Too much, too little? Help please

<p>I've always enjoyed reading posts on CC, but now I have a question of my own that I would appreciate some help with.
I'm a senior this year at a small private school in the South and have been trying to formulate my approach to the common app. in how to present my activities and leadership positions.</p>

<p>I consider myself to be a very, very diverse person. This isn't a case where I'm trying to bloat my resume. I legitematly care and am involved in all that I do, because everything else seems to slow me down. I know schools look for both "well-rounded" and "focused" students, but I can't
help but feel that an outstanding/ very-successful activity is more beneficial in the admissions process. So, here are some of my activities/leadership positions, and I would appreciate it if some of you could offer your opinions as to what I should focus on or whether to just harp on all of them (most accurate answer I would suppose).</p>

<p>Leadership positions:</p>

<p>-Section leader in school band (10-12)
-Secretary Treasurer of music honor society (11)
-President of Student Council (12)
-Member of Student Council (9)
-NHS VP (12)
-Co-Editor of school newspaper (12)
-Will most likely hold positions in math honor society and music honor society this year as well</p>

<p>Activities:</p>

<p>-Sailing (teach sailing youth school in summer)
-Guitar/ trumpet (I play in a band [gig band-trying to put on benefit concert right now] and the school band)
-Writing (have won writing contests, Writer's Bowl team took 1st out of 56 teams, written for school paper/editor this year/making school's first newspaper website, 800 on writing section of SAT)
-Ebay (actively sell/buy on ebay for the past 3 years)
-fairly active community work (80 hrs)
-Tennis (9-12) - (take lessons, etc)</p>

<p>So, I've spent countless hours of my life doing all of theseand I love them all (I'd never waste time doing what I didn't enjoy). There some other things I like doing (painting, hiking, etc) but those just aren't as important to me. </p>

<p>So my question to you all is... Should I really try to emphasize myself as a "Renaissance Man" or should I emphasize just a few?</p>

<p>At this point, I'm worried that it looks like I'm just loading my resume, while in reality, I've had what I feel to be a very active and interesting life. There are a lot of other great experiences I've had but that's a whole other post. 4.0 GPA, good SAT scores, highly selective colleges, the works [the usual for CC :) ] </p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.</p>

<p>It looks like you have a good resume. I don't think I would "sell" yourself as a "Renaissance Man" as what you've written doesn't leave me with that impression. Your strengths seem to be writing and music so that is what I would emphasize- that's where your awards are, the key in my opinion is go ahead and list your top 7 ec's but make sure that your essay gives more insight into who you are. Just listing what you have like you did here doesn't help you stand apart from the other 26,000 kids that also have interests. Find a story from your experiences that really gives a "picture" into who you are and not just what you do. Also in my opinion, 80 hours of community service is a good amount but over 4 years that's 20 per year and that's great but not a standout number. So in answer to your question list the things in order of their importance to you and list the 7 that you spend the most time and energy doing. I would definately stay away from using the term Renaissance Man, though. Good Luck</p>

<p>I appreciate the comments. Obviously this list is not a representation of who I am. That is something that will be exhibited through my essays which are indeed, based more on my experiences at certain activities. </p>

<p>I used the term "Renaissance Man" kind of loosely there. Perhaps I should have just described myself as having many facets of interest, but I feel like that doesn't quite reflect the depth of those interests. I probably should have also mentioned that I plan on being a science / engineering major and that the activities I listed were just those that could be easily listed.</p>