Student A and Student B both go to the same class. Student A has a slightly better GPA and class rank. They have similar ACT scores(30+). The division comes with the EC’s. Student A is in 2-3 clubs, high officer positions/founded one. Student B is in 6+ clubs and President in 3-4. They both play varsity sports. They have similar EC’s outside of school. Which student would get the nod from admissions if we hypothetically disregard all other aspects of the app and focus on EC’s?
Impossible to answer. There is no formula with respect to clubs. Schools like kids who are able to go deeply in a few activities and have a meaningful impact. They need to see recs and essays before they’re going to judge the quality of the ECs.
Hypothetically…student B. Now, stop comparing yourself to your classmate who was admitted over you or stressing over who is going to get the acceptance in the end, let it go. There is no rhyme or reason to the decision when you are basically comparing two apples, one a red delicious and one a granny smith. They are both good apples. It just depends on whether you want a sweet apple or a sour apple on any given day or if you want an apple to eat out of hand or one to bake a pie.
@Falcon1 Yes, I was thinking that they wouldn’t judge them solely based on Ec’s if this was the case. Thanks for your imput.
@labegg I’m not comparing myself to someone who was admitted over me. I was just wondering in general the impact of Ec’s especially clubs.
Do what you love, love what you do when it comes to ECs. Don’t spread yourself too thin, pick something that you can be committed to and commit.
Quality is more important than quantity.
@iwannabe_Brown But isn’t there quality in student B’s list of activities?
It depends on what those “clubs” and athletics are and what they do.
All clubs are not equal. And frisbee does not equate to Varsity soccer!
@HRSMom Varsity soccer and Varsity Track(no tryouts). They are in the same clubs but Student B is taking more, like math, book, robotics, student council, etc.
Well, athletics are equal.
I would say it is hard to say bc either student who connects just a few of these ECs in their essays to their world and life may rise way above the other, even if the ither’s essay is great.
Beyond that, I’m not sure more is better after a certain point.
That’s the point – it’s a list – it doesn’t show quality at all. Quality will be reflected in the rest of the application. At some point, having a large number of activities becomes trying too hard or raises the question – how good a job can you be doing if you’re spread that thin? A cynical admin reader would assume that some of those clubs have 8 members, 7 officers and do very little. Some kids trophy-hunt – you may not be one of them, but having too full a resume can definitely backfire. Likewise, many admin folks are cynical about “founding clubs,” particularly if you’re not already very involved in similar things – it became a “thing” several years ago and now half the kids in the chance me forums claim to have started a club (of which they’re now president of course) or raised x number of dollars for “worthy charity.” Unless founding that club (or raising that money or working all those community service hours) is a key part of your essay showing your passion for that activity/cause/interest, they’re not going to give a whole lot of credit.
I would say that a decision between those two candidates would be based on their essays and perhaps their demonstrated interest.
When you make the EC’s into a laundry list with years and positions, it becomes near meaningless. It is meaningless when all we see is the number of clubs and positions. There is no formula, no equation or metric of clubs to college admission. AOs want to know the qualitative impact of the ECs on your short and long term goals, how they shaped you.
Put another way, if all you can do is create a checklist of your clubs, then your ECs don’t mean much. I’d much rather see the impact of the ECs via either your essays or achievements, or even what you put down as an intended major.
Well, since you asked who I would pick in this unrealistic scenario (because more info would be included in an actual application), I would pick student A. Same exact classes - better result is more quantifiable than clubs.
At many colleges, both or neither may be admitted.
@palm715. Goes to show that sometimes admit decisions can be pretty random and depends on the adcom and what they are looking for on any given day when you are comparing students of a similar high caliber. I said earlier I would pick student B. My thinking (flawed I’m sure, lol), student B is able to juggle more and still maintain a very similar GPA to student A. In the “real world” with these two candidates the adcom would be looking more deeply at essays/specific type of EC and level of involvement/recommendations or interviews
I would choose the one that plays the bugle…my hypothetical college needs a crack bugle player.
Also, some colleges admit by major or division. If two similarly qualified applicants apply for different majors at the same college which admits by major, then they may have different results if one major is more popular relative to its capacity than the other.
@labegg and I’d pick the canidate that likes pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, but is not into yoga – so long as they have half a brain. 
At my hypothetical school, we admit over 1000 freshmen. So it wouldn’t be between those 2 kids; there would be room for both of them.
Kids tend to forget the big picture here. It’s not about you vs. a classmate, it’s about you vs. the rest of the country.