What are the most important factors for a US university for Internationals?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Hi everyone. This is my first time posting on CC.</p>

<p>I've browsed the forums before before signing up and I saw that despite the high academics that many people had (GPA and SAT scores), many of them also have many extra-curricular activities, many of which I have never even heard of.</p>

<p>What I'm wondering is that do the U.S. universities (good ones) still look at extra-curricular activities as much as those who live in the States? I'm asking this because it seems to me that some international students (like me) don't seem to have as many opportunities as you guys in America since I've stated above that I never seen many of those ECs that people have mentioned.</p>

<p>So basically, do they still place so much important on those extra-curricular activities or are they a bit more lenient on the international students?</p>

<p>Finally, I'm also wondering what constitutes as an EC. For example, I was part of band, played the saxophone, flute, and piano/keyboard when I was young, volunteer at hospitals, school, etc. Do these count as ECs or are they just those "1st place at XXX competitions"?</p>

<p>Thank you guys in advance for replying to my questions.</p>

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<p>An extracurricular activity is something that you do outside of school. It can be helping to run a business, playing a sport, volunteering in a hospital, etc., etc. If you have been competing in a sport or other activity that has a regional, national, international competition in which you won an award, then of course you write “I have played soccer for the past eight years in a local league, and was named goalie of the year for our city in 200X”. If you didn’t win an award, you still can write “I have played soccer for the past eight years in a local league, and have been the goalie for the past two years.”</p>

<p>Colleges and universities want to know something about who you are as a person. If you write about your extracurricular activities, it helps them picture your life in your country. They are not looking exclusively for recent Nobel Prize winners, and they certainly aren’t looking for students who are precise clones of their age peers in the US. Part of what makes you interesting to an admissions officer is your own cultural background. It is OK to not have any US-type ECs if they just don’t exist where you are.</p>