Which EC combo is better?

Applying to College
1

Ok, my friend and i were debating about ECs. He has all these youth leadership conference things, captain of academic team, current class president, on the math team, and is on the baseball team. He also has a billion academic awards (many of which i don’t even know what they are) and held down a job at a candy store. I’m captain of the football team, a two-time national medalist in olympic style weightlifting, delegate to the governing body of USA weightlifting, and i am also on the math team (I was class president junior year too… it conflicted with football so i dropped it). My academic awards are basic (NHS, Latin honor society, AP scholar with Honor…). I’m also on the academic team (I left that off my app though, i just joined this year and i didn’t feel it was right cause i didn’t do anything at the time i turned it in). So anyways, he says that his more academic and well rounded approach is better. I never really had an approach, i just kinda did what i was interested in. So what’s the outside opinion?

BTW (similar stats, 1500+ SATs, 1&2 in the class)

2

<p>I'm going to say you have the stronger ECs. Colleges these days have stepped away from the "well-rounded" applicant favored in the 1950's. Today they want to assemble a well-rounded class composed of individuals with different areas of excellence. They want scientists, mathemeticians, musicians, artists, and so on. And colleges know that just being "on the team" often doesn't mean anything.</p>

<p>As Stanford says on its web site, "An exceptional experience in one or two activities demonstrates your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the impact your participation has had on that club, in your school, or in the larger community. With extracurricular activities, a sustained depth of commitment is more important than a long list of clubs you have joined."</p>