<p>Adcoms and students say you must have 'Good ECs'. What makes an EC 'good'. Research? Community Service? Athletics?
Also can good ECs really out weight test scores at selective schools like the Ivys/Stanford/Caltech/MIT?</p>
<p>Thanks,
Duke</p>
<p>Yoooooiiioiookkooooppkk</p>
<p>Go get the book “How to be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Into College By Standing Out (Not Burning Out)” by Cal Newport. It gives you a very good idea of what “good” ECs are. You should read the book, but fundamentally the idea is that most ECs are done by thousands of top students around the country. Class president, team captain, yearbook editor, etc. In 2009 there were over 24,000 high schools in the US. So that means 24,000+ of all those top achievers at a school. (Also means 24,000+ vals and sals, he has interesting things to say about academic achievement as well and how that fits into the picture).</p>
<p>What you need to do is figure out what your interests and talents are and pursue your own EC path outside of the ones already laid out for you in your high school’s EC opportunities. That is it in a nutshell.</p>
<p>Even the most fantastic EC can only outweigh poor grades & test scores by so much. There is a minimum bar… but Newport says something like if you can get a 3.7 unweighted GPA and a decent but not perfect SAT score (sorry, I can’t remember what he says about the SATs, just know he feels there is a minimum level to “stay in the pile” to be considered), you have a chance to have your ECs really help you out.</p>
<p>While I feel that the above statement is entirely true, I hold that weird/ outlandish ECs can be beneficial as well. If you stand out because you won the underwater punk rock yo-yo competition, they may consider your pile again. A diverse group of interests is what they are looking for.</p>