<p>Welcome margobargo!</p>
<p>I wish I had your energy. You're lucky you can get by on less sleep than most people. And you evidently "socialize" during your many activities, instead of just "hanging out," plus you are a leader of these groups, not just a joiner. </p>
<p>I think the adcoms will be very impressed. You go!</p>
<p>It depends. A week before an MUN, I go crazy and do nothing else that week. Same applies before a tournament...you get the idea.</p>
<p>Here is mine for the fall:
fall-fball 23
stocks-3
NHS-1
Key Club-2
Atlas Dealio (Through Sports Illustrated)-2
Running my company-15
Total: 46</p>
<p>If you add all my numbers, it came to some ridiculous sum. But the common app gives you a place to note how many weeks you do the activity out of the year. For example, i did some homecoming stuff which consumed entire evenings for two weeks, but it was only for two weeks. </p>
<p>I probably had something around 40 or 50 hours too, but to be fair i actually did study for science olympiad for 5 hours every afternoon.</p>
<p>o.O
School already takes up most of my time..</p>
<p>i feel like people reading the apps know which activities take up time and which don't.</p>
<p>with sports or marching band, they know that it's only one semester, or maybe not even an entire semester. so if you say "25", they KNOW it's not always that amount. they aren't going to say "this applicant is lying, let's not admit him", but they might adjust that number in their own mind if necessary.</p>
<p>or if you're involved in theatre, they know that the week before a show you might be in rehearsal for 20 hours but other weeks you're only there for 5.</p>
<p>RELAX. the point of a college application is not to trick you and make you appear dishonest-- they're just asking what you spend your time being involved in!</p>
<p>"RELAX. the point of a college application is not to trick you and make you appear dishonest-- they're just asking what you spend your time being involved in!"</p>
<p>Exactly. Don't over-think this. No, don't cut things out because you think that your real-honest-and-true total appears too high. But if the question asks for a total weekly average, don't add together the maximum hours of all of your activities for a total that you never actually attain. You're also allowed to NOT put an exact answer, for example: "1-3" would be fine, as would "3 minimum" or even something much more dramatic like "5-15" if it's something that really varies through the year. Rough estimate, guys. It's just to give adcoms an idea of how deeply involved you are, how big a part a certain thing plays in your life, and so forth. You're all smart people...</p>
<p>And for the love of God, please don't end posts with anything along the lines of "20 EC hours a week, I know it's absolutely pathetic, but I'm a sophomore."</p>
<p>do what makes you happy- emphasize it's impact on you in your applications and then just calm down.</p>
<p>life is too short to freak out about that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>hm.
swim team (2.5 hrs/day, 6 days) = 15 hrs,
science olympiads (3.5 hrs/week) = 3.5,
research (6 hrs/day, 3 days) = 18 hrs,
misc-music, art clubs, etc (1.5 hrs/day, 6 days) = 9</p>
<p>total = 45.5</p>
<p>SilverClover - I like it..."who needs sleep when there's a corrupt gov't to fix"...that might be my senior quote</p>
<p>My kids work about 16 hours/wk at their jobs, fence 20 hours/wk, and their church activities and other stuff which one might call an EC come to 5 or so, depending on the week. I think 40 hours a week is believable, but the kid has to demonstrate that s/he is an really motivated person in all pursuits, not just with hours logged. For jobs, show the pay stub! For sports, log practice hours, and competitions and camps. Clubs: well, year book editing doesn't go on 40 weeks/year, 10 hours a week (or maybe things have changed?), but it might be 40 hours/wk for a month during the hectic periods. Note them, and prove it.</p>
<p>If you are spending 40 hours a week on EC, it looks fake, sorry but it does</p>
<p>It also shows actually instead of good planning, poor planning</p>
<p>effeciancy is also valuable</p>
<p>and so fencers mom, your kids practice 4 hours five days a week, on top of school, then work say 8 hours satruday and sunday</p>
<p>that is ridiculous to be honest</p>
<p>oh my god. an incredible amount of time. I would say at least 35 hours a week.</p>
<p>But, don't think I'm weird or anything haha. I make sure that I have at least 2 of my closest friends in every activity I participate in making it a lot more fun. Most of my time goes to practicing instruments and I'm president of a considerable number of organizations.</p>
<p>what's funny is that colleges really don't care about kids putting 10000 hrs a week into ECs--they want too see that you just have an actual interest in what you do (it seems like half of CC does research regardless of whether or not it's something they really enjoy), and that you're a <em>human being</em> with a personality. being an EC supermachine can work against you if you overdo it</p>
<p>Well, perhaps I will suggest to DS1 that he include his 2.5 hours/day on the bus as an EC, because obviously he is a slacker...I'm not sure his ECs total 20 hrs./wk. during the school year, and he has some pretty intense and high-powered ones. </p>
<p>As a parent, there is NO WAY I would sanction 60 hrs./week. I'd tell my kids to pick their priorities and do them well, but 60 hours on ECs is a non-starter. It's not healthy, physically or emotionally.</p>
<p>DS2 is on varsity football and that is 20-25 hours/week during the season (3 hrs. practice x 5 days, plus games and meetings; more like 25-30 hrs. duting July and August with two-a-days and conditioning). He is a zombie by the time he is home, has dinner and gets through his IB and AP homework. He has other ECs and outside activities, but they take a back burner during September and October.</p>
<p>Don't your folks have to get from Point A to Point B? Don't your parents want you at the dinner table? Don't you go ice skating with your friends? Does anyone take a nap? Whatever happened to think time? Stop worrying about your bloody resumes, people.</p>
<p>30 hrs is reasonable. Stepping beyond 40 puts you in the range of insanity, IMO.</p>
<p>Me: 2 + 2 + 2 + 5-10 = 11-16 hrs per week on job/EC. Week, huh?</p>
<p>Yearbook = 10
Key Club = 2
Interact = 2
History Club = 1
Job = 35-40
Total = 50-55</p>
<p>Csummer, you're talking about summertime, right?</p>
<p>Eh... if friends, TV, procrastination, and sleep were ECs... </p>
<p>I'd have a lot of hours. :D</p>