I have too many spots on my resume for both. I will continue to do both, but I was curious which one I should include on my app?
Option 1: I mentor kids on programming and building robots. It ties in strongly with my intended major, but I can’t spend as much time as I’d like to on it. I help out once a month and once a week in summer.
Option 2: International Business program. I just started this, but we are providing solutions to a business in Nigeria. Meetings twice a month for two years.
The goal for your application is to list the ECs in order of importance to you – not to fill all the slots. Indeed, very few colleges want a resume list of ECs beyond what’s already captured in the Common or Coalition app. They really aren’t going to care what’s your 5th or 6th item. Do you think they’ll be concerned with your 10th?
So to answer your question: it’s not a matter of which one. 1) resumes will likely not be used 2) List the handful of most important ones. If either, both or neither of your two examples listed here make the cut, no biggie.
Neither one of these activities which you seem to spend a couple of hours a month on will get you in or keep you out of any college. I guess if you are applying to b-schools you can put the International business and if you are applying for STEM or education majors you can put the robotics but I can’t see it making a big difference one way or another.