Hello everyone!
I’ve been seeing a lot of students write down that they had strong ECs in other posts. Can anyone explain what these strong ECs are?
Not sure what these students consider strong ECs, but I believe colleges view any activity as a strong EC if you do it with dedication and enthusiasm over time. An EC that develops your skills and somehow contributes to a team, a group, or to society in general (the arts, the environment, a cause you care about) takes it up a notch. Showing initiative and leadership skills takes it up another. Awards on the local, state or national level can be a good thing, but I don’t think are necessary as long as you show commitment and a love of what you do. An EC should be something you truly enjoy and care about…something you’d do gladly whether or not you were applying to college. It’s better to focus on one or two things at a time ( along with couple of fun minor things if you want) than a scattershot of many superficial activities or clubs just to fill in the blanks.
Having said that, I’m going to say I think there are too many kids pressuring themselves unnaturally for college admissions to an unhealthy point. Adolescence should be a time of exploration! I believe there should be unscheduled down time to spend with friends and family, to dream, read, watch clouds, walk the dog and do chores around the house. I don’t think kids should all have to be intensive Type-A’s to get into a good college.
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From a college’s point of view, it probably goes like this in terms of how valuable an EC is:
- High achievement and commitment in something of particular interest to the college. Recruited athlete is the most obvious example.
- High achievement and commitment.
- Commitment.
- Joiner.
Agree with above. But do things you enjoy doing for 2-4 years. You just need a few of these. Like the Chess club plus peer to peer mentoring and like the track team… Great… You can find leadership and opportunities in all those… Don’t do things you think the colleges want to see. You don’t have to win major awards either.
Thank you all! This was very insightful.
To add to the info above, an EC does not have to be a club/sport/school activity. For some kids it is a job or caring for a sibling… something outside of school that consumes significant time. That can also show the commitment, leadership, and responsibility that colleges want to see.
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