselves.</p>
<p>I forgot to add (very long day at work..) that admissions officers will look at how long you've done these activities for, too. Starting everything JR or SR year is a dead giveaway that you're padding for college. They like to see interest and commitment that is sustained.</p>
<p>You never know. My sister was President of the Student Council, President of the Math Team, President of the Science Olympiad, and Secretary of the National Honors Society and she got into University of Pennsylvania easily. So that seems alright.</p>