<p>These just being a few of my EC's, people always tell me "You don't show passion."
I mean... GOD FORBID that someone is in band AND sports. GOD FORBID that someone may be considered a "jock" AND is in the fall musical.</p>
<p>What if you truly DO show passion in all of your EC's? I mean, universities are looking for people with a variety of interests and an open mind to trying new things, aren't they?</p>
<p>Are colleges just going to assume that you were "laundry listing," even if you WERE passionate about such a wide spectrum of activities?</p>
<p>On CC, if you don't have a NY Times bestselling novel or cure cancer your EC's lack passion and focus. Just don't worry about it, and use your essays to show your passion.</p>
<p>the "lack of passion" comment is usually in response to an extremely well-qualified applicant who is applying to top 20 schools. it's basically an excuse instead of saying... "wow you're awesome, but college admissions is a crapshoot so you never know." </p>
<p>maybe you lack passion on the common app, but make it known that you are passionate about what you do in your essays. seriously, how is a person you've never met before qualified to tell you that you lack passion in your ECs?</p>
<p>Just because your activities are diverse (like mine were) doesn't mean that they're necessary weak. As long as you excel in the ones you care the most about to the best of your abilities, you got passion. =]</p>
<p>Well I'm sure that if we all found CC before our freshman year, we could all have amazingly "passionate" ECs with national awards in something. Unfortunately, almost all of us weren't that lucky =[</p>
<p>Most people lack passion about their jobs and other activities. Most students applying to college lack passion in their ECs and academics. Most students will still get into their first choice colllege (60% according to what I've read).</p>
<p>It's only when applying to the most competitive colleges --places lke HPYS that get an overabundance of high stat applicants so can afford to select from that pool students with attributes like passion for ECs and intellectual passion -- that passion is a significant factor in admissions.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the length of time that one has done an activity, the awards that one has won in it - those things don't mean that you're passionate about the activity. One can be very passionate about an activity that one hasn't done for a long time.</p>
<p>If one is passionate about an activity, one would do it even if colleges didn't care, it was inconvenient to pursue it, others made fun of you for pursuing it, one had to make some sacrifices to pursue it, one had ot create options for oneself in order to pursue it. It's not something that one can fake.</p>
<p>Don't worry about it. It's very difficult to perceive passion over the Internet. And on CC, "passion" has become just an overused buzzword, and most people have no idea what they're talking about when they use it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Are colleges just going to assume that you were "laundry listing," even if you WERE passionate about such a wide spectrum of activities?
<p>Your question is apt. It illustrates why the "chance me" threads are, for the most part, stupid. A "chance me" person with great and obvious qualifications has to be looking for ratification of his/her worthiness. Maybe the "lacks passion" comment is a way to knock such folks down a peg. </p>
<p>Almost no one on CC has any idea whether person X will be admitted to a particular school. As AKittca and others have said ad nauseum, it is a crapshoot for even the most obviously qualified. </p>
<p>I really like CC and have found it a very helpful source of information and opinion, but the "chance me" threads are silly to me.</p>
<p>While everyone is saying that it's hard to show passion over the internet, the issue is, the people on cc don't have much less information than the college will receive. Essays, and an interview if they offer them, are the best we get, and I believe there's another recent thread circulating on why we think essays are so important, when they don't play as large a role to admissions officers as we'd like, except at top colleges where everyone is outstanding. Plus, CCers are fairly desensitized. You're getting a lot of kids, and from all over on here. The people responding to these chances threads have seen almost everything.</p>
<p>To be unique now, you can either excel in something big, like writing a publlished novel or participating in the junior olympics, or you could take an easier route and excel in something more specialized, like teaching honeybees sign language. But there aren't a lot of applicants out there like that, and in the end, kids with outstanding ECs like yours are the ones getting into top schools, because there just aren't enough of those kids with super-amazing ECs to fill every spot in the ivy league.</p>
<p>I was one such example. I did everything from sports to music to yearbook to volunteering to stugov in high school.</p>
<p>When I applied, I thought the best strategy is to focus on different ECs for different components of the application + interview. I didn't want my list to sound like a laundry list, so I thought that if I was able to articulate on why I did all of the things I did, it would convey my enthusiasm for learning outside of the classroom. I guess it worked, but this is something you can consider.</p>
<p>You know why people say you lack passion? Its because they are afraid. In reality, we all are competitors in the arena for colleges. If one person gets knocked out because they were intimidated by a comment saying they lacked passion, one less person to worry about.</p>
<p>"I mean, universities are looking for people with a variety of interests and an open mind to trying new things, aren't they?" </p>
<p>In a general sense, yes. However looking at a students record it is hard to tell whether the plethora of activities with minimal participation represent a person who is excited about soaking up all they can of the world around them, or just signing up for a bunch of stuff hoping it will look good on college apps. So when it comes to evaluating ECs, the most selective colleges favor those who have devoted time to 1 or 2 areas and have excelled (awards, accomplishments, leadership, etc). For example Stanford says
[quote]
In addition to academic excellence and intellectual vitality, we are interested in students who have made significant contributions to the life of their school or community. We do not favor one type of activity over another; nor is it necessary to participate in a large number of activities. 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.