I’ve been reading a lot of the Ivy posts and many many people say that ECs must be focused, have “depth” and somehow be an example of who you are. That kinda worries me because my ECs are pretty scattered due to utter uncertainty about what I wanted to do out of high school. The three areas I concentrated on were medical, political science and writing. Anyway, here are my ECs as of now…do you think they are too broad/college prep-y/etc? Would they still have a negative impact even though I am sincerely dedicated to and enjoy each one? I didn’t think about how they would look to colleges when I decided to become involved with these activities ><.
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Summer 2005 Intern for Senator Elaine Alquist
Winter 2004 Salesperson at Crystal Land
OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL ACTIVITIES:
Treasurer (2 terms) for Youth Advisory Council
EducationChair and Social Chair for March of Dimes Chain Reaction Leadership Council (yah long name)
Volunteer and Team Captain for Good Samaritan Hospital
Advanced piano (haha who cares though right?)
Art with awards in several competitions
ONCAMPUS:
Staff writer, NonFiction Editor and Editor-in-Chief for high school literary magazine
Member, Activities Coordinator and President of California Scholarship Federation
Member, PR committee, Executive Assistant and Secretary of Key Club
FBLA placing in Bay Section and State competitions.
Communications committee for ASB - produced and wrote schoolwide newsletters.
haha that’s it. Not very impressive but oh well - they do define who I am. Is it okay to be as eclectic as this? Thanks (veryvery much) to anyone who takes the time to respond!
<li>saM</li>
<em>I posted this in the Columbia subcategory but I figured more people would see it here</em>
<p>I like your EC's a lot. Ideally someone has won an Olympic gold medal or been the star of a movie, but I would put yours above average. I have yet to see a college guide that did not use the word "passion" when describing how EC's should look. The standard statement is that it is better to have "passion" and long-term commitment in one or two activities rather than a long laundry list of activities with little involvement in any of them. Some of this is about how to package it. It's a question of marketing. Write about your EC's in an essay. Put all of the volunteer stuff together and emphasize the leadership roles that you have had. Include the internship with the Senator in that category. Put the piano, art and writing together and emphasize your creative side. Talk about how you love to play the piano and how you love to creat works of art and write. The Editor part is very important. They will flag position of authority such as editors, student council presidents and team captain and maybe even put a little sticker on the outside of your folder. </p>
<p>Glad you enjoyed yourself in HS. I would say that your EC's demonstrate who you are as opposed to a planned effort to get into the most prestigious school possible.</p>
<p>The awards can be mentioned in the essay, but there is also a separate box on the form for awards.</p>
<p>In "Acing the College Application" by Michele Hernandez, she recommends attaching an activity-list which is in the same format as the chart on the app instead of attaching a resume. She really hates resumes. The titles on the activity-list/chart are "activity", "weeks/year", "hours/week", and "positions of authority". The chart has prose descriptions of what activity was about. I do recommend her book, and the activity-list would probably work better for you than a resume. The book takes you thru the application process by focusing on the form.</p>
<p>Really good EC's. Just no Olympic medals. Oh, well.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the encouragement and taking the time to reply (funny how 68 views and 1 reply -_-). I think you're right about being able to market my ECs and I will pick up that book.</p>
<p>Glad I could help. I don't think that many people can think of comments to make about EC's. In the final analysis, the application needs to convey the personality of the applicant. Your EC's show a lot of leadership particularly in public service and a lot of creative talent. Also I liked the fact that you weren't obsessing over the whole admissions thing. Good luck.</p>