<p>What ECs do you think are most repeated and thus, boring. (I'm talking about simply participating...so exclude people who might participate in these (band, math/sci..etc..) but are top tier, nationally ranked...)</p>
<p>At my school its:</p>
<p>1.)BAND!!!
2.)Orchestra (+ any other musical instruments)
3.)NHS (well all National Honor Societies for that matter)
4.)Community Service (Key club, YES club...)
5.)Math/Science Club
6.)Art
7.) Newspaper</p>
<p>Art is not too common at our school... but yes the rest are. Student Gov Congressman .. that's common.</p>
<p>I agree with the list and might add to it Drama Club and Yearbook Club. Luckily, I only participate with 2 on the list (NHS and other honor societies and Key Club). But those ECs are on the bottom of my list of activites/interests and I am debating whether to list them or not.</p>
<p>if you are an editor of newspaper i think its fine</p>
<p>I don't know how big your school newspaper is....</p>
<p>ours is really big....over 80 staff members, one of the best in the nation blah blah</p>
<p>I am the news editor, and that's a pretty big thing in my school. Not sure if colleges will realize that.</p>
<p>Definitely Community Service Club... ours has 450 members (and our school only has 1100 people!)</p>
<p>I guess we could add sports to the list... but sports require a huge time commitment, so i guess it helps, especially if you're varsity or captain</p>
<p>yeah, alot of people do sports at my school too, but i think sports is a bit different from the rest because you actually have to make the team and if the team is really good, you tend to stand out.</p>
<p>what if you've been involved in a comm service org (key club) and have been an officer the last few years (pres this year)...isnt that still worth having in the top five of your list of activities?</p>
<p>it depends on what your other activities are...if that's one of your personal top ECs, heck yeah...put it up there</p>
<p>I just got back from a Pton Info session and the rep (Director of Admissions) said they hate when you put "fluff" (he actually used this term) on your app. He said he didn't want you putting something you only did for an hour (I'm inferring a week but IDK), but instead include those ECs that you put a lot of time and passion into. He constantly mentioned the concept that applicants should be highly energized. </p>
<p>I think that it is ok to put some common ECs, as long as you have put significant effort into them and can show it.</p>
<p>I was not going to list any of my 4 national honor societies as an EC because to me they are not. However, I think they are honors (had to meet certain criteria to get accepted...character, academic, cc, teacher recs and other stuff). But since they are not truly academic honors; I guess there is no place on the application to list them? </p>
<p>Anyone else NOT listing their membership in honor societies (math, thespian, Spanish, NHS) unless you are an officer AND did alot in each? For my honor socities; I only put about 2 hours of time in each per month; so best not list them at all, right? Blame in on the officers -they aren't 'doing much' to get the members active. LOL.</p>
<p>I was actually wondering this too...I mean I've been in Spanish HS for 3 years...but I never did much.</p>
<p>worldshopper...I would mention it somewhere on the app (maybe the extra info section) or put it on your resume that you give to a teacher who is writing a rec for you, just in case they bring it up. I wouldn't, however, give a resume to Princeton....the adcom said that 17 year olds shouldn't have a 2 page resume at this point in their lives (implying that if they did, it was mostly fluff)...he said he didn't even have a 2 page resume. </p>
<p>So, I guess I am one of those people who won't put my membership in NHS as an EC (unless I suddenly become an officer and put in 10 hours a week)</p>
<p>hmm good advice..pton does seem to one of those schools who really stress not to put "fluff"</p>
<p>In commonapp there is a section that says "Briefly list or describe any scholastic distinctions or honors you have won since the ninth grade (e.g., National Merit, Cum Laude Society)."</p>
<p>That's where I am putting all three honor societies coz example had "cum laude socirty", not sure anymore if it's a good idea. I have been in all three for the last three years, and barely spent 20-30 hours max each in an academic year.</p>
<p>lol NHS at our school is such a scam... we don't even do community service or anything. We just had to sign a piece of paper when we joined that said we <em>promise</em> to do community service. :p</p>
<p>I'm putting this in the academic honors section, btw... no sense in listing this as an EC with 0 hours a week ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! </p>
<p>JTC007: Good point about the resume! What if the g.c. sends a one-page resume as standard procedure?</p>
<p>What if you participated in Model Congress? That is a one time, weekend -long event. Forget that as well?</p>
<p>If the G.C. sends it, I wouldn't worry about it, because the rep said he pretty much knew what to expect from most schools (except ones that they haven't recieved applications from, ever, which is pretty rare). </p>
<p>IDK about forgetting Model Congress, unless it played a significant role in one of your ECs. I think it is better to work small stuff like that into your essays or into your recommendations, because if the adcom is reading about stuff that you did that isn't on your app, you will come across as more sincere about what you do, instead of doing everything for the application, a difference I think is key to showing "passion".</p>
<p>I see your point and it is logical. However, I prefer my recs do not mention "the small stuff" and concentrate more on my passions. Because compared to my passions, the small stuff is not that important. Two of my 4 passions have nothing to do with school and the only way my teachers know of them is because I told them (included them in my resume I gave them). I would think the adcom would also realize this. I am not much to brag so I really did not discuss these activities with my teachers while in their class. I went Spanish school for the past 2 summers but did not even mention it to my Spanish teacher last year that I was planning on going. I did not want to come across as trying to win brownie points.</p>