It’s not raw musical or sports abilities- it’s that actually using them requires commitment over years and allows for improvements/gains over time (at least, in theory.) You join orchestra or band, show up. You get to sports practice, do the team thing.
You have to remember, they choose you, not the other way around. In that, it’s like any competition. It’s not simply what matters to the applicant, but how the info comes across as a reflection of the energies, level of thinking, and stretch the college wants to see. The most important thing to you may not be what matters to them, in the least. And you’ve got competition. The competitive colleges choose what they see as the right patterns.
They like kids who branch out, in the right ways. (After all, they want you to come to campus and be open to new things.) They like kids who dig deeper into their interest fields. Just doing what’s at the high school- or introducing a new club- may not represent the wider view the top colleges like to see.
To some extent, this is about self-actualization, not simply self-satisfaction.
OP has lots to gain from getting involved locally, learning how things work IRL, in the political or advocacy worlds, taking on even grunt work. That’s so different than generic titles.
“Interesting” still needs to be “show, not just tell.” And relevant.
Also OP, they’ll look at your transcript, not just the GPA. It will matter what courses got less than A. Gym, maybe some elective, no issue.Humanities, maybe. But expanding your EC experiences is an opportunity to grow.
Adding: I liken a lot of this to debate. You don’t win in a competition because you had the title in your hs. Or because you spoke on a topic that means so very much to you. You win because you hit the bullets they expect, delivered the range of argument, and did it in the expected manner. Your actual performance, on stage.
