<p>Most people on CC define "focused" ECs as one or two clubs or activities that a person has dedicated a significant amount of time to, made major contributions to, or achieved notable awards in (i.e. focused). But does it have to be only one or two activities? What if I explored my passion for literature and writing through a number of clubs that each offered a different form of appreciation for the art of language? Would my ECs be seen as a laundry list or as focused?</p>
<p>Activities:
- Literary Society (Vice President, 4yrs), for creative writers, focus in spoken word poetry, holds creative writing workshops and poetry slams
- Forensics (Pres, VP, and Secretary, 4yrs), competed in interp categories
- Student Production (Senior Co-director, 4yrs), writing and directing a play; two seniors produce one each year
- Fall Play (actress, 2yrs)
- editor for national literary magazine (1yr)
- school's lit mag (Editor-in-Chief, 1yr), a teacher restarted the magazine this year; I stepped up to bring what I learned from editing for the national lit mag to my school
- school newspaper (4yrs) some music activities:
- garage band (keyboard, 3yrs)
- piano (10 yrs, but only formal lessons for 2yrs in high school)</p>
<p>Volunteering:
Drug prevention/leadership group (president, secretary, 4yrs), counselor at camp for the group over the summer (~400-450hrs total)</p>
<p>Awards/honors:
Scholastic Gold Key
published poet
semifinalist/finalist x3 + state qualifier (forensics)
Poetry slam 1st place (school)
ABRSM 8</p>
<p>Y/N? If not, how can I arrange my activity list to make my passion for literature and writing come across?</p>
<p>I’m not one of the experienced members who you’re talking about, so take my opinion with a grain of salt:</p>
<p>It can be very hard to specifically define a “focused” list of EC’s. I don’t believe it is the number of EC’s you have (or don’t have), but the level of involvement in each. Many applicants will make the mistake of having only superficial involvement in many different clubs - adcoms will think these applicants are just trying to pad their applications. This is especially true if the applicant joined 10+ clubs in senior year, where their previous involvement was minimal.</p>
<p>When I look at your EC’s, it doesn’t look to me as if you were trying to pad your application.</p>
<p>Are you hoping for a lit/writing major? As you have listed these here, you really haven’t shown your impact. Eg, “focus in spoken word poetry, holds creative writing workshops and poetry slams” describes the club, not your success, your role or prominence. IMO, you need to bring a little more life or oomph to the wording of each. (I can’t tell if you meant to just run through examples here or if this is actually how you thought you’d describe.) Yes, it can seem focused, but try to make it, well, more impressive. And, have you intentionally omitted any other activities here?</p>
<p>Agree ^ that focused means different things in different contexts. A STEM kid is focused by competing in math bowl, joining robotics, mentoring in math-sci, vol’g at a hospital, etc. But, always, it’s depth and some breadth. The extras that may not be “focused” also count.</p>
<p>If you aren’t sure that your focus is evident from your list of ECs, you can use one of the common app essays to highlight that focus - something along the lines of ‘writing has always been my passion…from poetry slams, to writing and directing a play, to the school newpaper, etc…’ It let’s you identify the over-arching interest and its importance to you.</p>
<p>lookingforward - I purposely kept the descriptions brief. I wanted to see whether others could tell if these activities were “focused” based on the activities alone (people also have short attention spans). However, my GC suggested that I should keep the descriptions straightforward on the activity sheet because I can expound on my successes and roles in my essays. How would you suggest presenting description vs. significance in the activity sheet?</p>
<p>And yes, I did intentionally leave out some activities:
Jazz Band (9-10), pianist
Interact (9-10) - didn’t do much at all besides a few small volunteering activities
SGA (11) - general assembly for half a year, lulz</p>
<p>M’s Mom - Yes. Right now, my commonapp main essay is about how writing a novel (though crappy) in middle school laid the groundwork for the imagination and energy I would put into my writing in high school. I suppose it’s a great idea to mention how I used the different literary groups in my high school to explore other forms of creative writing.</p>
<p>Not sure what schools you are interested in. But, use each CA section wisely. You want to keep up the reviewer’s interest as each page is read. The reviewer has 12-15-20 minutes to read the entire app and get a sense of you, your energy, interests and accomplishments. Call it impact. Don’t make them wait for the final pages to see this. Eg, not just “editor.” Some kids note they managed x students, produced x mags each year, managed budgets and expanded the mag or won some award or something. It’s not a resume and the space is short, but take some credit. An easy example- jazz band. So you were pianist; what did you do? Performed at school, played in the community? </p>
<p>Yes, you can pick an EC for the short question. But, remember that the personal statements are most successful when you “show-not-tell.” You want the reader to feel it with you- and see your maturity, perspective, etc. Not just take your word for it. That’s why the “challenge” prompt works well for so many kids. It gives them a chance to describe an experience or situation and how they grew from it, learned or changed. Just think about it. In the end, you are the one who needs to feel you presented yourself as well as you could. Good Luck.</p>